UK holiday entitlement, explained

The 5.6-week rule

UK statutory holiday entitlement is 5.6 weeks of paid leave per year. For someone working a standard 5-day week that's 28 days. The cap on the statutory minimum is 28 days — even if you work 6 days a week, the legal floor stops at 28.

Do bank holidays count?

Bank holidays can be included in the 28 days or added on top — the contract decides. Common setups:

• 20 + 8: 20 days of holiday plus the 8 English bank holidays, totalling 28.
• 25 + 8: 25 days plus bank holidays — above statutory minimum.
• 28 inclusive: 28 days that include bank holidays, giving flexibility on which ones staff take off.

Part-time entitlement

Part-timers get 5.6 weeks of their own working week. A 3-day-a-week employee is entitled to 16.8 days (3 × 5.6). Round up to the nearest half-day so nobody is short-changed.

Pro-rating for joiners and leavers

When someone joins or leaves partway through your leave year, they get a proportional slice:

full_year_days × (days_employed_in_leave_year ÷ days_in_leave_year)

Example: full-year entitlement is 28 days, leave year runs Jan–Dec, new starter's first day is 1 July. They're employed for 184 of 365 days → 28 × (184/365) ≈ 14.1 days, rounded up to 14.5.

Carrying leave over

The default rule: workers must take their statutory 4 weeks (20 days) in the leave year they're accrued. The extra 1.6 weeks can be carried over by agreement. Sickness and family leave can carry more — see our working days guide for edge cases.

Payment in lieu on termination

When someone leaves, any accrued-but-untaken leave must be paid out. If they've taken more than they've accrued, the contract can allow deducting the excess from the final pay — but only if the contract says so.

Let Leavo calculate it for you

Leavo handles statutory calculations, pro-rating and bank holidays by region automatically. Add an employee, set their working pattern and start date, and you get the right number — no spreadsheet formulas needed.