Holiday Pay Entitlement Calculator UK 2026
Calculate your statutory holiday entitlement and holiday pay accurately
📊 Employment Details
📈 Your Holiday Entitlement
What is Holiday Pay Entitlement?
Working out how much paid leave your employees are due, or how much holiday pay you’re owed can quickly become confusing. Whether you’re an employer managing a growing team or a worker checking your own entitlement, this page explains everything you need to know. Use our Holiday Pay Entitlement Calculator UK to get an instant, accurate figure based on your working pattern, and read the detailed guidance below to understand the rules behind the numbers.
Holiday pay entitlement is the right every worker in the UK has to receive their normal pay while they are on annual leave. It is not an optional benefit, it is a legal requirement under the Working Time Regulations 1998. As long as someone is classed as a worker (not a self-employed contractor), they qualify from their very first day in a job.
The entitlement covers two things at once: the number of days off a worker can take each year, and the pay they receive on those days. Many employers confuse the two. A worker could have the correct number of leave days but still be underpaid if their holiday pay is calculated incorrectly, for example, by leaving out regular overtime or commission.
Under current UK law, statutory holiday pay must reflect a worker’s normal remuneration. This means it should include regular overtime, regular commission, and certain allowances, not just the basic contracted hourly or daily rate. The rules changed following the Supreme Court case Flowers v East of England Ambulance Trust and subsequent HMRC guidance, so if your business has not reviewed its holiday pay calculations since 2019, it is worth doing so now.
Quick definition: Holiday pay entitlement = the number of days leave you’re entitled to + the pay rate you receive on those days. Both must be correct for your business to be compliant.
How Many Holidays Are You Entitled to in the UK?
In the UK, the statutory minimum holiday entitlement for a full-time employee working five days a week is 5.6 weeks per year. This works out to 28 days of paid annual leave. This figure was confirmed in the Employment Rights Act and has not changed for 2026.
The 28-day figure is a statutory floor, not a ceiling. Employers can, and many do offer more. Some common packages include 25 days plus bank holidays, or 30 days inclusive of bank holidays. Whatever is stated in the employment contract is what applies, as long as it is at least 28 days.
Key points on the 28-day rule
- Full-time workers (5 days a week): 28 days minimum (5 x 5.6 = 28 days)
- Part-time workers: Proportional entitlement based on days worked per week
- Workers on irregular hours: Calculated using the 52-week average earnings rule (introduced in April 2020)
- Statutory leave cap: Even if someone works more than 5 days a week, the statutory minimum remains capped at 28 days, unless the employer contractually offers more
- Zero hours workers: Entitled to 5.6 weeks, calculated in hours based on hours actually worked
What is Pro Rata Holiday Entitlement?
Pro rata holiday entitlement means a worker receives a proportionate share of the full annual leave entitlement, based on how much of the year they have worked or how many days per week they work. The Latin phrase ‘pro rata’ simply means ‘in proportion.’
It applies in two main situations. First, when a worker joins or leaves mid-way through the leave year, they are only entitled to the portion of annual leave that corresponds to the part of the year they worked. Second, for part-time employees, who work fewer days per week than a full-time colleague and therefore receive fewer days of leave, but at the same proportional rate.
Three scenarios where pro rata applies
- New starter joining mid-year: Entitled to leave from their start date to the end of the leave year, proportional to time remaining
- Leaver leaving mid-year: Entitled to leave earned up to their last working day, minus any leave already taken
- Part-time or reduced-hours worker: Entitled to 5.6 weeks but measured in days proportionate to their working pattern
The key principle is that part-time and irregular workers must not be treated less favourably than full-time workers. They receive the same number of weeks — just fewer days in total because their working week is shorter.
How Do You Calculate Holiday Pro Rata?
The core formula is straightforward. For a part-time worker, multiply the number of days they work per week by 5.6 to get their annual entitlement. For a worker starting or leaving mid-year, you work out what proportion of the year applies and multiply accordingly.
Part-time pro rata formula
Days worked per week × 5.6 = Annual leave entitlement in days
Example: A worker works 4 days a week. 4 × 5.6 = 22.4 days. Rounded up to the nearest half day = 22.5 days.
