Holiday entitlement and holiday pay, explained

Almost every worker in Great Britain is entitled to 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday a year. For someone working five days a week that is 28 days, and statutory paid holiday is capped at 28 days. Your employer can count bank holidays as part of it, so there is no separate legal right to bank holidays off on top. Part-time workers on regular hours get 5.6 weeks pro rata.

If you work irregular hours or only part of the year, holiday builds up at 12.07% of the hours you actually work, and your employer may pay “rolled-up” holiday pay with each payslip instead. For the first 4 weeks of holiday you must be paid your normal pay, which can include regular overtime and commission. This page covers Great Britain; Northern Ireland has its own holiday rules.

Who gets paid holiday

GOV.UK says almost all people classed as workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks, and that includes agency workers. You do not need to be an employee. See employment status if you are unsure whether you are a worker.

Regular hours, full-time and part-time

Days worked each week	Statutory entitlement
5	28 days
4	22.4 days
3	16.8 days

The figures are 5.6 times the days you work each week. GOV.UK gives the three-day example.

Irregular hours and part-year workers

From 1 January 2024, the law defines two groups:

• Irregular hours workers: the paid hours you work in each pay period are, under your contract, wholly or mostly variable.
• Part-year workers: you are required to work only part of the year, with periods of at least a week when you are not required to work and are not paid.

For leave years beginning on or after 1 April 2024, these workers build up holiday at 12.07% of the hours they work in each pay period. The figure comes from 5.6 weeks divided by the 46.4 weeks left in a year after holiday.

As an illustration only: if you work 100 hours in a month, you build up about 12 hours of paid holiday.

Rolled-up holiday pay

For irregular hours and part-year workers only, for leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024, employers can pay holiday pay as 12.07% of your total pay in each pay period. It must be shown as a separate item on each payslip and paid at the same time as your pay for work. If your employer uses it, all your leave is treated as paid at the normal rate. The guidance says it is available only for irregular hours and part-year workers.

How holiday pay is worked out

For regular hours workers, GOV.UK says at least 4 weeks must be paid at your normal rate, and the remaining 1.6 weeks can be paid at basic rate.

The 4 weeks of normal pay must include:

• commission and other payments intrinsically linked to tasks you are contractually required to do
• payments for professional or personal status, such as length of service, seniority or qualifications
• other payments, such as overtime, that have been regularly paid in the 52 weeks before the holiday

Where pay varies, holiday pay is based on an average over the last 52 weeks in which you were paid. Weeks with no pay are skipped, looking back no further than 104 weeks. If you have worked less than 52 weeks, the period is shortened to the weeks you have worked.

Booking and refusing holiday

Unless your contract says otherwise, GOV.UK says:

• the notice you give should be at least twice as long as the leave, plus 1 day
• your employer can refuse or cancel leave by giving notice as long as the leave requested, plus 1 day
• your employer can tell you when to take holiday, such as over Christmas, by giving notice twice as long as the leave

Your employer can control when you take it, but cannot stop you taking your entitlement altogether.

Carry-over

GOV.UK sets out the position:

• A worker on 28 days can carry over a maximum of 8 days, the 1.6 weeks, where a contract or agreement allows it. Extra contractual holiday above 28 days can be carried over if your employer allows.
• If sickness stopped you taking holiday, you can carry over up to 20 days if you work regular hours, or up to 28 days if you work irregular hours or part of the year. It must be used within 18 months from the end of the leave year it built up in.
• If family leave stopped you, you can carry over untaken leave.
• You can carry over your whole entitlement if you were not given a reasonable opportunity to take it, were not told you would lose it at the end of the leave year, or did not receive rolled-up holiday pay you were owed.

Holiday and sickness

You keep building up holiday while off sick. If you are ill just before or during a holiday, GOV.UK says you can take the time as sick leave instead. See sick pay.

Leaving a job

Pay instead of holiday is only allowed when you leave. Your employer must pay for any untaken statutory leave, even if you are dismissed for gross misconduct.

Holiday records

Acas says that since 6 April 2026 employers must keep records of annual leave and holiday pay for at least six years.

If your holiday pay is wrong

1. Check your payslips against your contract and the rules above.
2. Raise it in writing, then as a formal grievance if needed.
3. Notify Acas for early conciliation before any tribunal claim.

