Holiday pay calculator
Almost every worker is entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year, which gov.uk's holiday entitlement guidance confirms equals 28 days for a five-day week. Irregular hours accrue holiday at 12.07% of hours worked instead. This calculator estimates the days or hours built up and their approximate value for a given working pattern.
How does holiday entitlement work?
The legal floor is 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year, under gov.uk's holiday entitlement guidance, and it applies to almost every worker. What changes is how many days that turns into. Multiplying normal working days per week by 5.6 gives a five-day week 28 days, and a three-day week about 16.8 days. The 28-day figure is also a cap, so working six or seven days a week does not push the statutory minimum higher.
Irregular and casual hours need a different method because there is no fixed week to multiply. Here holiday builds up while work is done, at 12.07% of the hours worked. That number comes straight from the 5.6 weeks of holiday divided by the 46.4 weeks that are actually worked in a year. So 12.07% of every hour worked is paid holiday, which suits zero-hours, term-time and seasonal staff.
What does a worked example show?
Someone on a five-day week gets 5 times 5.6, which is 28 days. At £100 a day that holiday is worth £2,800 across the year, already part of their normal pay rather than a bonus. A casual worker who does 120 hours in a month instead accrues 120 times 12.07%, about 14.5 hours of paid holiday for that month.
Common questions
How much holiday am I legally entitled to?
Almost all workers get a statutory minimum of 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year. For someone working five days a week that is 28 days, which is also the cap: extra days beyond a five-day week do not add more statutory holiday. Part-time workers get the same 5.6 weeks, but fewer days because their week is shorter.
What is the 12.07% figure?
It is the holiday accrual rate for irregular-hours and part-year workers. The 5.6 weeks of holiday are 12.07% of the 46.4 weeks a year that are actually worked, so for every hour worked you build up 0.1207 hours of paid holiday. It is the standard way to handle casual, zero-hours and term-time staff.
How is holiday pay calculated?
You are paid your normal rate for holiday. For regular hours that is straightforward. For variable pay, holiday pay is based on average earnings over a reference period, usually the last 52 paid weeks. This tool uses a simple daily or hourly rate to show the entitlement and its rough value.
Do bank holidays count towards my 5.6 weeks?
They can. There is no automatic legal right to paid time off on bank holidays. An employer is allowed to count the eight bank holidays as part of your 5.6 weeks, or give them on top. Your contract says which, so check it before assuming the eight days are extra.
What happens to holiday when I leave a job?
You are paid for any statutory holiday you have accrued but not taken, worked out up to your leaving date. If you have taken more than you accrued, an employer may be able to reclaim the difference if your contract allows it. Either way it is settled in your final pay.
How does holiday entitlement work?
The statutory floor is 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year, under gov.uk's holiday entitlement guidance, and it applies to almost every worker. Multiplying normal working days per week by 5.6 gives the number of days, capped at 28 for a full working week. Irregular and casual hours instead accrue holiday at 12.07% of hours worked, which comes from dividing 5.6 weeks of holiday by the 46.4 weeks actually worked in a year.
What does a worked example show?
Someone on a five-day week gets 5 times 5.6, which is 28 days, worth about £2,800 across the year at the daily rate entered. A casual worker doing 120 hours in a month instead accrues 120 times 12.07%, about 14.5 hours of paid holiday for that month.
Sources & Rate Verification
Rates verified against official statutory guidance on 6 September 2026.