Calculate Your Holiday Entitlement

The Pro-Rata Formula

Part-time workers receive the same 5.6 weeks of holiday, but scaled to match their working pattern:

Important notes for part-time workers

• -The maximum statutory entitlement is capped at 28 days, even if you work 6 or 7 days per week
• -If you work different hours on different days, calculate holiday in hours rather than days to avoid confusion
• -Rounding up fractions is common practice but not legally required by your employer

The 12.07% Method (from April 2024)

Since April 2024, workers with irregular hours or part-year contracts accrue holiday at 12.07% of the hours they actually work in each pay period. This replaced the old system of calculating in days, which was often confusing for casual and zero-hours workers.

Where does 12.07% come from?

The 5.6 weeks of statutory holiday is divided by the remaining 46.4 working weeks in a year (52 weeks minus 5.6 weeks). This gives 5.6 / 46.4 = 0.1207, or 12.07%. The idea is that for every hour you work, you earn 12.07% of an hour of holiday.

Who does this apply to?

• -Zero-hours contract workers
• -Casual or agency workers with no guaranteed hours
• -Part-year workers (e.g. term-time only staff)
• -Workers whose hours vary significantly week to week

Example calculation

A zero-hours worker works 120 hours in a month. Their holiday accrual for that month is 120 x 0.1207 = 14.48 hours of paid holiday. This appears on their payslip and they can either take the time off or, in some cases, receive rolled-up holiday pay.

Can employers include bank holidays in the 28 days?

Yes. There is no separate legal right to time off on bank holidays. Employers can count bank holidays as part of your 28-day statutory entitlement. Many contracts state something like “20 days annual leave plus 8 bank holidays” which totals 28 days and meets the statutory minimum exactly.

England and Wales bank holidays (2026)

Part-time workers and bank holidays

Part-time workers who do not normally work on the day a bank holiday falls should not be disadvantaged. If most bank holidays fall on Mondays and you never work Mondays, your employer should give you equivalent time off on another day or add it to your holiday allowance. This ensures fair treatment regardless of your working pattern.

Can you carry holiday to the next year?

UK law splits your 5.6 weeks of entitlement into two parts. The first 4 weeks come from the EU Working Time Directive and generally cannot be carried over. The extra 1.6 weeks (8 days for a full-time worker) can be carried over to the next leave year if there is a relevant agreement between you and your employer.

Exceptions that allow carry-over

• -Long-term sickness: if you were too ill to take holiday, you can carry over up to 4 weeks to the following year. This must be used within 18 months of the end of the leave year in which it accrued.
• -Maternity / family leave: holiday accrued during maternity, paternity, adoption, or shared parental leave can be carried over if you could not reasonably take it during the leave year.
• -Employer prevented you from taking it: if your employer refused holiday requests or failed to facilitate your taking leave, the untaken holiday carries over.

Sickness during booked holiday

If you fall ill while on holiday, you may ask your employer to reclassify those days as sick leave. You would then be entitled to take the holiday days at a later date. You will usually need to provide a GP fit note or other medical evidence. Your employer's sickness reporting procedure still applies.

Holiday continues to accrue

You continue to build up your full statutory holiday entitlement throughout your entire maternity leave, paternity leave, adoption leave, or shared parental leave. This is a legal right and applies regardless of whether you receive statutory or contractual pay.

Practical example

A full-time worker taking 39 weeks of maternity leave accrues approximately 21 days of holiday during that period (28 days x 39/52). Many employers allow you to take this either before your maternity leave starts or immediately after it ends, effectively extending your time away from work.

Tips for managing holiday around family leave

• -Discuss with your employer before your leave starts to agree how accrued holiday will be handled
• -Consider taking accrued holiday at the end of your leave to extend your time at home
• -If your leave spans two holiday years, check the carry-over arrangements with HR
• -Keep a record of any holiday taken before your leave to avoid disputes later

Steps to take