data tool
Holiday pay and entitlement calculator for the UK
Almost every worker in Great Britain is entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year, capped at 28 days, which is 28 days for a five day week and 16.8 days for three days. Irregular hours and part year workers accrue 12.07% of the hours they work instead, for leave years from 1 April 2024. This calculator does both.
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- Runs on your device, nothing is uploaded
- Free, no sign in
- No watermark, no file limit
How it works
- 1
Pick the worker type
Choose fixed days each week, or irregular hours and part year.
- 2
Enter the pattern
For fixed days, type days a week and, for a part year, the start date and the end of the leave year.
- 3
Or enter hours and pay
For irregular hours, type the hours worked in the pay period and the pay for them.
- 4
Read the entitlement
The tiles show days or hours of holiday, and the full year figure or the rolled up pay.
Two regimes since April 2024
Workers with regular hours across the whole year get 5.6 weeks of paid holiday, which gov.uk expresses as 28 days for a five day week, capped at 28 days. A part time worker on three days a week gets 3 times 5.6, which is 16.8 days. For leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024, irregular hours workers and part year workers accrue holiday at 12.07% of the hours they work in each pay period instead, and employers may pay their holiday as rolled up holiday pay with each wage.
Where 12.07% comes from
A year has 52 weeks. If 5.6 of them are holiday, 46.4 are left to work. Spreading 5.6 weeks of holiday across 46.4 working weeks gives 5.6 divided by 46.4, which is 12.07%. So for every 100 hours worked an irregular hours worker accrues 12.07 hours of holiday, and rolled up pay adds 12.07% to the pay for those hours. The figure only works for workers whose hours genuinely vary; a worker with a fixed pattern keeps the 5.6 week rule.
Table by days a week
One day a week gives 5.6 days a year; two days, 11.2; three, 16.8; four, 22.4; five, 28; and six or seven days are capped at 28. For someone who starts or leaves part way through a leave year, the full figure is multiplied by the share of the year worked, so four days a week from 1 June to 31 December is about 13.1 days. Employers can round a part day up but cannot round it down.
Taking holiday and pay for the days off
A worker on fixed hours is paid their normal pay for each day of holiday, and for workers whose pay varies, holiday pay for the first 4 weeks is averaged over the previous 52 paid weeks, including regular overtime and commission. The calculator works out how much holiday is owed, not what a day of it pays, because that average needs the full pay history. An employer can set when holiday is taken by giving notice twice as long as the holiday, and a worker asks with notice twice as long as the days requested.
Rolled up holiday pay on the payslip
Rolled up holiday pay is lawful again for irregular hours and part year workers in leave years from 1 April 2024. It must be 12.07% of the worker's pay for the period, shown as a separate item on the payslip, and paid when the work is paid. The worker then takes holiday unpaid, because it has already been paid. The calculator shows the rolled up amount for the pay you type.
Writing it into a contract
A contract or offer letter should state the holiday year, the entitlement in days or as accrual, whether bank holidays are included, how holiday is booked and what happens to untaken holiday on leaving. The AI document generator writes an offer letter or a holiday policy from a description; give it the figures from this calculator so the words and the numbers match.
Limits
- Law checked on 21 October 2026 against the Working Time Regulations 1998 as amended and gov.uk. This is arithmetic, not legal advice.
- Bank holidays are part of the 5.6 weeks, not on top, unless the contract says so.
- No averaging of normal pay over 52 weeks, which decides what each day of holiday pays.
- Northern Ireland has its own regulations and is not covered.
What it does not do
- It does not track holiday taken.
- It does not round a part day the way a contract might.
- It does not store the figures.
Questions people ask
How much holiday do I get working 3 days a week?
At least 16.8 days a year, which is 3 days times 5.6 weeks. Bank holidays count towards it unless your contract says they are extra. If you start part way through the leave year, the figure is reduced in proportion to the part of the year you work.
What is 12.07 per cent holiday pay?
It is the accrual rate for irregular hours and part year workers: 5.6 weeks of holiday spread over the 46.4 weeks left to work in a year. For every hour worked, 0.1207 hours of holiday builds up, or 12.07% of pay can be added as rolled up holiday pay.
Can holiday pay be rolled up?
Yes, for irregular hours and part year workers in leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024. The rolled up amount must be 12.07% of pay, shown separately on the payslip. For workers with regular hours, rolling up holiday pay into the hourly rate is still not allowed.
Are bank holidays included in the 28 days?
Usually yes. The 5.6 weeks can include the eight bank holidays in England and Wales, so a full time worker might get 20 days to choose plus 8 bank holidays. An employer can give bank holidays on top, and many contracts do.
What happens to unused holiday when I leave?
Holiday accrued and not taken in the leave year of leaving is paid out in the final pay. Holiday taken in excess of what has accrued can be deducted from final pay only if the contract allows it. The calculator's part year figure shows what has accrued.
Can an employer pay me instead of holiday?
Not for the statutory 5.6 weeks while employment continues, except through rolled up pay for irregular hours and part year workers. Pay in place of untaken statutory holiday is only allowed when the employment ends. Untaken holiday above the statutory minimum follows the contract.
Write the holiday policy
Take what you made here into documents.
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Background reading: the question page on this.
Written and checked by the OneCraft team. Last checked .