Part-time workers are entitled to paid annual leave in the same way as full-time workers. For regular-hours part-time staff, the statutory minimum is still 5.6 weeks of paid holiday per year.
The easiest calculation for someone who works a fixed number of days each week is:
Days worked per week × 5.6 = statutory holiday entitlement in days for a full leave year, subject to the statutory cap.
The basic part-time holiday calculation
If an employee works the same number of days every week, multiply those working days by 5.6.
| Days worked per week | Statutory annual leave |
|---|---|
| 4 days | 22.4 days |
| 3 days | 16.8 days |
| 2.5 days | 14 days |
| 2 days | 11.2 days |
Example: someone working 3 days per week
Monday, Wednesday and Friday
3 days × 5.6 = 16.8 days of statutory annual leave for a full leave year.
The employee's normal working days matter when leave is booked. If they do not normally work Tuesday, taking Tuesday off should not usually consume one of their working-day holiday units.
When calculating leave in hours can make more sense
Some part-time workers have fixed weekly hours but work days of different lengths. GOV.UK guidance notes that calculating holiday in hours can be more appropriate for some workers with uneven or compressed working days.
Different length working days
An employee might work 25 hours across 4 days, but those days are not all the same length. Tracking entitlement in hours can avoid treating a short working day as identical to a long one.
Part-time is not the same as irregular-hours work
A worker can be part-time but still have regular fixed hours. Irregular-hours and part-year workers are subject to different statutory accrual rules.
For relevant leave years, irregular-hours and part-year workers accrue statutory leave at 12.07% of hours worked in the pay period. Employers should use the current GOV.UK calculator for these cases.
What if someone starts part way through the leave year?
Someone joining part way through a leave year is normally entitled only to the proportion of annual leave relating to the remaining part of that leave year.
The GOV.UK holiday entitlement calculator can calculate leave for someone who starts or leaves part way through the year.
How should bank holidays be handled for part-time staff?
Bank holidays can form part of statutory annual leave. Employers should apply their policy consistently and ensure part-time staff receive their correct overall entitlement rather than simply allocating public holidays in a way that disadvantages people because of which weekdays they normally work.
Keep the working pattern with the holiday record
A common source of mistakes is storing the entitlement in one place but the employee's normal working days somewhere else.
Awayly allows individual working patterns to be stored alongside leave information, which can make employee holiday tracking clearer for part-time teams.
Official sources
- GOV.UK — Holiday entitlement
- GOV.UK — Holiday entitlement calculator
- Acas — Holiday entitlement guidance
This guide provides general information for UK employers and teams. It is not legal advice. Employment circumstances can differ, so check current official guidance or obtain professional advice where needed.