Mid-year starter pro rata formula
(Remaining months in leave year ÷ 12) × Full annual entitlement = Pro rata entitlement
Example: A worker joins on 1 July and the leave year runs January to December. Remaining months = 6. (6 ÷ 12) × 28 = 14 days for the remainder of the year.
Mid-year leaver pro rata formula
(Months worked ÷ 12) × Full annual entitlement − Leave already taken = Remaining entitlement (or excess)
Example: A worker leaves on 31 March. Months worked = 3. (3 ÷ 12) × 28 = 7 days accrued. If they’ve taken 5 days already, they’re owed 2 more days, or 2 days’ payment in lieu.
Can I still use 12.07% to calculate holiday pay?
No, the 12.07% method was officially ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court in 2022 (Harpur Trust v Brazel) for workers with irregular hours. It was commonly used to calculate holiday pay for term-time and casual workers but the court found it produced an unfair result for these workers.
Since April 2024, the government introduced a new ‘irregular hours workers’ and ‘part-year workers’ category with an accrual method of 12.07% only applicable to this defined group, but it must be applied in a specific way set out in the new regulations. If you were using 12.07% as a blanket shortcut for all workers, you should review your approach now.
Automating Holiday Entitlement Calculation for All Team Members
Manually calculating holiday entitlement for every member of your team, especially when you have a mix of full-time, part-time, and irregular-hours workers — is time-consuming and prone to error. A single mistake can expose your business to underpayment claims or HMRC scrutiny.
For micro businesses and small employers in particular, the admin burden can take up time that is better spent running the business. That is where automation makes a real difference.
What automation looks like in practice
- Entering a start date automatically triggers a pro rata calculation for the rest of the leave year
- Changes to working hours or days are reflected immediately in leave balances
- Leavers’ entitlements are calculated on their final day without needing a spreadsheet
- Year-end rollover rules are applied consistently across the whole team
- Carry over and TOIL balances are tracked alongside standard leave
You don’t need expensive HR software to get these benefits. Our Holiday Pay Entitlement Calculator UK does the hard work instantly. Simply input the working pattern and leave year details, and the calculator returns an accurate entitlement figure, no formulas needed.
For businesses with more than a handful of employees, pairing the calculator with a simple leave tracking spreadsheet or a cloud-based system ensures your records are accurate if HMRC or an employment tribunal ever asks to see them.
How Do You Calculate Holiday Pay for Your Team Members?
Knowing how many days off someone is entitled to is only half the picture. You also need to calculate how much to pay them on those days. This is where many employers, including well-intentioned ones, get it wrong.
The 52-week average rule
Since April 2020, workers with variable or irregular earnings (including those with regular overtime, commission, or shift allowances) must have their holiday pay calculated as an average of their earnings over the previous 52 weeks. Only weeks in which the worker was paid count, if they had unpaid weeks, you go further back to find 52 paid weeks, up to a maximum of 104 weeks.
For workers with fixed pay
If a worker earns a fixed salary with no variable elements, no overtime, no commission, no shift premiums, holiday pay is simply their normal daily or weekly rate of pay. Divide their annual salary by the number of working days in the year to get their daily rate, then multiply by the number of days’ leave taken.
Daily rate = Annual salary ÷ Number of contracted working days per year
What to include in the holiday pay calculation
- Regular overtime: Voluntary overtime that is sufficiently regular and settled must be included
- Regular commission: Including guaranteed and non-guaranteed commission
- Shift allowances and bonuses: Payments that are intrinsically linked to carrying out the work
- What to exclude: Expenses, one-off bonuses, purely discretionary payments
Failing to include regular variable pay in holiday pay calculations is one of the most common sources of employment tribunal claims in the UK. If your workers regularly earn overtime and you have been paying holiday pay at basic rate only, you may have underpayment liabilities going back up to two years.
How Do I Keep Track of All Types of Leave?
Annual leave is only one of several types of leave your workers may be entitled to. Keeping a clear, consistent record of all leave types protects both the business and the employee, and helps you stay on top of accruals, carry overs, and PILON calculations when someone leaves.
