How much holiday am I entitled to?

For workers who want to know how much paid holiday they are legally entitled to.

Applies to: England, Scotland, Wales Last checked against official sources: 6 October 2026

Almost all workers get 5.6 weeks' paid holiday a year. For a 5-day week, that's at least 28 days.

Part-time: 5.6 times the days you work, e.g. 16.8 days for 3 days a week.
Statutory leave is capped at 28 days, even if you work 6 days.
Employers can include bank holidays in this.
You keep building up holiday during maternity, paternity, adoption and sick leave.

Different in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland

Rules may be different in:

Northern Ireland: Check nidirect for Northern Ireland

Key facts

5.6 weeks a year
28 days for 5-day week
Bank holidays can be included

Who gets paid holiday

Almost everyone classed as a worker has a legal right to paid holiday. This includes:

employees on full-time or part-time contracts
agency workers
people on irregular hours, such as zero hours or casual work
part-year workers, such as term-time staff

People who are genuinely self-employed are not covered, because employment law does not cover most self-employed people. If you are not sure which you are, check your employment status.

How much you get

The legal minimum is 5.6 weeks a year. For regular hours, multiply the days you work each week by 5.6.

Days worked a week	Minimum paid holiday a year
1	5.6 days
2	11.2 days
3	16.8 days
4	22.4 days
5	28 days
6	28 days (the legal cap)

The minimum is capped at 28 days. So someone working 6 days a week still gets 28 days by law. Your contract can give you more.

Irregular hours and part-year workers

If your leave year started on or after 1 April 2024, holiday builds up as you work. You get 12.07% of the hours you worked in each pay period. If the result includes half an hour or more, it is rounded up to the next full hour.

Example: you work 40 hours in a month. 40 x 12.07% = 4.83 hours. That rounds up to 5 hours of paid holiday.

Bank holidays

You do not have a legal right to paid leave on bank holidays. Your employer can count bank holidays as part of your 5.6 weeks.

Holiday while you are off

You keep building up holiday while you are on:

sick leave
maternity, paternity or adoption leave

Booking holiday

You must give notice of at least twice the length of the leave, plus 1 day. For 1 day off, give 3 days' notice.
Your employer can refuse, but must tell you with notice equal to the leave asked for, plus 1 day.
Your employer can tell you to take holiday on certain days, such as at Christmas. They must give notice of at least twice the length of the leave.

When you leave a job

You must be paid for statutory holiday you have not taken. This is the only time you can be paid instead of taking the leave. It applies even if you are dismissed for gross misconduct.

If you live in Northern Ireland

The minimum is also 5.6 weeks, or 28 days for a 5-day week. There is no legal right to paid leave on bank and public holidays. Irregular hours workers get paid time off for every hour worked. Check nidirect for the details.

How to check your entitlement

Read your contract or staff handbook.
Use the GOV.UK holiday entitlement calculator.
If you think you are getting less than the law says, talk to your employer first. You can also get free advice from the Acas helpline.

Related guides

Where this comes from

Get it done

This takes you to the official service, which is free to use.

Calculate your holiday

Common questions

Do I get bank holidays off on top?

Not necessarily. Employers can count them as part of your 28 days.

Source: Holiday entitlement

Checked against GOV.UK on 6 October 2026

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