Holiday entitlement calculator
Almost every UK worker is entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year, capped at 28 days. Full time, that is 28 days. Part time, it is 5.6 weeks times the days or hours they work a week. Work out anyone’s, starters and leavers included.
Holiday entitlement, worked out
The answers for the most common cases, from the calculator above. Statutory holiday only: a contract can always give more.
| Who | Statutory holiday |
|---|---|
| Full time, 5 days a week, the whole year | 28 days of statutory holiday a year |
| 6 days a week, the whole year | 28 days of statutory holiday a year |
| Part time, 3 days a week | 16.8 days of statutory holiday a year |
| Part time, 2.5 days a week | 14 days of statutory holiday a year |
| 22.5 hours a week over 3 days | 126 hours of statutory holiday a year |
| Full time, starting 1 June, leave year from 1 January | 16.5 days of statutory holiday for this leave year |
| Irregular hours, 30 hours worked in the pay period | 4 hours of holiday for this pay period |
The figures used
Read from the same statutory reference data KivoHR’s leave screens use, and checked against GOV.UK.
- Statutory holiday a year
- 5.6 weeks
Source: Holiday entitlement, GOV.UK (opens in a new tab), checked 20 Oct 2026
- The most it can be
- 28 days
Source: Holiday entitlement, GOV.UK (opens in a new tab), checked 20 Oct 2026
- Irregular hours and part-year workers
- 12.07% of hours worked
Source: Calculate leave entitlement, GOV.UK (opens in a new tab), checked 20 Oct 2026
The steps follow GOV.UK’s own holiday entitlement calculator, including its rounding. It covers statutory holiday only, for workers in England, Scotland and Wales. Shift patterns, annualised and compressed hours, and leave years that started before 1 April 2024 for irregular hours: use GOV.UK’s calculator.
This calculator gives the legal minimum as guidance, not legal advice. For one person’s situation, check their contract, or ask Acas (0300 123 1100, free) or a solicitor.
Let KivoHR keep the count
KivoHR works out every person’s entitlement from their contract: pro rata for starters and leavers, 12.07% accrual from approved hours, bank holidays and carry-over, and rolled-up holiday pay sent to payroll as its own line. Balances update as leave is booked, so nobody needs this calculator twice.
Holiday entitlement questions.
How much holiday is a full-time worker entitled to?
Someone working 5 days a week is entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year, which is 28 days. Working 6 or 7 days a week does not add to it: statutory holiday is never more than 28 days. Bank holidays can count towards it.
How do I work out holiday for a part-time worker?
Multiply the days they work a week by 5.6. Someone working 3 days a week gets 16.8 days. For hours, multiply the hours they work a week by the same number.
How is holiday worked out for someone starting part-way through the year?
GOV.UK counts the months of the leave year they will work, including the month they start, divides by 12, and rounds up to the nearest half day. Someone full time starting on 1 June in a leave year that began on 1 January works 7 months: 28 × 7 ÷ 12 = 16.33, rounded up to 16.5 days.
How is holiday worked out for a leaver?
Take the days from the start of the leave year to their last day, divide by the days in the year (366 if it includes 29 February), and multiply by their yearly entitlement. Holiday they have built up but not taken is paid in their final pay.
What is the 12.07% rule for irregular hours?
For leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024, irregular-hours and part-year workers in England, Scotland and Wales build up holiday at 12.07% of the hours they work in each pay period: 30 hours worked gives 3.621 hours, which rounds to 4 hours.
What is rolled-up holiday pay?
For leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024, an employer in England, Scotland or Wales may pay irregular-hours and part-year workers their holiday pay with each pay packet, instead of when they take the leave: 12.07% of their pay for the period, shown as its own line on the payslip. They still take their holiday, unpaid at the time, since they have already been paid for it. On £500 of pay, that is £60.35 of holiday pay on top.
Who can be paid rolled-up holiday pay?
Only irregular-hours workers (whose paid hours vary wholly or mostly from week to week) and part-year workers (who work only part of the year, with weeks off that are neither worked nor paid). Anyone else must be paid when they take their leave.
Can an employer round holiday down?
No. An employer can round holiday entitlement up but never down, and can always give more than the statutory minimum in the contract.
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