Main types of leave to track in the UK
- Annual leave: Statutory minimum 28 days for full-time workers; must be recorded, tracked against entitlement, and paid correctly
- Sick leave: Up to 28 weeks of Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) at the current rate. Workers continue to accrue annual leave while off sick
- Maternity leave: Up to 52 weeks (26 ordinary + 26 additional). Annual leave continues to accrue throughout
- Paternity leave: Up to 2 weeks. Annual leave accrues throughout
- Shared Parental Leave: Leave and pay continue to accrue as normal
- Bereavement and compassionate leave: No statutory entitlement beyond the right to ‘time off for dependants.’ Best practice is a written policy
- Jury service: Workers have the right not to be dismissed for attending. Pay arrangements vary by employer
- TOIL (Time off in lieu): Should be tracked separately, see section below
The most reliable way to track all leave types is to record every absence with a category, a start and end date, and whether it was paid or unpaid. A shared document, a cloud-based spreadsheet, or a simple HR tool all work, what matters is consistency and accessibility.
If you are recording leave in a spreadsheet, create separate tabs or columns for each leave type and reconcile annually. This makes it far easier to spot if someone has accrued more annual leave during a period of sick or parental leave than their balance currently shows.
Should I Include UK Bank Holidays in My Calculations?
This is one of the most common questions employers ask, and the answer depends entirely on how your employment contracts are written.
There is no automatic legal right for workers to have bank holidays off, paid. The 28-day statutory minimum can be made up of any combination of days the employer chooses to designate as leave days, including bank holidays. This means:
- Option A (most common): 25 days contractual leave + 8 bank holidays = 33 days total. Bank holidays are on top of the statutory 28.
- Option B: 28 days inclusive of bank holidays = 20 days contractual + 8 bank holidays. This meets the statutory minimum but gives no extra days.
- Option C: 28 days with no specific reference to bank holidays. Workers are expected to use their 28 days to cover bank holidays they do not work.
For part-time workers, bank holidays need careful thought. If a part-time worker never works on a Monday and all the bank holidays fall on Mondays (Easter Monday, Christmas if it’s a Monday, etc.), they effectively miss out on the benefit that their full-time colleagues receive. To treat part-time workers fairly, many employers give part-time workers a proportionate number of bank holiday days they can take on any day of their choosing.
How Many Holidays Do My Employees Accrue Per Month?
Holiday accrual is the process by which an employee ‘earns’ their annual leave entitlement over the course of the year, rather than receiving it all in one go on day one. Most UK employees accrue leave across the full leave year, but the rate at which they accrue it matters when someone starts or leaves mid-year.
Monthly accrual rate for a full-time worker
A full-time employee with 28 days’ entitlement accrues 2.33 days per month (28 ÷ 12 = 2.33). Over a full leave year, this adds up to 28 days exactly.
Other accrual examples
Working Pattern | Annual Entitlement | Accrual Per Month |
5 days/week (full-time) | 28 days | 2.33 days |
4 days/week | 22.4 days (round up to 22.5) | 1.87 days |
3 days/week | 16.8 days (round up to 17) | 1.42 days |
2 days/week | 11.2 days (round up to 11.5) | 0.93 days |
Important: Workers continue to accrue their full annual leave entitlement while they are on sick leave, maternity leave, paternity leave, or shared parental leave. You cannot reduce or stop accrual during these periods.
Zero hours workers accrue leave in hours, not days. The current entitlement is 12.07% of hours worked for the new category of ‘irregular hours workers’ as defined since April 2024, but this only applies to this specific legal category.
What is Carry Over Holiday?
Carry over (also called holiday rollover) refers to unused annual leave that an employee is allowed to move from one leave year into the next, rather than losing it at the year end.
What does the law say about carry over?
