UK holiday entitlement explained

Almost all UK workers are legally entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year. For someone working five days a week that is 28 days, which is the statutory cap. Part-time staff get the same 5.6 weeks pro-rata: multiply the days worked per week by 5.6. Workers with irregular or casual hours accrue holiday at 12.07% of the hours they work, which is the GOV.UK method. Bank holidays can count towards the minimum, so an employer is allowed to include them. This is general information, not employment advice: check your contract. Source: GOV.UK and the Working Time Regulations 1998.

The 5.6 weeks rule and the 28-day cap

The statutory minimum is 5.6 weeks of paid annual leave. A week means a normal working week for that person, so the figure in days depends on how many days they work. Five days a week gives 5 multiplied by 5.6, which is 28 days. The law caps the statutory minimum at 28 days, so working six or seven days a week does not push the legal minimum above 28, though an employer can offer more.

Part-time: same weeks, fewer days

A part-time worker is entitled to the same 5.6 weeks, just expressed in their shorter week. Three days a week gives 3 multiplied by 5.6, which is 16.8 days. Someone on three days should not get a smaller fraction of a week than a full-timer; they get fewer days only because their week is shorter. If your employer offers more than the statutory 28 days, the extra is scaled the same way.

Irregular hours: the 12.07% method

For casual, zero-hours and other irregular-hours staff, GOV.UK sets holiday to accrue at 12.07% of hours worked. The figure comes from the maths: 5.6 weeks of holiday divided by the 46.4 working weeks left in the year (52 minus 5.6) is 0.1207, or 12.07%. So 100 hours worked accrues about 12 hours of paid holiday. Rules for irregular-hours and part-year workers were updated for holiday years starting on or after 1 April 2024.

Work it out

The holiday entitlement calculator does both methods: enter days per week for set hours, or total hours for the 12.07% method. For where bank holidays fit, see the 2026 UK bank holidays.

Source: GOV.UK holiday entitlement and the Working Time Regulations 1998. General information, not employment advice: check your contract or ask your employer.