In short
In the UK the statutory minimum is 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year – 28 days for a five-day week, capped at 28. It can include bank holidays. For part-timers you multiply the days worked per week by 5.6. Contracts may grant more, never less.
How much holiday does the law give?
The Working Time Regulations 1998 set a statutory minimum of 5.6 weeks of paid annual leave. For someone working five days a week that is 28 days (5 × 5.6), and the statutory entitlement is capped at 28 days. Crucially – unlike in Germany – the 5.6 weeks can include the UK’s eight bank holidays, if the employer chooses.
It covers almost all workers, including part-time and zero-hours staff. Contractual leave above the minimum can follow its own rules – a qualifying period, for example – so the contract should say which days are statutory.
Working out the entitlement
The simplest method multiplies the days worked per week by 5.6:
- 5 days a week: 5 × 5.6 = 28 days
- 4 days a week: 4 × 5.6 = 22.4 days
- 3 days a week: 3 × 5.6 = 16.8 days
Example: a care home with long shifts
In a hypothetical care home, a carer on four 10-hour shifts a week gets 4 × 5.6 = 22.4 days. Tracked in hours it is 40 × 5.6 = 224 hours – which stops long and short shifts both counting as “one day” off.
Irregular-hours and part-year workers
For leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024, these workers accrue 12.07% of the hours worked in each pay period (5.6 weeks ÷ 46.4 working weeks). A bar worker doing 30 hours in a week earns 3.62 hours, rounded up to 4.
The law: Working Time Regulations 1998
- Minimum: 5.6 weeks’ paid leave a year, capped at 28 days.
- Part-time: pro-rated by days (or hours) worked — part-timers must not be treated less favourably.
- Bank holidays: the 5.6 weeks may include them, at the employer’s discretion.
- Irregular hours / part-year: holiday now accrues at 12.07% of hours worked (following Harpur Trust v Brazel and the 2024 reforms).
Mid-year joiners and leavers
Start or leave part-way through the year and the entitlement is pro-rated to the proportion of the leave year worked. Many employers calculate it monthly, and untaken statutory holiday is paid in lieu when someone leaves.
In the first year, regular-hours workers accrue one-twelfth of their leave each month – 7 of 28 days after three months.
Booking and refusing leave
Unless the contract says otherwise, a worker gives notice of twice the leave plus one day; an employer refusing it gives notice equal to the leave plus one day.
Carry-over
By default statutory leave should be taken in the leave year it accrues. Limited carry-over is allowed in specific cases, such as long-term sickness or family leave. Good practice – and, for the EU-derived portion, a legal expectation – is to remind staff to take their leave.
When leave can roll into the next year
- By agreement: up to 1.6 weeks.
- Sickness: up to 4 weeks, used within 18 months.
- Maternity and other family leave: carry-over must be allowed.
- Employer failure: no reasonable chance to take it, or no warning it would be lost.
Holiday pay: what a week’s pay means
For regular-hours workers, at least 4 weeks must be paid at normal pay, including regular overtime and commission; the other 1.6 weeks may be basic pay. Variable pay is averaged over the last 52 paid weeks. Rolled-up holiday pay – a 12.07% uplift shown separately on the payslip – is allowed only for irregular-hours and part-year workers.
Special cases
- Sickness during holiday: days certified as sick can usually be reclaimed as leave.
- Leaving: untaken statutory holiday is paid in lieu on termination.
- Rolled-up holiday pay: now permitted for irregular-hours and part-year workers.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Leaving it unclear whether bank holidays sit inside the 5.6 weeks.
- Paying basic rate only when regular overtime should count.
- Letting leave lapse without a reminder and warning.
- Patchy records – from 6 April 2026 holiday records must be kept for six years.
Try it quickly
Want the figure for your own working pattern? Use the interactive holiday calculator on our guides overview – it converts the days automatically.