Holiday pay entitlement: what you are owed and how it is worked out

Almost every worker in the UK is entitled to paid holiday from their first day. It is one of the most basic employment rights, and still one of the most commonly underpaid. Wrong calculations, missing overtime and "use it or lose it" policies that ignore the law cost workers real money every year.

This guide covers how much leave you get, how much you should be paid for it, and what to do if the numbers do not add up.

Who is entitled to paid holiday

The right comes from the Working Time Regulations 1998 and covers workers, not just employees. That includes most:

• Full-time and part-time employees
• Zero-hours and casual workers
• Agency workers
• Many people labelled "self-employed" who in reality work like staff

There is no qualifying period. You start building up holiday from day one.

How much holiday you get

The statutory minimum is 5.6 weeks a year. For someone working five days a week that is 28 days, and your employer can count the eight bank holidays as part of it. The cap is 28 days, so someone working six days a week still gets 28.

Part-time workers get the same 5.6 weeks, pro rata:

• 3 days a week: 3 x 5.6 = 16.8 days
• 4 days a week: 4 x 5.6 = 22.4 days

Your contract can give you more than the minimum, but never less. Whether you get bank holidays off on top is a separate question, covered in our guide to bank holiday entitlement.

Irregular hours and part-year workers

If your leave year started on or after 1 April 2024 and you work irregular hours (for example zero-hours) or only part of the year, holiday accrues at 12.07% of the hours you work in each pay period. That figure is 5.6 weeks divided by the 46.4 weeks most people work in a year.

Worked example: you work 120 hours in a month. You build up 120 x 12.07% = 14.48 hours of paid holiday.

For these workers employers may also pay rolled-up holiday pay: an extra 12.07% added to every payslip instead of paying you when you take the leave. It must be shown as a separate line on your payslip. If it is just "included in your hourly rate" with no breakdown, that is not lawful rolled-up pay.

How much you should be paid

The rule is simple: you get a week's pay for each week of leave. The detail is where errors happen.

• First 4 weeks: paid at your normal rate. That includes regular overtime, commission, and payments linked to seniority, length of service or qualifications. Bonuses do not usually count.
• Remaining 1.6 weeks: can be paid at your basic rate.

If your pay varies, "a week's pay" is the average over the previous 52 weeks in which you were paid, ignoring weeks with no pay.

Worked example: your basic pay is £550 a week, but over the last year you averaged £150 a week in regular overtime and commission. For your first four weeks of leave you should get around £700 a week, not £550. Over four weeks that is £600 you could be missing.

Carrying holiday over

You are normally expected to take your leave in the leave year. But the law protects you in some situations:

• Sickness: if you could not take leave because you were off sick, you can carry over up to 4 weeks, to be used within 18 months of the end of that leave year. See our statutory sick pay guide for how sickness affects pay generally.
• Family leave: leave you could not take because of maternity, paternity or similar leave can be carried into the next year.
• Employer prevented you: if your employer did not give you a reasonable chance to take leave or failed to tell you it would be lost, you can carry it over.
• By agreement: your contract may allow carry over of the extra 1.6 weeks or contractual days.

Common holiday pay mistakes to check for

• Overtime left out: regular overtime and commission ignored for the first four weeks of leave
• Wrong averaging: using 12 weeks instead of 52 paid weeks, or counting weeks with no pay
• Part-timers short-changed: bank holidays deducted in a way that leaves part-time staff with less than 5.6 weeks pro rata
• "Use it or lose it" applied to sick leave: leave lost when you could not take it because you were ill
• Holiday hidden in the hourly rate: rolled-up pay with no separate line on the payslip

If any of these sound familiar, you may have been underpaid for some time.

Holiday records: a 2026 change

Since 6 April 2026, employers have a legal duty to keep records showing they have complied with annual leave and holiday pay rules, and to keep them for six years. This comes from section 35 of the Employment Rights Act 2025. It means you are in a much stronger position to ask how your holiday pay was worked out.

Holiday pay when you leave

You cannot normally swap holiday for cash. The one exception is when your job ends: you must be paid for statutory holiday you have built up but not taken, even if you were dismissed for gross misconduct. Our guide to holiday pay when leaving a job explains the calculation.

If you have been underpaid

Underpaid holiday pay is usually a claim for unlawful deduction from wages. Steps to take:

1. Check your figures against your payslips and contract.

2. Raise it informally, then put it in writing as a formal grievance if it is not fixed.

3. Watch the clock. Tribunal time limits for events on or after 1 October 2026 have been extended from three months to six months, but older underpayments may still fall under the three-month rule. You must contact ACAS before you can claim; see ACAS early conciliation.

If your employer is treating you badly because you asked about holiday pay, that can itself be unlawful, and in serious cases may support a claim for constructive dismissal.

Get help with a holiday pay dispute

Holiday pay claims can look small week by week but add up quickly, especially where overtime or commission has been left out for years. Match My Solicitor connects you with employment solicitors who can check your figures and tell you what is worth pursuing. Tell us what happened and we will match you with the right specialist, free of charge.