Employment & Pay19 October 2026

Holiday Entitlement Explained: Part-Time, Irregular Hours and Bank Holidays (2026)

Written and reviewed by, LLM (UK), CFP®·Published

Holiday Entitlement Explained: Part-Time, Irregular Hours and Bank Holidays (2026)

Almost every UK worker is entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year. That sounds simple until you work three days a week, do shifts that change every month, earn commission, or hand in your notice with leave still to take. Those are exactly the situations where holiday is most often miscalculated, and where the shortfall is real money.

This guide covers the rules that apply in 2026: how bank holidays fit in, pro-rata leave, the 12.07% method for irregular hours, carrying leave over, how holiday pay should be calculated, and what happens when you leave.

Try it yourself: the Holiday Entitlement Calculator works out statutory leave in days, hours or shifts, for irregular hours, and for anyone starting or leaving part way through the leave year.

The basic entitlement

Statutory leave is 5.6 weeks a year, capped at 28 days. For a full-time worker on 5 days a week, that is 28 days. Someone working 6 days a week is still capped at 28. In hours, a 37.5-hour, 5-day week gives 210 hours.

Your contract can give more than this, and many do. The extra above 5.6 weeks is contractual, which matters later because different rules can apply to it on carry-over and when you leave.

Bank holidays: included or on top?

There is no separate legal right to paid bank holidays. An employer can count them as part of the 5.6 weeks, or give them on top. Both are lawful, so check your contract.

England and Wales have 8 bank holidays in 2026; Scotland and Northern Ireland each have 10. A full-timer with 28 days including bank holidays has 20 days to book freely. With 28 days plus bank holidays, they have 36 paid days off.

Part-timers and the Monday problem

In 2026, five of the eight England and Wales bank holidays fall on a Monday (6 April, 4 May, 25 May, 31 August and 28 December). Two fall on a Friday and one on a Thursday. So where bank holidays are taken out of the entitlement, part-timers with the same hours can end up with very different freedom:

Pattern (3 days a week) Statutory leave Bank holidays on working days Days left to book
Monday to Wednesday 16.8 days 5 11.8
Wednesday to Friday 16.8 days 3 13.8

Both get the same 16.8 paid days off in total, which is lawful. The problem arises when bank holidays are given on top for full-timers but a part-timer whose days miss them gets nothing in return. Part-time workers must not be treated less favourably than comparable full-timers, so the fair approach is to pro-rate bank holidays as well: 8 × 3/5 = 4.8 days for a 3-day worker, whichever days they fall on.

Part-time and compressed hours

Part-time workers on regular hours get at least 5.6 weeks, pro-rated to their pattern: 3 days a week gives 16.8 days, 4 days gives 22.4 days.

For compressed hours or unequal days, work in hours rather than days. Someone doing 30 hours over 4 days gets 5.6 × 30 = 168 hours. Booking a 7.5-hour day uses 7.5 hours, not "one day", so nobody is short-changed when shifts vary in length.

Irregular hours and part-year workers: the 12.07% rule

This method comes from regulations for England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland has its own working time rules, so if you work there check nidirect: holiday entitlements.

For leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024, workers whose hours change from one pay period to the next (zero-hours and many casual roles), or who have weeks each year with no work and no pay, accrue holiday at 12.07% of the hours they work in each pay period. The figure is 5.6 weeks divided by the 46.4 weeks left in a year after taking 5.6 weeks off.

GOV.UK's own example: a worker does 68 hours in June. 68 × 12.07% = 8.2 hours, which rounds to 8 hours of holiday. A worker doing 80 hours in a month builds up 9.66 hours, rounded to 10.

Rolled-up holiday pay

For these workers only, the employer may instead pay holiday as an addition to each payslip, called rolled-up holiday pay. It must be 12.07% of total pay for the period, shown as a separate line on the payslip and paid at the same time as the work. On £1,040 for 80 hours at £13, that is £125.53. When the worker takes time off, it is unpaid, because the holiday pay has already been received.

Regular-hours workers, full or part time, cannot be paid this way. If you are on fixed hours and your hourly rate "includes holiday", ask your employer to explain, because that is not lawful for you.

Carrying holiday over

The general rule is to use it or lose it, but there are important exceptions:

  • By agreement: workers can normally carry over up to 8 days (the 1.6 weeks that sits above the 4 weeks of core leave) with their employer's agreement.
  • Sickness: if illness stops you taking leave, regular-hours workers can carry over up to 20 days, and irregular-hours and part-year workers up to 28 days, to be used within 18 months of the end of the leave year in which it built up.
  • Maternity and family leave: your employer must let you carry over all your holiday into the next leave year.
  • Employer failure: if your employer did not give you a reasonable opportunity to take your leave, you can carry it over.

