Holiday Entitlement Calculator

Use our calculator to easily figure out holiday time for employees, whether they joined part-way through the year or work part-time. Perfect for UK businesses.

Download it now

—

What is your holiday entitlement to in the UK?

Understanding your holiday entitlement in the UK can seem complex, given the variety of employment contracts and work patterns. However, it's essential to know how much paid leave you're eligible for, whether you work full-time, part-time, or on a flexible schedule.

In the UK, employees working a standard five-day week are entitled to 28 days of paid leave annually. This equates to 5.6 weeks of holiday, aligning with the statutory requirement.

Employers may choose to include bank holidays within this entitlement. The statutory minimum for full-time employees is 28 days, with adjustments made for part-time positions.

For Part-Time Employees

If you're a part-time employee, your holiday entitlement is proportional to your work hours. Simply put, the fewer days you work each week, the fewer holidays you're entitled to, based on a calculation that considers your typical workweek. For instance, if someone works four days a week (e.g., Monday to Thursday).

For Shift Workers and Term-Time Employees

Individuals working irregular hours, including shift work or term-time contracts, calculate their holiday based on the total hours worked, rather than specific days. This ensures fairness, regardless of the work pattern.

What Is Pro Rata Holiday Entitlement?

Pro rata holiday entitlement is calculated according to the number of hours an employee is contracted to work, ensuring part-time and irregular-hour workers receive a fair share of holiday relative to their hours.

Download it now

How Do You Calculate Holiday Pro Rata for Part time?

Calculating pro rata holiday for part-time or mid-year starters can be straightforward but requires attention to detail. For part-time employees, you would multiply the full-time entitlement (5.6 weeks) by the number of days they work per week.

Example Calculation

Example 1 Matthew works 4 days per week, with each day being 8 hours long. His statutory leave entitlement is the lower of 28 days or 5.6 x 4 days per week, which is 22.4 days. Therefore, Andrew’s statutory leave entitlement is 22.4 days.

Example 2 Peter works 3 days per week. Her statutory leave entitlement is the lower of 28 days or 5.6 x 3 days per week which is 16.8 days. Therefore, Beckie’s statutory leave entitlement is 17.0 days.

This ensures everyone receives a fair and proportional amount of holiday, aligning with their work pattern and hours.

Calculating Holiday Entitlement for Team Members Starting or Leaving Mid-Year

When a team member joins your organisation partway through the year, their holiday entitlement should be pro-rated based on the number of months they will have worked by the end of the leave year.

Example

Charlie commences employment on Monday, 2 September 2024, working a five-day week. His contract specifies that the leave year begins on 1 April 2024 and concludes on 31 March 2025. Between 2 September 2024 and 31 March 2025, Charlie is employed for seven months.

Step 1 – Calculate Full Annual Leave Entitlement

Determine Charlie’s full annual leave entitlement as outlined in Section 1: Days per Week. Over a full year, Charlie would be entitled to either 28 days or 5.6 times his weekly working days (also totalling 28 days). Therefore, his full annual leave entitlement amounts to 28 days.

Step 2 – Pro-rate Based on the Number of Months Worked

Charlie is employed for 7 out of the 12 months in the leave year. This duration is utilised to pro-rate his entitlement:

28 days x (7 ÷ 12) = 16.33 days

Step 3 – Rounding of Fractions

When the calculation results in a fraction of a day, round up to the nearest half or whole day, whichever is closer. In this case, 16.33 is rounded to 16.5 days. Consequently, Charlie’s holiday entitlement until the end of the leave year is 16.5 days.

The procedure for calculating holiday entitlement for an employee departing during the year mirrors that of an employee starting partway through the year, as demonstrated in the previous example.

Important Consideration: It is essential to deduct any holiday already taken by the employee from their final entitlement and adjust their final pay accordingly, either by adding pay for unused holiday or deducting pay for holiday taken in excess of their entitlement.

Bank Holiday

In England, Wales, and Scotland, there are 8 bank holidays, 9 in Scotland, and 10 in Northern Ireland. It is at the employer's discretion to determine whether bank holidays are included within the holiday entitlement. For part-time employees, entitlement to bank holidays should be pro-rated, ensuring they receive a fair proportion of bank holidays comparable to their full-time counterparts. You can check the bank holidays for 2024 here.

Carry Over

The decision to allow employees to carry over holiday entitlement into the next year is at the business's discretion. Employers are encouraged to find a balance that promotes both operational efficiency and employee well-being, ensuring staff have ample opportunity to utilise their holiday entitlement for rest and recuperation.

How Many Holidays Do I Accrue Per Month

If your holiday entitlement is 28 days, it means that each month, your team members should accrue an average of 2.3 days of holiday entitlement. The most accurate way to calculate this is by dividing the total by 12.