Your leave at a glance
Quick holiday reference
| Days per week | Statutory entitlement | In weeks |
|---|---|---|
| 1 day | 5.6 days | 5.6 weeks |
| 2 days | 11.2 days | 5.6 weeks |
| 3 days | 16.8 days | 5.6 weeks |
| 4 days | 22.4 days | 5.6 weeks |
| 5 days | 28.0 days | 5.6 weeks |
| 6 days | 28.0 days | 5.6 weeks |
| 7 days | 28.0 days | 5.6 weeks |
Entitlement is capped at 28 days for workers doing 5 or more days per week.
How UK holiday entitlement works
Almost all workers in the UK are legally entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday per year. This includes full-time, part-time, agency workers, and those on zero-hours contracts. The entitlement is set out in the Working Time Regulations 1998.
Full-time workers (5 days per week)
This is the statutory maximum. Workers doing 5, 6, or 7 days per week all receive the same 28-day cap. Your employer may choose to include or exclude bank holidays within this total.
Part-time workers
Part-time workers receive a pro-rata entitlement. Someone working 3 days per week gets 16.8 days. Employers can round up to the nearest half day but cannot round down.
Irregular hours and annualised hours
From April 2024, the method for calculating holiday for irregular hours workers changed. Holiday entitlement accrues at 12.07% of hours worked in a pay period, and holiday pay is calculated at the rate of a week's pay for each week of leave taken.
Starting mid-year (pro-rata)
If you start part way through the leave year, your entitlement is calculated proportionally based on the remaining months. For example, starting 6 months into the year gives you half the annual entitlement for that first year.
Bank holidays by nation
England and Wales have 8 bank holidays per year. Scotland usually has 9 (2 January and St Andrew's Day, but no Easter Monday), and 10 in 2026 because of the one-off World Cup bank holiday. Northern Ireland has 10 (adding St Patrick's Day and the Battle of the Boyne). Whether your employer gives these as additional days or includes them in your 28-day entitlement depends on your contract.
Worked examples
Each example was run through the calculator above in full-time mode (5 days a week) with bank holidays counted inside the statutory total, which is how most UK contracts are written. They show statutory minimums only; your contract may give more.
Full year, 5 days a week, bank holidays included
5.6 weeks of a 5-day week is 28 days, which is also the legal cap. If your employer counts the 8 bank holidays in England and Wales towards it, you choose when to take the other 20 days. A contract that says "20 days plus bank holidays" gives exactly the statutory minimum, no more.
Starting on 1 October 2026 with an April to March leave year
About half the leave year is left when you join, so the calculator pro-rates the 28 days to 14 days for the period to 31 March 2027. Any bank holidays that fall in that window (Christmas Day and Boxing Day, for example) come out of those 14 days if your employer counts them as part of your leave.
Starting on 4 January 2027, same leave year
With under three months of the leave year left, the entitlement to 31 March 2027 is 6.7 days. Employers often round part days up to the nearest half day; they cannot round your statutory leave down.
Rules that change the answer
Part-time and the 28-day cap
Almost all workers get 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year. For a regular part-time pattern that is days worked times 5.6, so 3 days a week gives at least 16.8 days. Statutory leave is capped at 28 days, so someone working 6 days a week still gets 28. Bank holidays do not have to be given as paid leave on top; an employer can count them inside the 5.6 weeks (GOV.UK: Holiday entitlement, checked 30 October 2026).
Irregular hours and part-year workers
For leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024, irregular-hours and part-year workers build up 12.07% of the hours they work in each pay period, rounded up to the nearest hour from half an hour. GOV.UK's own example: 30 hours worked in a week earns 4 hours of leave. Their holiday is paid at their normal rate, and employers may use rolled-up holiday pay for them.
How many bank holidays
In 2026 there are 8 bank holidays in England and Wales, 10 in Scotland (including a one-off World Cup bank holiday) and 10 in Northern Ireland (GOV.UK: Bank holidays, checked 30 October 2026). This calculator uses the England and Wales count.
Carrying leave over
On 28 days you can carry over at most 8 days, unless you could not take leave because of sickness or family leave, or your employer did not give you a reasonable chance to take it or tell you it would be lost. Holiday keeps building up during maternity, paternity and adoption leave and while off sick.
Common mistakes
Reading "inclusive of bank holidays" as extra leave. It means the bank holidays are part of the total, not added to it.
Giving too little notice. Unless your contract says otherwise, you must give notice of at least twice the amount of leave you want, plus 1 day, so 3 days' notice for 1 day off. An employer cancelling leave must give notice equal to the leave plus 1 day.
Using the full-year figure in your first year. If you start part-way through the leave year you only get the share for the time left, as the second and third examples show. Your employer may instead let you build up one-twelfth of the year's leave each month.
How this calculator works: it multiplies the days you work each week by 5.6, caps the result at 28 days and, if you enter a start date, scales it by the share of the leave year left. Irregular-hours mode applies 12.07% to your weekly hours across the 46.4 weeks left for work once 5.6 weeks of leave are taken, so 20 hours a week gives 112 hours (5.6 weeks). Your actual entitlement is 12.07% of the hours you work in each pay period, so use your real hours where they vary. Rules were checked against GOV.UK on 30 October 2026, and our sources are listed on the methodology page. For holiday pay and your wider rights, see our holiday entitlement guide.