Holiday entitlement and pay explained (2025/26)
Almost every UK worker is entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year. How that translates into days depends on your working pattern, and irregular-hours workers use a percentage method instead. Here's how to work out what you're owed.
5.6 weeks for everyone
The statutory minimum is 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year under the Working Time Regulations. For a five-day-a-week worker that's 5.6 × 5 = 28 days, which is also the legal cap, employers don't have to give more than 28 days statutory, even if you work six or seven days a week. Part-time workers get a pro-rata amount: a three-day-a-week worker gets 5.6 × 3 = 16.8 days.
The 12.07% method
Since 1 April 2024, irregular-hours and part-year workers (zero-hours, casual, term-time) accrue holiday at 12.07% of the hours they work in each pay period. The figure comes from 5.6 weeks ÷ (52 − 5.6 working weeks). Employers can pay this as "rolled-up" holiday pay, an extra 12.07% added to each payslip, clearly itemised.
Are bank holidays extra?
There's no automatic right to paid time off on bank holidays. Employers can include the eight English bank holidays within your 5.6 weeks, so "28 days including bank holidays" is lawful. Always check your contract to see whether bank holidays are on top of or inside your entitlement.
Holiday pay must reflect normal pay
A five-day worker
Someone working five days a week is entitled to 28 days' paid holiday (5.6 × 5), capped at the statutory maximum. If they earn £450 a week, each week of holiday is worth £450, so the full 5.6 weeks is worth about £2,520 of paid time off across the year.
Common holiday pay mistakes
- Basing holiday pay on basic pay only. Regular overtime and commission must be included in holiday pay.
- Assuming bank holidays are always extra. They can lawfully be counted within your 5.6 weeks, check your contract.
- Mishandling part-year workers. Term-time and zero-hours staff use the 12.07% accrual method, not a flat 12.07% of full-time holiday.
- Losing holiday at year end. You can usually carry over some untaken statutory leave, especially if sickness or family leave stopped you taking it.