Holiday Entitlement Calculator 2026/27
By Omair SaoLast reviewed — Working Time Regulations rules in force for leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024, and the record-keeping duty from 6 April 2026. See how we check our figures.
Work out how much paid holiday you are legally owed. The calculator pro-rates the 5.6-week statutory minimum for part-time hours and for starting or leaving part-way through the leave year. It also handles zero-hours and irregular hours workers, who accrue 12.07% of the hours they work. Add an hourly rate to see what your leave is worth in pounds.
Statutory holiday entitlement by working days
The legal minimum is 5.6 weeks a year for everyone from agency staff to company directors, capped at 28 days. These figures assume a full leave year.
| Days worked a week | Statutory holiday | Bank holidays share (England and Wales) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5.6 days | 1.6 of 8 |
| 2 | 11.2 days | 3.2 of 8 |
| 2.5 | 14.0 days | 4.0 of 8 |
| 3 | 16.8 days | 4.8 of 8 |
| 3.5 | 19.6 days | 5.6 of 8 |
| 4 | 22.4 days | 6.4 of 8 |
| 4.5 | 25.2 days | 7.2 of 8 |
| 5 | 28.0 days | 8.0 of 8 |
| 6 | 28.0 days (capped) | 8.0 of 8 |
Scotland has 9 bank holidays and Northern Ireland 10. Whether bank holidays sit inside or on top of the statutory minimum depends on your contract. Source: GOV.UK, holiday entitlement and GOV.UK, bank holidays.
Irregular hours: how the 12.07% rule works
12.07% is 5.6 weeks of holiday divided by the 46.4 weeks a full-year worker actually works. For each pay period your employer multiplies the hours you worked by 12.07% and rounds to the nearest hour. Leave then builds up as you go, and it accrues during sick leave and family leave at your average rate over the previous 52 weeks.
- Applies to irregular hours workers (hours wholly or mostly variable each pay period) and part-year workers (unpaid periods of at least a week), for leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024.
- Rolled-up holiday pay is lawful for these workers only: a 12.07% uplift on each payslip, itemised separately, in place of paid time off.
- Holiday pay for hours you take off must reflect your average pay over the last 52 paid weeks, including regular overtime and commission, not just basic pay.
- Employers must keep records of leave and holiday pay for six years from 6 April 2026, and the Fair Work Agency can now enforce underpayments.
What to do if your holiday is wrong
- Check your contract for the leave year dates, whether bank holidays are included and any contractual extra days.
- Compare the figure with this calculator and raise it in writing with your manager or HR, quoting the 5.6-week minimum.
- Ask Acas for free, confidential advice on 0300 123 1100 if your employer will not correct it.
- You can bring an employment tribunal claim for unpaid holiday within three months of the last underpayment; underpayments can be recovered for up to two years.
Who this holiday entitlement calculator is for
- Part-time workers who want to check that their holiday has been pro-rated correctly from the 28 days a full-timer gets.
- People starting or leaving a job part-way through the leave year, who only get the proportion of the year they were employed for.
- Zero-hours, casual, agency and term-time workers, whose holiday builds up at 12.07% of the hours they work in each pay period.
- Anyone leaving a job who wants to know how many untaken days they should be paid for in their final payslip.
- Small employers and managers checking the entitlement of a new starter, a part-timer or an irregular hours worker before setting it in the contract.
How the holiday entitlement calculator works
- 1
Start from 5.6 weeks
Almost every worker in the UK is entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year under the Working Time Regulations 1998. For someone on five days a week that is 28 days, and 28 days is also the cap: a six-day week still only earns 28 days. Part-timers get 5.6 times the days they work each week, so three days a week gives 16.8 days.
- 2
Switch to hours if your days vary in length
If you work fixed hours spread unevenly, or short days, it is fairer to count holiday in hours: 5.6 times your weekly hours. Someone on 20 hours a week gets 112 hours of paid leave a year, which they can take in whatever chunks their working pattern needs.
- 3
Pro-rate starters and leavers by calendar days
If you join or leave part-way through the leave year, the calculator counts the calendar days you were employed in that leave year and divides by the days in the year, the same method the GOV.UK calculator uses. Employers may round the result up to the nearest half day but must never round it down.
- 4
Accrue 12.07% for irregular hours
For leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024, irregular hours and part-year workers accrue leave at 12.07% of the hours worked in each pay period, rounded to the nearest hour (30 minutes or more rounds up). Employers can instead pay rolled-up holiday pay: a 12.07% uplift on each payslip, shown as a separate line.
- 5
Put a value on it
Enter an hourly rate and the calculator multiplies your entitlement by what a day or hour of holiday is worth to you. For leavers this is the pay in lieu you should receive for untaken leave, before tax and National Insurance.
Worked examples
Part-timer working three days a week
A shop assistant works Monday, Wednesday and Friday all year and the leave year runs from 1 January.
| Working days a week | 3 |
| Statutory entitlement5.6 weeks × 3 days | 16.8 days |
| Rounded up by the employer | 17 days |
| Bank holidays (England and Wales), if counted in the 16.88 × 3 ÷ 5 | 4.8 days |
Result: Whatever days the bank holidays fall on, this worker is due 16.8 days of paid leave. If the employer counts bank holidays inside that figure, 4.8 of the days are pre-allocated and 12 are left to book.
