UK Holiday Entitlement Rights 2026: Annual Leave Guide

Every worker in the UK has a legal right to paid time off. Whether you work full-time, part-time, on a zero-hours contract, or as an agency worker, you are entitled to a minimum amount of annual leave. This guide covers exactly how much holiday you should be getting, how it works for different employment types, and what happens with bank holidays, accrual, and carrying over unused days.

The Statutory Minimum

Under the Working Time Regulations 1998, almost all workers in the UK are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday per year. For someone working a standard 5-day week, that works out to 28 days. This is the legal minimum, and your employer cannot offer you less.

The 28-day figure is also the cap on the statutory entitlement. Even if you work 6 or 7 days per week, the maximum statutory holiday remains 28 days. Of course, many employers offer more than the minimum, and any additional days are a contractual benefit rather than a statutory right.

Bank Holidays and Your Entitlement

There are 8 permanent bank holidays in England and Wales each year. A common misconception is that you automatically get these as paid days off on top of your holiday allowance. In reality, your employer can include them within your 28-day statutory minimum.

Check your contract or employee handbook. The phrase "20 days plus bank holidays" means you get 28 total, which equals the statutory minimum. "25 days plus bank holidays" means 33 total, which exceeds the minimum by 5 days.

Holiday Entitlement for Part-Time Workers

Part-time workers receive a pro-rata share of the 5.6-week entitlement. The calculation is straightforward: multiply the number of days you work per week by 5.6.

If you work irregular hours or shifts, your employer should calculate your entitlement in hours rather than days. This avoids the situation where a part-time worker uses a "day" of holiday but only actually misses a short shift.

Zero-Hours and Irregular Workers

Zero-hours contract workers have the same statutory right to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday. Because their hours vary, the entitlement is typically calculated using the 12.07% method: multiply total hours worked by 12.07% to get the holiday hours accrued. This percentage comes from dividing 5.6 weeks by the 46.4 working weeks in a year (52 minus 5.6).

Some employers roll holiday pay into the hourly rate ("rolled-up holiday pay"). While this was previously considered unlawful, recent legislation has clarified that it is now permitted for irregular-hours and part-year workers, provided it is clearly shown as a separate line on the payslip.

How Holiday Accrues

Holiday begins to accrue from your first day of employment. During your first year, you build up entitlement at a rate of one-twelfth of your annual allowance per month. After the first year, most employers grant the full entitlement at the start of each leave year.

For example, if your annual entitlement is 28 days and you start on 1 July, by the end of December you will have accrued 14 days (6 months x 28/12).

Taking Holiday in Your Notice Period

You can request to take accrued holiday during your notice period, and your employer can also require you to take it. If you leave a job with unused accrued holiday, your employer must pay you for those untaken days in your final payslip. Equally, if you have taken more holiday than you have accrued, your employer can deduct the excess from your final pay (if your contract allows).

Carrying Over Unused Holiday

The statutory position on carry-over has two layers:

• The first 4 weeks (20 days) originate from EU working time rules. These generally cannot be carried over and are lost if not taken, with exceptions for sickness, maternity, or where the employer prevented the worker from taking leave.
• The additional 1.6 weeks (8 days) are a UK-specific top-up. These can be carried over to the following year if agreed in your contract or by a workforce agreement.

Many employers have their own carry-over policies allowing a set number of days (commonly 5) to roll into the next year. Always check your contract for the specific terms.

Holiday During Sick Leave and Maternity

Holiday continues to accrue during periods of sick leave and maternity, paternity, adoption, or shared parental leave. If you are too ill to take your holiday before the leave year ends, you can carry over up to 4 weeks of statutory leave into the following year. For maternity leave, any accrued but untaken holiday can be carried over regardless of normal carry-over limits.

UK Bank Holidays in 2026