Annual Holiday Entitlement Calculator UK
Estimate statutory paid annual leave in days or hours using the standard UK 5.6 weeks entitlement rule, with optional pro-rata adjustments for part-year work and holiday already taken.
Your holiday calculation will appear here
Enter your weekly working pattern, select whether you want the result in days or hours, and click Calculate entitlement.
Expert Guide to Using an Annual Holiday Entitlement Calculator in the UK
An annual holiday entitlement calculator for the UK helps workers and employers estimate how much paid leave someone should receive over a holiday year. In the UK, statutory paid annual leave is generally based on 5.6 weeks of leave each year. For someone working a standard 5-day week, that produces 28 days of paid holiday. For someone working fewer days, the same 5.6-week rule applies on a pro-rata basis. This is why a calculator is so useful: it converts the legal framework into a practical number of days or hours based on the way a person actually works.
The main reason people search for an annual holiday entitlement calculator UK is that real-life working patterns are not always straightforward. Some workers do full-time fixed schedules, some work part-time, some work compressed hours, and others have irregular or variable shifts. Add in bank holidays, joining mid-year, or leaving before the holiday year ends, and manual calculations quickly become confusing. A good calculator gives you a reliable estimate, shows what has already been taken, and helps you understand what remains.
Key principle: In the UK, statutory holiday entitlement is usually 5.6 weeks per leave year. Workers who do not work a full year or do not work full-time still generally receive leave on a pro-rata basis. Employers can offer more than the statutory minimum, but not less.
How statutory holiday entitlement works in the UK
Most workers in the UK are entitled to paid annual leave. The standard statutory rule is simple on paper:
- Workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid annual leave each year.
- For a 5-day worker, that equals 28 days.
- For a 4-day worker, that equals 22.4 days.
- For a 3-day worker, that equals 16.8 days.
- For an hourly worker, leave can be expressed in hours by multiplying weekly hours by 5.6.
There is also an important statutory cap for many common day-based calculations. If someone works more than 5 days each week, the statutory minimum is still generally capped at 28 days of leave. That cap applies to the statutory minimum, although an employer can choose to offer a more generous contractual arrangement.
When should you use days and when should you use hours?
The best annual holiday entitlement calculator UK tools let you switch between days and hours. This matters because not every workplace measures leave the same way.
- Use days if your schedule is based on regular working days each week and holiday is booked as complete or partial days.
- Use hours if your schedule is based on shifts, varied daily hours, or your employer tracks leave in hours.
- Use pro-rata adjustments if you started part-way through the leave year, are leaving during the year, or only work part of the year.
For example, if you work 20 hours a week, your basic statutory entitlement is 20 × 5.6 = 112 hours per leave year. If you only work 6 months of that year, the estimate would be roughly half of that, or 56 hours, subject to your contract and the exact method your employer uses for accrual and rounding.
Quick comparison table: common UK working patterns
| Working pattern | Weekly schedule | Statutory formula | Typical annual entitlement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full-time standard | 5 days per week | 5 × 5.6 | 28 days |
| Part-time regular | 4 days per week | 4 × 5.6 | 22.4 days |
| Part-time regular | 3 days per week | 3 × 5.6 | 16.8 days |
| Hourly contract | 20 hours per week | 20 × 5.6 | 112 hours |
| Hourly contract | 37.5 hours per week | 37.5 × 5.6 | 210 hours |
What about bank holidays?
One of the biggest areas of confusion is whether bank holidays are included in the annual entitlement or added on top. The legal minimum itself does not automatically mean bank holidays are extra. In many employment contracts, bank holidays are included within the 5.6 weeks. In others, employers provide bank holidays as an additional contractual benefit. This is why the calculator above includes a setting for bank holiday treatment.
