Holiday entitlement calculator
Work out your statutory paid holiday in the UK: 5.6 weeks a year, up to 28 days. It handles part-time days or hours, irregular hours and part-year work (12.07% of hours worked), starting or leaving part way through the leave year, and bank holidays.
How do you work?
Half days are fine, like 2.5. Fill in the company figure if your contract gives more than the legal minimum; it's pro-rated from a 5-day week.
The days are only used for the 28-day cap and to show the answer in days.
Use the hours actually worked in one pay period (a week or a month), or add several up with +, like 30 + 22 + 41. Include overtime. Each pay period is rounded separately. This accrual method applies to leave years that started on or after 1 April 2024.
Your contract says when the leave year starts, often 1 January or 1 April. If it doesn't say, it starts on the day you started the job, so you'd only need this for a leaving date.
Updates as you type. Runs in your browser. Nothing you enter is stored or sent.
How this calculator works
Almost every worker in the UK is entitled to 5.6 weeks' paid holiday a year, known as statutory leave. The calculator follows the rules on GOV.UK's holiday entitlement pages:
- Set days a week: days × 5.6. Five days a week gives 28 days; three days a week gives 16.8 days.
- The 28-day cap: statutory paid holiday is limited to 28 days, so someone working 6 days a week still gets 28 days, not 33.6.
- Set hours a week: hours × 5.6. A 37.5-hour week gives 210 hours. If you work more than 5 days, the hours are capped at 28 of your days.
- Irregular hours and part-year workers: for leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024, holiday builds up at 12.07% of the hours worked in each pay period, and GOV.UK says it's rounded up to the nearest hour when it's half an hour or more. 30 hours worked earns 3.621 hours, so 4 hours. You can take it from the next pay period.
- Part of a leave year: if you start or leave part way through, you get the share of the year you're employed for. The calculator counts the days from your start (or the leave year start) to your leaving date (or the leave year end) and divides by the days in the leave year.
The answer is the legal minimum. Your contract can give you more, and many do: put the full-time figure in "Company holiday" to see your pro-rata share and check it's at least the statutory amount. Days are shown to two decimal places, with a half-day figure next to them, since many employers round up to the nearest half day (GOV.UK's own example for a starter's first month does this).
Bank holidays
There's no legal right to paid time off on bank holidays. Your employer can count them as part of your 5.6 weeks, or give them on top. In a usual year there are 8 bank holidays in England and Wales, 9 in Scotland and 10 in Northern Ireland (see UK bank holidays on GOV.UK).
For someone full-time on 28 days that include bank holidays in England, 8 go on the bank holidays and 20 are left to book. Part-timers are a bit different: most bank holidays fall on a Monday, so whether they land on your working days depends on your pattern. The calculator estimates your share as bank holidays × days a week ÷ 5, which is the fair pro-rata way most employers use.
| Days a week | Statutory days | Hours (7.5h days) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5.6 | 42 |
| 2 | 11.2 | 84 |
| 2.5 | 14 | 105 |
| 3 | 16.8 | 126 |
| 4 | 22.4 | 168 |
| 4.5 | 25.2 | 189 |
| 5 | 28 | 210 |
| 6 | 28 (cap) | 210 |
Irregular hours and the 12.07% rule
If the hours you work in a pay period often or always change (irregular hours), or there are weeks in the year where you don't work and aren't paid (part-year, like term-time staff), holiday is worked out from the hours you've already done. Each pay period you build up 12.07% of the hours you worked.
The 12.07% comes from 5.6 weeks of holiday out of the 46.4 weeks a year you'd work if you took it all (5.6 ÷ 46.4 = 0.1207). So working every week for a year at 30 hours builds up 5.6 × 30 = 168 hours, the same as a fixed-hours worker.
For these workers, employers can also use "rolled-up holiday pay", paying 12.07% on top of pay each period instead of paying when you take time off. GOV.UK explains it in holiday pay.
Tips
- Check your leave year. Your contract should say when it runs, often January to December or April to March. If it doesn't, it starts on the day you started the job.
- Leaving a job? You're paid for statutory holiday you've built up and not taken. That's the only time holiday can be paid instead of taken. If you've taken more than you'd built up, your employer can only take it back from your final pay if you agreed that in writing beforehand.
- In your first year, holiday can build up month by month: one twelfth of the year's leave at the start of each month. GOV.UK's example has someone who starts on 13 January getting 2.5 days for January (28 ÷ 12 = 2.33, rounded up to the nearest half day).
- Booking time off? The working days calculator counts the working days between two dates, leaving out weekends and bank holidays.
- Carrying holiday over: with 28 days you can usually carry over up to 8 days if your contract allows it. There are extra rules if you couldn't take leave because of sickness or family leave.
- Wondering what a week's holiday pay comes to? For fixed hours it's a normal week's pay, and the take-home pay calculator shows what that is after tax.
Frequently asked questions
How many days' holiday am I entitled to?
5.6 weeks a year. For a 5-day week that's 28 days, and 28 days is the most statutory paid holiday anyone gets, even on a 6-day week. Part-timers get days a week × 5.6, so 3 days a week is 16.8 days.
Are bank holidays included in the 28 days?
They can be. There's no legal right to paid bank holidays, so your employer can count them as part of the 28 days or give them on top. Your contract says which.
How do I work out pro rata holiday for part-time work?
Multiply the full-time holiday by your days and divide by the full-time days. On a contract of 25 days plus bank holidays for a 5-day week, 3 days a week gives 25 × 3 ÷ 5 = 15 days, plus your share of the bank holidays. It must still be at least 5.6 weeks of your working week.
How is holiday worked out if I start part way through the year?
You get the share of the leave year left when you start. Starting a January-to-December leave year on 1 July, full-time, gives 28 × 184 ÷ 365 = about 14.1 days. In your first year it can be given a twelfth at a time, month by month.
What is 12.07% holiday?
It's how holiday builds up for irregular-hours and part-year workers in leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024: 12.07% of the hours worked in each pay period. 20 hours earns 2.414 hours; 40 hours earns 4.828, so 5 hours after rounding.
Does the 12.07% rule apply to me if I have set hours?
No. If you work the same hours or days each week you get a fixed 5.6 weeks a year, worked out from your normal week, and the calculator's first two options cover that.
Do I get paid for holiday I haven't taken when I leave?
Yes, for statutory holiday you've built up but not taken, even if you're dismissed. Use the "part way through the leave year" option with your leaving date to see how much you've built up, and enter the days you've taken.
Does it save what I type?
No. Everything is worked out in your browser, and nothing is stored or sent anywhere.
Results are estimates for illustration, based on GOV.UK's guidance on holiday entitlement (checked November 2026). They aren't legal advice. Your contract may give more than the statutory minimum. For help with a problem at work, contact Acas.