The 5.6 weeks figure — what it actually means
All employees and workers in the UK are entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks' paid holiday per year. For someone working five days a week, that is 28 days.
The 28 days is the total entitlement. It includes bank holidays if your employer chooses to count them. England has eight permanent bank holidays per year. A common contract structure is "20 days plus 8 bank holidays", which equals exactly 28 days — the statutory minimum. That is not a bonus on top of the legal minimum. It is the legal minimum, structured differently.
If your contract gives you 25 days plus bank holidays, you are getting more than the minimum. If it gives you 20 days and you have to take bank holidays from those 20 days, that may fall short — though most contracts using this structure explicitly grant 20 days plus bank holidays.
Your employer cannot require you to take holiday as bank holidays off if doing so would reduce your total entitlement below 5.6 weeks.
Your employer does not have to give you bank holidays off
This surprises people. Your employer can lawfully require you to work on bank holidays and count those days toward your 5.6 weeks' entitlement. They can also let you take them off but count them as part of your 28-day total.
What they cannot do is give you fewer than 5.6 weeks in total. Beyond that, it is a matter of what your contract says.
If you work in a sector that operates on bank holidays — hospitality, retail, healthcare — check your contract carefully. Your entitlement may be in hours rather than days, which is also valid.
Part-time workers — how holiday is calculated pro-rata
Part-time employees and workers are entitled to the same 5.6 weeks, calculated in proportion to the hours they work.
A worked example: someone working three days a week (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday) is entitled to 5.6 multiplied by three, which is 16.8 days per year. Round up to 17 days if your employer uses whole days.
Your employer can express this in hours rather than days if you work variable hours across those three days. The principle is the same — 5.6 weeks' worth of your average working time.
Holiday for irregular hours and part-year workers
Workers with irregular hours or those who work only part of the year — seasonal workers, term-time workers, zero-hours contract workers — have their holiday calculated differently.
The Working Time Regulations were amended in 2023, with the changes taking effect from 1 January 2024. For irregular hours and part-year workers, holiday entitlement is calculated as 12.07% of the hours worked in the relevant pay period. This method can be applied as rolled-up holiday pay, where the holiday pay is included in the worker's hourly rate and paid as they go rather than when they take leave.
Verify the current correct calculation method at GOV.UK before applying it — this area of law changed in 2024 and it is worth confirming the current rules: https://www.gov.uk/holiday-entitlement-rights.
Holiday pay — what you should be paid
Holiday pay must be paid at your "normal pay" rate. This sounds straightforward but it is not always obvious in practice.
If you regularly receive commission, overtime, or other variable payments as part of your normal working pattern, those should be included in your holiday pay calculation. A series of legal cases established this principle. Your employer cannot reduce your holiday pay to your basic salary alone if you regularly receive more.
The calculation typically uses a 52-week average of your pay. If you have not worked all 52 of those weeks — because of sickness, for example — only the weeks you were actually paid are used, up to a maximum reference period. Verify the current reference period rules at GOV.UK.
Holiday continues to accrue during sick leave
If you are on long-term sick leave and cannot take your holiday, that holiday does not disappear. It continues to accrue and you can carry it forward.
The specific rules depend on whether you are on statutory sick pay or company sick pay, and how long the absence lasts. As a general principle: holiday that was not taken because you were too ill to take it can be carried over, and your employer cannot simply cancel it.
This is a meaningful protection for people on long-term sickness absence. See /employment-rights/sick-pay for the sick pay rules.
Carrying over unused holiday
Generally, you cannot carry unused holiday over from one leave year to the next. Your employer sets the leave year — it may be the calendar year, the tax year, or another 12-month period. If you have not used your entitlement by the end of the leave year, it lapses.
There are exceptions. If you were unable to take holiday because of sickness, you can carry it forward. If you were on maternity, paternity, or parental leave and could not take holiday during that period, you can carry it forward. See /employment-rights/maternity for holiday accrual during maternity leave.
Your employer may also voluntarily allow carry-over beyond the statutory rules. Check your contract.
Holiday pay when you leave
When you leave a job, you are entitled to be paid for any holiday you have accrued but not taken. This applies whether you resign, are made redundant, or are dismissed.
The payment is calculated based on the number of days you have accrued by your leaving date, minus any days you have already taken that leave year.
If you have taken more holiday than you have accrued by your leaving date, your employer can deduct the difference from your final pay — but only if your contract explicitly allows for this.
Your employer cannot refuse to pay accrued holiday when you leave. Failure to do so is an unlawful deduction from wages.
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Common questions
How many days holiday am I entitled to by law?▾
The statutory minimum is 5.6 weeks per year. For a full-time employee working five days a week, that is 28 days. Part-time workers get the same 5.6 weeks calculated pro-rata based on their working days. Bank holidays can count toward the 28 days if your contract allows it. Your employer may offer more than the minimum — check your contract.
Do I get bank holidays on top of my 28 days?▾
Not automatically. Many contracts give 20 days plus 8 bank holidays, which equals 28 days — the legal minimum structured across two parts. You are not getting bank holidays on top of the minimum. You are getting the minimum split between ordinary days and bank holidays. If your contract gives 25 days plus bank holidays, you are above the minimum. If you are unsure, add up your total entitlement and check it against 28 days.
How is holiday calculated for part-time workers?▾
Multiply 5.6 by the number of days you work per week. Someone on a three-day week gets 16.8 days per year (usually rounded up to 17). For workers with variable hours, the calculation is based on 5.6 weeks of average working time. Your employer can express this in hours rather than days. The right is the same — 5.6 weeks of your normal working pattern.
What happens to my holiday if I'm off sick?▾
Your holiday continues to accrue during sick leave. If you were unable to take holiday because of illness, you can carry it forward into the next leave year. Your employer cannot refuse to allow this carry-over or cancel accrued holiday because of a sickness absence. When you return from sick leave, you can arrange to take the carried-over holiday at an agreed time.
Can I carry over unused holiday?▾
Generally no, unless your employer allows it or unless you were prevented from taking it due to sickness, maternity leave, or another protected family leave. Holiday that lapses because you simply did not take it is normally lost at the end of the leave year. If you were on sick or family leave and could not take your entitlement, it does not lapse — you can carry it forward and take it when you return.
Do I get paid for unused holiday when I leave?▾
Yes. When your employment ends, you are entitled to pay for any holiday you have accrued in the current leave year that you have not yet taken. Your employer cannot withhold this. It is calculated based on your accrued entitlement minus any days already taken. If you have taken more holiday than you have accrued by your leaving date, your employer can deduct the overage from your final pay, but only if your contract explicitly permits this.