Under normal circumstances, there is no automatic right to carry over unused statutory leave. Workers are expected to take their full 28-day entitlement within the leave year. If they don’t, they generally lose it unless:
- The employer agrees to carry over: This can be written into the employment contract or a staff handbook as a discretionary entitlement
- The worker could not take leave due to illness: Workers who were unable to take their leave because of sickness can carry over up to 4 weeks of statutory leave into the next leave year
- The worker was on parental leave: Annual leave that could not be taken due to maternity, paternity, or adoption leave can be carried forward
- The employer failed to allow or encourage leave: Following the ECJ case Kreuziger v Land Berlin, if an employer did not give a worker a realistic opportunity to take their leave, the worker may not lose it
Many UK businesses allow a limited carry over as a goodwill gesture, often 5 days, even without a legal obligation to do so. If you want to limit carry over, the cleanest approach is to state your maximum in the employment contract (e.g., ‘up to 5 days of unused annual leave may be carried forward into the next leave year, subject to management approval’) and apply the policy consistently.
📌 2023 Update: Following new regulations introduced in January 2024 (applying from January 2025 onwards), workers who are unable to take their accrued statutory leave due to being on certain types of family leave can now carry over up to 28 days, the full statutory entitlement, not just the 4-week minimum.
What Are TOIL and PILON?
TOIL – Time Off in Lieu
TOIL stands for Time Off in Lieu. It is a common arrangement where, instead of being paid extra for overtime, a worker receives paid time off in exchange for the extra hours worked. TOIL is not a statutory right, it is entirely at the employer’s discretion and should be set out in the employment contract or a specific TOIL policy.
For example, if an employee works an extra 4 hours on a Saturday to meet a deadline, the employer may agree to give them half a day off during the following week in lieu of payment. TOIL arrangements vary significantly, some employers require TOIL to be taken within a set time window (e.g., within the same month), while others allow it to accumulate like a separate leave balance.
TOIL should always be tracked separately from standard annual leave. This is important when calculating a leaver’s final pay, because TOIL that was promised but not taken may need to be paid out, but only if the TOIL policy explicitly says so.
PILON — Payment in Lieu of Notice
PILON stands for Payment in Lieu of Notice. It means that instead of requiring a worker to work out their notice period, the employer pays them the equivalent amount of salary for that notice period and ends employment immediately.
PILON is relevant to holiday pay calculations when a worker leaves mid-year with unused annual leave. If a worker has accrued but untaken leave at the end of their employment, the employer must pay this out. This payment is sometimes called ‘holiday pay in lieu’ or simply ‘pay for untaken leave.’
Formula: Days accrued − Days taken = Days owed
Days owed × Daily pay rate = PILON for holiday
Conversely, if a worker has taken more leave than they have accrued by their leaving date, the employer may be entitled to deduct the excess from their final pay, but only if this right is clearly stated in the employment contract.
Since April 2018, all PILON payments are subject to income tax and National Insurance, regardless of whether the employment contract contains a PILON clause.
FAQs: Holiday Pay Entitlement Calculator
How do I calculate my holiday entitlement in the UK?
Multiply the number of days you work per week by 5.6. The result is your annual leave entitlement in days. A 5-day week gives 28 days; a 3-day week gives 16.8 days (rounded up to 17). If you started or are leaving mid-year, multiply your full entitlement by the fraction of the year you will have worked and round up to the nearest half day.
How much holiday do I get if I work 30 hours a week?
Your holiday entitlement depends on how those 30 hours are spread across the week, not just the total. If you work 5 days a week (6 hours each), you are entitled to the full 28 days. If you work 4 days a week (7.5 hours each), your entitlement is 4 × 5.6 = 22.4 days (rounded up to 22.5). If irregular, your employer should calculate using a 52-week average of hours worked and apply the 12.07% accrual method if you fall within the new irregular hours worker rules.
What are the rules for holiday pay in the UK?
All workers (not just employees) are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid annual leave from day one. Holiday pay must reflect normal remuneration — including regular overtime and regular commission. Workers on sick leave, maternity or paternity leave continue to accrue leave. Leave cannot generally be replaced with a payment while employment continues (this is called ‘rolled-up holiday pay’ and is unlawful for workers employed on an ongoing basis, though it is now permitted for the specific ‘irregular hours workers’ category introduced in April 2024).
Can I still use 12.07% to calculate holiday pay?