Holiday keeps building up during sick leave and family leave, however long they last.

How holiday pay should be calculated

Holiday pay is not always basic pay. For the first 4 weeks of statutory leave, you must be paid your normal pay, which includes commission, regular overtime and payments linked to seniority or professional qualifications. The remaining 1.6 weeks can be paid at basic pay, although many employers pay all 5.6 weeks at the normal rate.

Where pay varies, normal pay is an average over the previous 52 weeks. Weeks with no pay are skipped and the employer counts back further, up to a maximum of 104 weeks.

Worked example: Dan's commission

Dan earns basic pay of £500 a week, and over the last 52 weeks has averaged £150 a week in commission and regular overtime, so his normal week is £650. His minimum statutory holiday pay for the year is:

Portion of leave Weeks Weekly rate Holiday pay
Core leave (normal pay) 4 £650 £2,600
Additional leave (basic pay allowed) 1.6 £500 £800
Total 5.6 £3,400

Paid at basic for all 5.6 weeks, he would get £2,800, so he would be underpaid by £600 a year. If your holiday payslips look the same as a week with no commission, raise it in writing and ask how the rate was calculated.

Starting or leaving part way through the year

Starting: you build up leave in proportion to the year. Joining on 15 June in a January to December leave year counts as 7 months, so a full-timer's 28 days becomes 16.33, which rounds up to 16.5 days.

Leaving: during your notice you can usually take what is left of your statutory leave. Anything accrued but untaken must be paid in your final pay, even if you are dismissed for gross misconduct. Payment in place of leave is only allowed when the job ends. If you have taken more than you have accrued, your employer cannot deduct the difference unless you agreed to that in writing beforehand.

Example: a full-timer leaves on 31 July 2026 in a January leave year. They worked 212 of 365 days, so they have built up 28 × 212/365 = 16.26 days. Having taken 10, they are owed 6.26 days' pay.

What employers can and cannot do

Employers can:

  • Require you to take holiday on set days, such as bank holidays or a Christmas shutdown, giving notice at least twice the length of the leave.
  • Refuse or cancel a request, giving notice equal to the length of the leave plus a day (11 days' notice for 10 days' leave).
  • Restrict when holiday can be taken during busy periods.

Employers cannot:

  • Pay you instead of letting you take statutory leave, except when you leave.
  • Force a sick worker to take holiday.
  • Use rolled-up holiday pay for regular-hours workers.
  • Pay less than normal pay, including regular overtime and commission, for the first 4 weeks.

Workers, for their part, should give notice of at least twice the leave plus a day: GOV.UK's example is 3 days' notice for 1 day off. Contracts can set different notice periods.

Frequently asked questions

How many days' holiday am I entitled to? 5.6 weeks a year, capped at 28 days. That is 28 days on a 5-day week and 16.8 days on a 3-day week.

Do bank holidays count as part of my leave? They can. Your employer can include them in the 5.6 weeks or give them on top; your contract will say which.

How is holiday worked out for zero-hours contracts? At 12.07% of the hours worked in each pay period, for leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024.

Can I be paid for holiday instead of taking it? Only when you leave. Untaken statutory leave must then be paid.

Does overtime count in holiday pay? Regular overtime and commission count towards normal pay for the first 4 weeks of statutory leave.

The bottom line

The 5.6-week minimum is easy; the details are where errors creep in. Part-timers should check how bank holidays are treated, irregular-hours workers should check the 12.07% is on every payslip, anyone with commission or overtime should check their holiday pay rate, and leavers should check their final pay includes every untaken day.

Work out your own entitlement with the Holiday Entitlement Calculator, and if you are changing your hours, see the effect on pay with the Pro Rata Salary Calculator.

Related calculators and guides

This article is for general guidance only and is not personalised legal advice. Employment rules are complex and your contract may give you more than the statutory minimum. For advice tailored to your situation, speak to Acas, a trade union or a qualified adviser. Figures are for 2026 and sourced from gov.uk.

Sources

Rates and rules in this article are taken from the official pages below. Figures were checked against these sources at the last review date shown above; always confirm against the source before acting.

About the author

, LLM (UK), CFP®, CIM®, PFP®. Financial planner with 18 years in banking and wealth management, holding a UK master of laws and the Canadian CFP®, CIM® and PFP® designations. Writes and reviews every calculator and article on FinanceToolz.

Rates and thresholds in this article are taken from HMRC and GOV.UK. See our editorial policy for how content is sourced, reviewed and corrected. This is general information, not regulated financial advice.

← Back to all articles