Starter joining on 1 July with a January leave year
A full-time worker on five days a week starts on 1 July 2026 in a leave year that runs 1 January to 31 December.
| Full-year entitlement | 28 days |
| Days employed in the leave year1 July to 31 December | 184 of 365 |
| Proportion of the year | 50.4% |
| Entitlement for the rest of the year28 × 184 ÷ 365 | 14.1 days |
| Rounded up | 14.5 days |
Result: The new starter can take 14.1 days before the end of December, which the employer should round up to 14.5.
Leaver on 30 September who has taken 10 days
The same full-timer leaves on 30 September 2026 having already taken 10 days that year.
| Days employed in the leave year | 273 of 365 |
| Holiday accrued to the leaving date28 × 273 ÷ 365 | 20.9 days |
| Leave already taken | 10 days |
| Untaken leave to be paid in lieu | 10.9 days |
Result: The final payslip should include pay for 10.9 days of untaken holiday at the normal daily rate. Had 25 days been taken, the employer could only deduct the 4.1 days over-taken if the contract allows it.
Zero-hours worker paid monthly
A bar worker on a zero-hours contract worked 68 hours in June at £12.71 an hour (£864.28 gross).
| Hours worked in the pay period | 68 |
| Leave accrued before rounding68 × 12.07% | 8.21 hours |
| Leave accrued after rounding to the nearest hour | 8 hours |
| Rolled-up holiday pay, if the employer uses it instead£864.28 × 12.07% | £104.32 |
Result: This worker either banks 8 hours of paid leave for June or receives £104.32 of rolled-up holiday pay on the June payslip, itemised separately. They cannot receive both.
Figures use the 2026/27 rates and rules described above, are rounded to the nearest pound, and were last checked against GOV.UK on 25 September 2026.
Assumptions and limitations
- Statutory entitlement only. Your contract may give more; enter your employer's full-time figure to see it pro-rated. Contracts can never give less than 5.6 weeks.
- Part-year entitlement is worked out in calendar days, the method the GOV.UK holiday calculator uses. A contract may specify a different but no less generous method.
- The 12.07% method applies to leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024. For a leave year that began before that date, the older 52-week averaging rules may still apply until the next leave year starts.
- Bank holidays are not an extra entitlement in law. They can be part of the 5.6 weeks or on top, depending on the contract; the calculator only splits them out if you ask it to.
- Holiday pay for irregular hours workers should reflect average pay over the previous 52 paid weeks, including regular overtime and commission. The calculator values leave at the single hourly rate you enter.
- Rounding is your employer's choice, but only upwards: the regulations never allow entitlement to be rounded down.
- Sickness, maternity and other statutory leave continue to accrue holiday and are not modelled here.
Official sources
The figures used by this calculator come from the following official pages. Read how we check our figures.
- Holiday entitlement — GOV.UK — 5.6 weeks, the 28-day cap and part-time rights
- Calculate holiday entitlement — GOV.UK — The official calculator for starters and leavers
- Holiday pay and entitlement reforms from 1 January 2024 — GOV.UK — The 12.07% accrual method and rolled-up holiday pay
- Irregular hours and part-year workers — Acas — Worked examples of accrual
- Checking holiday entitlement — Acas — What to do if your entitlement is wrong
- UK bank holidays — GOV.UK — Dates for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
Further reading on IncomeFix
- Pro-rata salary calculator — What a part-time role pays after tax
- Minimum wage calculator — Check your hourly rate against the legal minimum
- Take-home pay calculator
Related Tools
Frequently Asked Questions
How much paid holiday am I entitled to in the UK?
Almost all workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year. For someone working five days a week that is 28 days, which is also the legal maximum: working six days a week does not earn more than 28 days. Part-time workers get 5.6 weeks of their own working pattern, so three days a week gives 16.8 days.
How do I work out pro-rata holiday for a part-time job?
Multiply the days you work each week by 5.6. Two days a week gives 11.2 days, three days gives 16.8, four days gives 22.4. If your days vary in length, multiply your weekly hours by 5.6 instead: 20 hours a week gives 112 hours of paid holiday.
How is holiday calculated on a zero-hours contract?
For leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024, irregular hours and part-year workers accrue holiday at 12.07% of the hours worked in each pay period, rounded to the nearest hour. Someone who works 68 hours in a month builds up 8 hours of paid leave (68 × 12.07% = 8.2). The employer can instead pay rolled-up holiday pay: a 12.07% uplift shown separately on every payslip.
Do bank holidays count towards my 28 days?
Bank holidays do not have to be given as paid leave on top of the 5.6 weeks. Many contracts include them within the 28 days; others give them as extra. Part-time workers must get a pro-rata share of bank holidays, so a three-day-a-week worker in England is due 4.8 of the 8, whichever days they fall on.
What happens to my holiday when I leave a job?
You accrue holiday for the part of the leave year you were employed, worked out in calendar days. Untaken leave must be paid in your final wages at your normal rate. If you have taken more than you accrued, your employer can only deduct the excess if your contract allows it.
Can my employer round my holiday down?
No. Statutory entitlement can be rounded up, typically to the nearest half day, but never down. If a calculation gives 14.1 days, you are entitled to at least 14.1 days.
What changed for holiday pay in 2026?
From 6 April 2026 the Employment Rights Act 2025 requires employers to keep records of holiday entitlement and holiday pay for six years, and the Fair Work Agency launched on 7 April 2026 with the power to enforce holiday pay for the first time. The 5.6-week entitlement itself and the 12.07% method for irregular hours are unchanged.