Annual Leave Entitlement in the UK: A Practical Employer Guide

Almost all people classed as workers in the UK are legally entitled to paid annual leave. For most workers, the statutory minimum is 5.6 weeks of paid holiday each leave year.

For someone who works 5 days a week, 5.6 weeks is normally 28 days of statutory annual leave. Employers can offer more than the statutory minimum.

What is statutory annual leave entitlement?

Statutory annual leave is the minimum paid holiday workers are entitled to by law. GOV.UK states that almost all workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks' paid holiday each year.

The number of days this represents depends on the worker's regular working pattern. A 5-day worker usually receives 28 days. Someone working fewer days each week still receives 5.6 weeks, but that converts into fewer individual working days.

What about part-time workers?

Part-time workers with regular hours throughout the year are still entitled to at least 5.6 weeks' paid holiday. The difference is that 5.6 weeks converts into fewer days because they normally work fewer days each week.

Irregular-hours and part-year workers

Irregular-hours and part-year workers are also entitled to statutory paid leave, but the calculation rules are different. For relevant leave years, statutory leave accrues at 12.07% of hours worked in each pay period.

Because these calculations can depend on the worker's contract, pay period and leave year, employers should use the current GOV.UK holiday entitlement calculator rather than applying a simple full-time days formula.

What is a leave year?

Employers can set a fixed annual period during which workers use their holiday entitlement. For example, a company might use 1 January to 31 December or 1 April to 31 March.

The leave year should be communicated clearly to staff. If someone starts part way through a leave year, they will normally only be entitled to the relevant proportion of their annual entitlement for the remaining part of that leave year.

Do bank holidays count?

They can. UK law does not require bank holidays to be additional paid days on top of statutory entitlement. An employer can include bank holidays as part of the worker's statutory annual leave.

The employment contract or holiday policy should make clear how bank holidays are treated in that organisation.

Can unused annual leave be carried over?

Carry-over rules depend on the worker's circumstances, contract and statutory protections. GOV.UK sets out situations where statutory leave can or must be carried over, including certain cases involving sickness, family leave or where the worker was not given a reasonable opportunity to take their leave.

Employers should avoid assuming that all unused holiday simply disappears at the end of the leave year.

How should employers keep annual leave clear?

Whatever system a business uses, employees and managers should be able to understand the employee's entitlement, leave already taken, approved future leave and requests still awaiting a decision.

This is where dedicated annual leave management software can reduce manual spreadsheet work and make balances easier to follow.