Holiday entitlement explained

How many days you are owed and how part-time and irregular hours are treated.

The short answer

Almost every worker in the UK, including part-timers and agency workers, is legally entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year. For someone working five days a week, that is 28 days. Statutory holiday is capped at 28 days, so working six days a week does not earn more.

How much do you get?

Five days a week: 5 × 5.6 = 28 days.
Four days a week: 4 × 5.6 = 22.4 days.
Three days a week: 3 × 5.6 = 16.8 days.
Six or more days a week: capped at 28 days.
Employers can give more than the legal minimum, so check your contract.

Bank holidays

Bank holidays do not have to be given as paid leave. An employer can count them as part of your 5.6 weeks. If yours does, a full-timer on 28 days who gets 8 bank holidays has 20 other days to book. Many employers give bank holidays on top, so look at your contract.

Irregular hours and part-year workers

If your hours vary, or you only work part of the year, you build up ("accrue") holiday according to the hours you have already worked, instead of getting a fixed number of days. The GOV.UK holiday calculator works this out for you, either for a full leave year or for a job that started or ended part-way through.

Other things to know

You keep building up holiday while on maternity, paternity, adoption or sick leave. See maternity pay and leave and Statutory Sick Pay.
Check your contract for how much holiday you can carry over and when you must book it.
Holiday pay should reflect what you normally earn. Check your payslip if it looks wrong.
Use the holiday entitlement calculator to work out your own days.

Where to learn more

This guide is for information only and is not tax, benefits or financial advice. Rules and amounts can change, so check the official pages before you rely on them.