Only in limited circumstances. Following the Supreme Court ruling in Harpur Trust v Brazel (2022), using 12.07% as a blanket calculation method was ruled unlawful. However, since April 2024 new regulations have introduced a specific legal category of ‘irregular hours workers’ and ‘part-year workers’ for whom a 12.07% accrual method is now the prescribed approach. For all other workers, full-time, regular part-time, you should use the days-based or hours-based calculation instead.
Do bank holidays count as part of the 28-day entitlement?
They can, but only if your employment contract says so. There is no automatic legal right to bank holidays off. Your employer can include the 8 bank holidays within the 28-day statutory minimum or grant them separately on top. Check your contract to see which arrangement applies to you.
What happens to my holiday if I'm off sick?
You continue to accrue annual leave throughout your sickness absence. If you are too ill to take your leave during the leave year, you have the right to carry forward up to 4 weeks of unused statutory leave (28 days minus the first 4 weeks) into the next leave year. This cannot be denied. Many employers’ contracts allow more generous carry over than this minimum.
Does holiday pay include overtime?
Yes, if the overtime is regular and sufficiently settled. Following the Supreme Court judgment in Flowers v East of England Ambulance Trust (2021), regular voluntary overtime that is genuinely regular must be included in holiday pay calculations. One-off or genuinely irregular overtime can be excluded. If you are not sure whether your overtime qualifies, the safest approach is to include it in the 52-week average calculation.
Can my employer refuse to let me take my annual leave?
Yes, employers can refuse specific leave dates for legitimate business reasons, but they cannot prevent you from taking your full annual leave entitlement during the leave year. They must give reasonable notice of any refusal (at least as much notice as the length of the leave requested). If they prevent you from taking your leave, you may be entitled to carry it over.
What is the holiday entitlement for a zero hours contract?
Zero hours workers are entitled to the full 5.6 weeks of statutory annual leave. Since April 2024, workers on zero hours contracts generally fall within the new ‘irregular hours workers’ category. Their leave accrues at 12.07% of hours worked in each pay period, and the pay they receive on leave days must reflect their average earnings over the previous 52 weeks.
How many days of holiday do I accrue in my notice period?
You continue to accrue annual leave throughout your notice period, whether you are working it or on garden leave. If you have accrued but untaken leave at your leaving date that cannot be taken before then, your employer must pay it out as PILON. If you are on garden leave, your employer can require you to take annual leave during this period, but they must give the correct notice (at least twice the number of days of leave to be taken).
Can my employer pay me instead of giving me time off (rolled-up holiday pay)?
For regular ongoing workers, no. Paying an extra percentage on top of normal wages instead of giving paid leave was ruled unlawful for most workers. However, from April 2024, rolled-up holiday pay is now lawfully permitted for irregular hours workers and part-year workers under the new regulations, but it must be calculated correctly at 12.07% of wages earned and itemised clearly on payslips.
What is the leave year and does my employer choose it?
The leave year is the 12-month period over which your annual leave entitlement is calculated. Unless the employment contract specifies otherwise, it defaults to 1 October to 30 September under the Working Time Regulations. However, most employers set their own leave year, often 1 January to 31 December, or aligned with the tax year (6 April to 5 April). The start of your leave year affects how pro rata calculations work when you join or leave.
Do workers on maternity or paternity leave get annual leave?
Yes, workers on maternity, paternity, shared parental, or adoption leave continue to accrue their full annual leave entitlement throughout, including on the weeks during which they receive statutory pay only. Leave that cannot be taken during the maternity or paternity period can be carried over into the next leave year, in full.
What happens if I leave a job having taken more holiday than I've accrued?
If you have taken more annual leave than you have accrued by your leaving date, your employer may deduct the equivalent pay from your final salary, but only if your employment contract expressly allows for this. Without that contract clause, the employer cannot make the deduction and would need to pursue the overpayment through other means.
Is there a maximum amount of holiday an employer can offer?
No, the law only sets a minimum of 5.6 weeks (28 days for full-time workers). Employers are free to offer as much annual leave as they wish above this floor. Some companies offer unlimited holiday policies, though these come with their own management challenges. Whatever entitlement is offered above the statutory minimum is a contractual right, and employees can enforce it in the same way as the statutory entitlement.