Holiday entitlement calculator, including the 12.07% rule

5.6 weeks a year. For someone working five days a week that is 28 days, and bank holidays can be included in it. The statutory entitlement is capped at 28 days, so a six-day worker still gets 28 days unless the contract gives more (Working Time Regulations 1998, regs 13 and 13A).

Multiply the days they work each week by 5.6. Three days a week gives 16.8 days. If they work different hours on different days, it is fairer to work in hours: 5.6 times their weekly hours.

For leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024, irregular-hours and part-year workers build up holiday at 12.07% of the hours they actually work in each pay period (reg 15B). Each period's figure is rounded: under 30 minutes is ignored, 30 minutes or more counts as a full hour.

Someone whose paid hours in each pay period are wholly or mostly variable under their contract, such as a zero-hours worker. A part-year worker is someone required to work only part of the year, with unpaid weeks when they do not work, such as term-time staff (reg 15F). A fixed rota of set hours is not irregular.

Yes, but only for irregular-hours and part-year workers, for leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024. You pay 12.07% on top of their pay each period and show it as a separate line on the payslip (reg 16A). It is still not allowed for regular-hours staff.

Their statutory entitlement for the leave year multiplied by the proportion of the year worked, plus any statutory leave carried over, minus leave already taken (reg 14). That statutory amount must be paid in full: the contract cannot reduce it. The contract can only set the rate for leave above the statutory minimum, and leave taken in excess can be recovered only if a written term agreed in advance allows it.

No. In the first year of employment, reg 15A limits how much leave a worker can take each month as it builds up. It does not reduce the payment for untaken leave when they leave, which is worked out under reg 14.

For the first 4 weeks, and for all leave of irregular-hours and part-year workers, normal pay: that includes regular overtime, commission and payments linked to seniority or qualifications. It is averaged over the last 52 paid weeks, skipping unpaid weeks, looking back no more than 104 weeks (reg 16). The extra 1.6 weeks can be paid at basic pay.

Yes. Since 6 April 2026, employers must keep records adequate to show they have complied with holiday entitlement and holiday pay rules, and keep them for six years (Working Time Regulations 1998, reg 16B, added by the Employment Rights Act 2025, s35). Failing to do so is already a criminal offence. Separately, the Fair Work Agency is due to take over enforcing holiday pay in 2027.