Holiday Entitlement Calculator 2026

How it's calculated

Statutory paid holiday in the UK is set by the Working Time Regulations 1998. Almost every worker — employees, agency staff and most casual workers — is entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid annual leave. A "week" of leave mirrors the working week, so the number of days you get depends on how many days you normally work. The formula is simply your usual days per week multiplied by 5.6: a 5-day week gives 28 days, a 4-day week gives 22.4 days, and a 3-day week gives 16.8 days. There is a statutory cap of 28 days, so working six or seven days a week does not earn you more than 28 days of guaranteed leave (though many contracts are more generous). Bank holidays are not automatically extra — the law lets an employer count the 8 England and Wales bank holidays towards the 5.6-week minimum, so always read your contract. Workers with no fixed schedule — zero-hours and other irregular-hours or part-year workers — accrue leave differently for leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024: they build up 12.07% of the hours actually worked in each pay period. Finally, if you join or leave part-way through the leave year, your entitlement is reduced in proportion to the months you work.

Full-time / part-time (regular days):
  Days = min(days per week × 5.6, 28)
  Hours = Days × (hours per week ÷ days per week)

Irregular / part-year workers:
  Holiday hours = hours worked × 12.07%
  where 12.07% = 5.6 ÷ (52 − 5.6)

Part leave year:
  Pro-rata entitlement = full-year entitlement × (months worked ÷ 12)

Worked example

Take a part-time worker contracted to 3 days (22.5 hours) a week at £14 an hour, employed for the whole leave year:

This worker is owed 16.8 days (126 hours) of paid leave, worth £1,764 over the year. Their effective leave is still 5.6 weeks — the same proportion a full-time colleague receives — confirming that part-time staff are not disadvantaged on a pro-rata basis.

When your result may differ

Your actual entitlement can be higher or calculated differently for several reasons. Many employers offer contractual leave above the statutory minimum — for example 25 days plus 8 bank holidays (33 days total) — and that extra leave can carry its own carry-over and pay rules. Bank holidays are the most common source of confusion: the 8 days can be counted inside the 5.6 weeks or granted on top, so a "28 days" contract and a "20 days plus bank holidays" contract are identical in law. Irregular-hours and part-year workers (zero-hours, term-time-only and casual staff) accrue 12.07% of hours worked rather than a fixed number of days, and from April 2024 may be paid "rolled-up" holiday pay added to each payslip. Statutory carry-over differs by leave type: the first 4 weeks generally cannot be carried over, while the extra 1.6 weeks can with employer agreement, and untaken leave due to sickness or family leave is protected. Leaving mid-year triggers a final pro-rata payment for accrued but unused days.

Rates and thresholds

Statutory holiday entitlement by working pattern — Working Time Regulations 1998, current for the 2026 leave year.

Sources & legal basis

Update log

• 2026-04-09 — Reviewed entitlement rules for the 2026 leave year; statutory minimum remains 5.6 weeks capped at 28 days.
• 2026-06-15 — Added worked example, working-pattern table and source table; documented the 12.07% accrual rule for irregular-hours and part-year workers.