How Holiday Pay Is Calculated in the UK
A guide to understanding your holiday pay entitlement, including regular workers, part-time, and zero-hours contracts.
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How much holiday pay should I get?
Almost all UK workers are legally entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday per year. For someone working 5 days a week, that is 28 days including bank holidays. Part-time workers get a proportional amount.
How holiday pay is calculated
Holiday pay should reflect your normal weekly earnings. For workers with fixed hours, this is straightforward. For irregular hours workers, holiday accrues at 12.07% of hours worked.
Holiday entitlement by working pattern
| Days per week | Annual entitlement |
|---|---|
| 5 days | 28 days |
| 4 days | 22.4 days |
| 3 days | 16.8 days |
| 2 days | 11.2 days |
Zero-hours and irregular workers
If you work irregular hours, your holiday accrues at 12.07% of hours worked. This means for every hour you work, you build up 0.1207 hours of holiday entitlement.
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Use our Holiday Pay Calculator for a personalised estimate based on your working pattern.
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Last updated
Last reviewed: 2026-04-12T07:27:44.642Z.