Guide
Holiday entitlement: work out your days, hours and bank holidays
The right holiday allowance depends on your working week, leave year and contract. A smaller number of days can still give a part-time worker the same number of weeks away from work.
Quick answer
Most workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid annual leave, capped at 28 statutory days. For three regular days a week that is 16.8 days. Bank holidays may already be included. Use hours when your working days have different lengths.
On this page
Start with the leave year and the contract
A leave year is the period in which your holiday allowance is measured. It might run from January to December, April to March or your employment anniversary. It is not automatically the Income Tax year, which begins on 6 April.
Find the full annual allowance and whether it includes bank holidays, the days or hours deducted for each holiday, and any extra contractual leave. An employer can offer more than the statutory minimum. The rules for that extra leave can differ, so keep the minimum and the contract allowance visible.
Most workers, including many agency workers, have paid-holiday rights. A genuine self-employed business arrangement is different. If your status is uncertain, check the official employment-status guidance before treating a calculator result as your entitlement.
Part-time days: fewer days can mean the same weeks
For a regular three-day week, the statutory calculation is 3 × 5.6 = 16.8 working days. If each day is 7.5 paid hours, that is 126 hours. Taking your three usual days off uses one working week of leave, not five days.
| Working days each week | Statutory days |
|---|---|
| 2 | 11.2 |
| 3 | 16.8 |
| 4 | 22.4 |
| 5 | 28 |
| 6 | 28: statutory cap |
A fraction of a day still counts. Do not simply round 16.8 down to 16. Agree how the remaining time will be taken. An employer may be more generous, but the statutory amount must not be reduced by rounding.
Compressed or unequal days are clearer in hours
Suppose you work 30 paid hours over four days: two 9-hour days and two 6-hour days. The government guidance's calculation gives 22.4 average days, with an average day of 7.5 hours: 22.4 × 7.5 = 168 hours.
When you take a 9-hour scheduled day off, it normally consumes 9 hours of the allowance; a 6-hour day consumes 6. Calling both “one day” without matching their lengths can hide a difference.
For a regular six-day week of eight-hour days, the statutory cap is 28 days, or 224 hours. Multiplying all 48 weekly hours by 5.6 would miss that cap. A contract can provide more. Covered Scottish agricultural workers have sector-specific rights: use the Scottish Government route below rather than treating the general cap as their full allowance.
Bank holidays belong in the total once
There is no general right to an extra paid day on every bank holiday. An employer can include them in statutory leave. “25 days plus 8 bank holidays” is a 33-day example allowance; “33 days including bank holidays” describes the same total, assuming the same terms.
For a part-time or compressed pattern, check the allowance in hours and which bank holidays payroll charges when you would normally work. Do not add another bank-holiday allowance to a total that already includes it. Equally, check that a part-time policy treats the relevant full-time comparison proportionately.
The holiday calculator takes the full-time total and reference working week. If your employer has a different contractual bank-holiday policy, ask for its calculation rather than importing another organisation's arrangement.
Starting, leaving or changing hours
A regular leaver's entitlement is pro-rated for the calendar days employed in the leave year. Those are employment dates, not just days on the rota. Subtract leave already taken in the same units to see the balance.
First-year booking arrangements need care. An employer can use monthly accrual, and the first part-month can be treated using the permitted monthly or proportional approach. Our calculator's calendar-day result is an estimate for the entered employment period; it does not decide how much your employer allows you to book today under its first-year arrangement.
If your hours change, separate the old and new patterns from the change date. Do not erase leave accrued under the earlier pattern. Sickness, family leave and carry-over can also need additional records. For a leaving payment, follow the final-payslip checklist; a negative leave balance does not by itself authorise a deduction.
Irregular hours and country-specific rules
For defined irregular-hours and part-year workers in Great Britain, leave years beginning on or after 1 April 2024 use a pay-period accrual method. That is a different route from a regular year-round part-time job. Read how irregular-hours leave and holiday pay work.
Northern Ireland has separate rules and official advice through nidirect and the Labour Relations Agency. Scottish agricultural workers within the relevant Agricultural Wages Act scope also need their sector rules. The tool identifies these boundaries instead of applying a general GB percentage to everyone.
Buying extra leave is another question: it changes the cost or amount of additional contractual time off. The holiday-buy and sell guide explains that scheme, rather than replacing an entitlement calculation.
Turn the result into a useful payroll question
Keep your contract, leave-year dates, working pattern and leave record together. Record bank holidays and other leave already charged, with the hours for each day if your shifts differ.
Ask: “Please confirm my leave year, annual allowance including bank holidays, working pattern and the hours deducted for leave already taken. Which method and dates produce my current balance?” If the disagreement concerns holiday pay rather than time off, also ask for the earnings and reference period used.
Use Acas for employment-rights help in Great Britain or the Labour Relations Agency in Northern Ireland if the explanation does not resolve the issue. Act promptly where a payment or formal claim is disputed.
What to do next
- Find your leave-year dates and the total allowance, including any bank holidays.
- Check your regular paid hours and days, rather than assuming a five-day week.
- Separate leave entitlement, leave already used and the money paid during holiday.
- Use the entitlement calculator with your actual working pattern and confirmed allowance.
- Ask payroll to explain the leave year, dates, units and deductions behind a different balance.
- Use the separate irregular-hours or nation-specific guidance where the regular calculation does not fit.
Try the tool
Check your payslip or model a change.
Use the checker if you already have a payslip. Use the calculator if you want to model take-home pay or salary-sacrifice changes before payday.
About this guide
Written by Dan. Dan has spent 20 years working across payroll, HR, benefits and reward. IsMyPayRight is an independent personal project, not connected with any employer or with HMRC.
AI tools help with research and drafting. The official sources used are listed at the end of the guide.
This is general guidance, not a professional review of your circumstances. Read our editorial process and the corrections log.
Methodology and sources
See how the calculations work, which sources they use, how results are tested, and which payroll details the estimates cannot verify.
Common questions
- How much holiday does a three-day worker get?
- For a regular three-day week, the statutory full-year amount is 3 × 5.6 = 16.8 days. At 7.5 paid hours per day that is 126 hours. Contractual extra leave can increase it.
- Are bank holidays extra to the statutory allowance?
- An employer can include bank holidays in the statutory allowance. Check whether the contract quotes an inclusive total or additional days, and count each bank holiday once.
- Can I use a regular pro-rata calculation for any work pattern?
- Irregular-hours, part-year, changing-hours and some sector cases need their own rules. The GB percentage reforms do not automatically apply to Northern Ireland or covered Scottish agricultural workers.
Official sources
Use these references to check the rules behind this guide. Check the tax year and your circumstances before applying an example to your own pay.