In practice, the number of public or bank holidays can differ across the UK. England and Wales commonly have 8 bank holidays in a year, Scotland often has 9, and Northern Ireland often has 10. That does not change the statutory minimum itself, but it can affect how your employer structures leave and how much flexibility you have in choosing holiday dates.
| UK nation | Typical number of public or bank holidays | Common contract treatment | Impact on worker |
|---|---|---|---|
| England and Wales | 8 | Usually included in 28-day total, unless contract says extra | Less flexible leave if bank holidays are mandatory days off |
| Scotland | 9 | Varies by employer and sector | Some employers separate local public holidays from annual leave |
| Northern Ireland | 10 | Often included unless enhanced contractual terms apply | Potentially more fixed holiday dates during the year |
Why pro-rata calculations matter
If someone starts a new job in the middle of the holiday year, their full annual allowance usually needs to be reduced in proportion to the amount of the year they actually work. The same is true if someone leaves before the end of the leave year. For instance, if a full-time worker would normally get 28 days for a full year but only works 6 months, a simple estimate would be:
28 × 6 ÷ 12 = 14 days
Some employers calculate entitlement monthly, some daily, and some accrue leave through payroll periods. Small differences in rounding can occur, so a calculator gives you a strong estimate, but you should still compare the result with your contract or employer handbook. The principle remains the same: holiday entitlement broadly follows the amount of the year worked.
Examples of how to calculate annual leave
Here are some practical UK examples:
- Example 1: You work 5 days per week for the full holiday year. Your entitlement is 5 × 5.6 = 28 days.
- Example 2: You work 3 days per week for the full holiday year. Your entitlement is 3 × 5.6 = 16.8 days.
- Example 3: You work 25 hours per week. Your entitlement is 25 × 5.6 = 140 hours.
- Example 4: You work 4 days per week but only for 9 months of the holiday year. Full-year entitlement is 22.4 days, so pro-rata entitlement is 22.4 × 9 ÷ 12 = 16.8 days.
- Example 5: You have 112 hours annual leave entitlement and have already taken 35 hours. You have 77 hours remaining.
Can employers give more than the statutory minimum?
Yes. The legal rule sets a minimum, not a maximum. Many employers provide more generous contractual leave, particularly in professional, education, public-sector, and long-service roles. Common enhancements include:
- 25 days plus bank holidays
- 30 days plus bank holidays
- Additional leave after a certain number of years’ service
- Birthday leave or company shutdown leave at Christmas
- Purchased leave schemes or flexible holiday trading
An annual holiday entitlement calculator UK page like this is ideal for checking the legal baseline first. Once you know the statutory minimum, you can compare it with your contract and see whether your employer is giving you extra leave above the law.
Who should use this calculator?
This type of calculator is particularly useful for:
- Employees checking whether their annual leave looks correct
- Part-time staff confirming pro-rata entitlement
- Hourly paid workers whose leave is measured in hours
- Managers estimating remaining leave balances
- Payroll and HR teams preparing onboarding or leaving calculations
- Workers comparing job offers with different holiday packages
Important legal and practical points to remember
- Check your contract. The calculator estimates statutory entitlement, but your employment contract may offer better terms.
- Look at your holiday year. Some employers use January to December, while others use April to March or an anniversary-based year.
- Review bank holiday wording. Included and additional are very different outcomes.
- Keep records. Track leave taken during the year so your remaining balance stays accurate.
- Understand rounding. Employers may round partial days or hours according to their internal policy, as long as they remain legally compliant.
Authoritative sources you can check
If you want to verify the legal framework behind your annual holiday entitlement calculation, these official sources are a strong starting point:
Final thoughts
An annual holiday entitlement calculator UK tool is valuable because annual leave rules are easy to misunderstand once you move beyond a standard full-time schedule. The core statutory concept is simple: 5.6 weeks of paid leave. The challenge lies in translating that into days or hours for real people with part-time hours, variable schedules, mid-year start dates, and different bank holiday arrangements.
Using the calculator above, you can quickly estimate total entitlement, see the effect of pro-rata service, add any extra employer-provided bank holidays, and compare holiday taken against your remaining balance. It is not a substitute for legal advice or your contract, but it is a practical, clear, and fast way to understand what your annual leave should look like under standard UK rules.