For events on or after 1 October 2026, the time limit for most claims is 6 months minus 1 day; before then, 3 months minus 1 day. For underpaid holiday pay claimed as an unlawful deduction from wages, time runs from the last deduction in a series, but the tribunal generally cannot consider deductions from pay dated more than two years before the claim. See pay and wages.

What to check in your contract or letter

• Holiday entitlement clause: the number of days, whether bank holidays are included, and the leave year dates.
• Holiday pay clause: whether overtime, commission and allowances are included.
• Rolled-up holiday pay: whether you are paid it, whether you are genuinely irregular hours or part-year, and whether it is shown separately on payslips.
• Carry-over clause: whether any of the 1.6 weeks or extra days can be carried forward.
• Notice rules for booking and refusing holiday, and any shutdown periods.
• Deduction clause allowing the employer to recover holiday taken in advance from final pay.
• Pay in lieu on termination: how untaken contractual holiday is paid when you leave.

When it helps to speak to a solicitor

Holiday pay disputes often involve modest sums each year but can build up over time. Advice can help if you have been paid rolled-up holiday pay without being an irregular hours or part-year worker, if overtime or commission has been left out for a long period, or if a group of colleagues is affected.

Common questions

How much holiday am I entitled to?

Almost all workers are legally entitled to 5.6 weeks' paid holiday a year. For someone working five days a week, that is 28 days, and statutory paid holiday is capped at 28 days. Part-time workers on regular hours get the same 5.6 weeks pro rata; for example, someone working three days a week gets 16.8 days. Bank holidays can be counted as part of the 5.6 weeks.

How is holiday worked out for irregular hours or zero-hours work?

For leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024, irregular hours workers and part-year workers build up holiday at 12.07% of the hours they actually work in each pay period. Employers can instead pay rolled-up holiday pay of 12.07% of total pay with each payslip, shown as a separate item, in which case it covers all their holiday.

Does holiday pay include overtime and commission?

For the first 4 weeks of statutory holiday, yes in many cases. GOV.UK says normal pay must include commission and other payments linked to tasks you are contractually obliged to do, payments for seniority or professional status, and payments such as overtime that have been regularly paid in the previous 52 weeks. The remaining 1.6 weeks can be paid at basic rate.

Can I carry holiday over to next year?

GOV.UK says a worker on 28 days can carry over a maximum of 8 days, where their contract or an agreement allows it. If you could not take holiday because of sickness, you can carry over up to 20 days if you work regular hours, or up to 28 days if you work irregular hours or part of the year, to be used within 18 months. Family leave allows unused leave to be carried over too.

Do I get paid for unused holiday when I leave?

Yes. GOV.UK says the only time you can be paid instead of taking statutory leave is when you leave the job, and your employer must pay for untaken statutory leave even if you are dismissed for gross misconduct. Check your contract for how extra contractual holiday is treated and whether holiday taken in advance can be deducted from final pay.

What can I do if my employer won't pay my holiday pay?

Raise it with your employer first, in writing if possible, and consider a formal grievance. If that fails, you can notify Acas for early conciliation and then bring a tribunal claim. For events on or after 1 October 2026 the time limit for most claims is 6 months minus 1 day. In unlawful deduction claims, a tribunal generally cannot look back more than two years before the claim.

Sources

1. GOV.UK: Holiday entitlement checked Fri Oct 02
2. GOV.UK: Holiday entitlement, booking time off checked Fri Oct 02
3. GOV.UK: Holiday pay and entitlement reforms from 1 January 2024 (updated 1 April 2024) checked Fri Oct 02
4. GOV.UK: Calculating holiday pay for workers without fixed hours or pay checked Fri Oct 02
5. Working Time Regulations 1998, regulation 13A (additional leave and carry-forward by agreement) checked Fri Oct 02
6. GOV.UK: Taking sick leave checked Fri Oct 02
7. Acas: Employment Rights Act 2025 (holiday records from 6 April 2026) checked Fri Oct 02
8. Employment Rights Act 1996, section 23 (unlawful deductions: time limits and two-year limit) checked Fri Oct 02
9. Acas: Employment tribunal time limits (updated 1 October 2026) checked Fri Oct 02
10. Employment Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 5 and Transitional Provisions) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 checked Fri Oct 02

This guide is general information about employment law in Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland). Northern Ireland has its own employment law. It isn't legal advice and doesn't take your circumstances into account.