Free UK tool · Regular and irregular hours
Holiday pay calculator (UK)
Work out how much paid holiday you are entitled to, and what a week of it should pay, in England, Scotland or Wales. Free, no account, and nothing you enter leaves your browser.
Your statutory holiday
Enter the days you work and your weekly pay. The figures update as you type.
This is your statutory minimum. Many UK employment contracts give more: extra days on top of the 5.6 weeks, bank holidays on top of your leave, or overtime counted in every week of holiday pay. The only way to know what yours says is to read it.
Your first review is free. Check what your contract says
Regular hours
How holiday entitlement and pay are worked out
Almost every worker is entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year. It is measured in weeks of your own working pattern, so it scales with the days you work. Five days a week gives 28 days. Three days a week gives 16.8 days. Statutory leave stops at 28 days, so working 6 days a week still gives 28.
You are paid a week’s pay for each week of leave. For 4 of the 5.6 weeks that means your normal pay, including regular overtime, commission linked to your work, and payments for length of service or professional qualifications. For the other 1.6 weeks the law only requires your basic pay. If your pay is the same every week, the difference disappears.
A worked example. You work 5 days a week on £500 basic and regularly earn £100 a week in overtime. You get 28 days. Four weeks are paid at £600 and 1.6 weeks at £500, so the legal minimum for the year is £3,200. If your employer pays every week at £600, it is £3,360.
Irregular hours and part-year work
The 12.07% rule and the 52-week average
You count as an irregular-hours worker if the paid hours in each pay period are wholly or mostly variable under your contract, which usually includes zero-hours contracts. You are a part-year worker if your contract has periods of at least a week when you do not work and are not paid. For leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024, both build up holiday as they work.
- Leave builds up at 12.07% of the hours you work in each pay period, on the last day of that period. 30 hours in a week gives 3.621 hours, which rounds to 4 hours of leave. Under half an hour is dropped; half an hour or more counts as a full hour.
- A week of holiday pays your average week over the last 52 weeks in which you were paid. Weeks with no pay are skipped and earlier weeks are counted instead, going back no more than 104 weeks. If you have been there less than a year, the weeks you have worked are used.
- Rolled-up holiday pay is the alternative: your employer adds 12.07% to your pay each pay period instead of paying you when you take leave. On £500 of pay that is £60.35. It must be paid at the same time as your wages and shown on your payslip.
An irregular-hours example. A worker on irregular hours earned £20,520 across 52 paid weeks. A week of holiday pays £20,520 ÷ 52, which is £394.62. If you are on a zero-hours contract, this is the figure to check your payslip against.
What counts
What goes into a week’s holiday pay
| Payment | First 4 weeks | Other 1.6 weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Basic pay | Yes | Yes |
| Regular overtime | Yes | Not required by law |
| Commission linked to your work | Yes | Not required by law |
| Length of service or qualification payments | Yes | Not required by law |
| Bonuses | Only if linked to your work or paid regularly | Not required by law |
For irregular-hours and part-year workers there is no split: every week of leave is paid at normal pay. If overtime is a big part of what you earn, read how overtime pay works and what your contract has to say about it.
Limits
What this calculator does not cover
- Starting or leaving part way through a leave year: You get a share of the year’s leave, and when you leave you are paid for leave you built up and did not take. GOV.UK’s holiday entitlement calculator works out the part year.
- Carrying leave over: Your contract says how much you can carry into the next leave year. On 28 days the most is 8, and your employer may allow more on anything above 28. Different limits apply if you could not take leave because you were off sick or on family leave.
- Leave built up while off sick or on statutory leave, such as maternity or paternity leave. You keep building up holiday, but the calculator works from hours and pay you enter.
- Northern Ireland: It has its own working time rules, so check holiday entitlement on nidirect if you work there.
Beyond the minimum
What your contract might add
The figures above are the legal floor. Your contract, or a staff handbook it points to, can give you more, and when it does you are owed that too. Look for:
- More than 5.6 weeks: Any extra days follow your contract’s rules, which do not have to match the statutory ones.
- Bank holidays on top of your leave rather than taken out of it.
- Holiday pay at your full normal pay for every week, overtime and commission included.
- Your leave year and any notice you have to give before booking time off.
If your job is ending, the same contract decides your notice and any pay in lieu of it, and our free redundancy calculator covers the statutory payment. To see what your own contract promises on holiday, have your employment contract reviewed.
Frequently asked questions
Holiday pay questions
How many days of holiday am I entitled to?+
Almost every worker gets 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year. On a 5-day week that is 28 days. Part-time workers get the same 5.6 weeks, so 3 days a week gives 16.8 days. Statutory leave never goes above 28 days, even if you work 6 or 7 days a week.
Are bank holidays included in my 28 days?+
They can be. You have no legal right to bank holidays off on top of your 5.6 weeks, and your employer can count them as part of it. Many contracts give bank holidays on top, so check yours.
Does overtime count towards holiday pay?+
Regular overtime does, for 4 of your 5.6 weeks. So do commission linked to your work and payments for length of service or professional qualifications. For the remaining 1.6 weeks the law only requires basic pay, although many employers pay every week the same. Bonuses do not usually count, unless they are linked to the work you do or paid regularly.
What is the 12.07% holiday rule?+
If you work irregular hours or only part of the year, and your leave year started on or after 1 April 2024, you build up holiday at 12.07% of the hours you work in each pay period. 30 hours in a week earns 4 hours of leave. A part hour under 30 minutes is dropped, and 30 minutes or more counts as a full hour.
What is rolled-up holiday pay?+
It is holiday pay added to your wages as you work instead of when you take leave: 12.07% on top of each pay period, shown on your payslip. It is only allowed for irregular-hours and part-year workers in leave years from 1 April 2024. For someone on regular hours it is not allowed.
Do zero-hours workers get holiday pay?+
Yes. Workers on zero-hours contracts and other irregular hours are entitled to paid holiday. A week of holiday pays your average week over the last 52 weeks in which you were paid.
Can my employer pay me instead of letting me take holiday?+
Not for statutory leave. It cannot be swapped for money except when your job ends, when you are paid for any leave you built up and did not take.
Do freelancers and contractors get holiday pay?+
Not if they are genuinely self-employed. Employment law does not cover the self-employed in most cases. People classed as workers, including agency workers, are entitled to the statutory minimum of paid holiday.
How do I check my holiday pay is right?+
Compare the figure on your payslip with your average week. From 6 April 2026 your employer must keep records of annual leave and holiday pay for 6 years, so you can ask how it was worked out. Acas can help if the two do not match.
Sources
Rules: GOV.UK, Holiday entitlement, GOV.UK, Holiday pay, GOV.UK, Holiday pay and entitlement reforms from 1 January 2024 and the Working Time Regulations 1998 (regulations 13, 13A, 15B, 16 and 16A). Last checked on 8 October 2026.
This is an estimate of statutory holiday entitlement and holiday pay and is general information, not legal advice.
Your contract could give you more holiday
Extra days, bank holidays on top, overtime in every week of holiday pay, and how untaken leave is paid when you go can all be written into your contract. Upload yours and Ookulli shows you what it promises, points you to the exact wording, and names the UK law where there is one.
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