Statutory Holiday Entitlement in Great Britain: 5.6 Weeks, the 28-Day Cap, Part-Time Workers and Carrying Leave Over

Most workers in Great Britain have a legal right to paid annual leave, set by the Working Time Regulations 1998, and an employer cannot simply refuse it or swap it for cash during the job. The rules cover how much leave a person builds up, whether bank holidays count, what happens to unused leave and what is owed when employment ends. This guide covers Great Britain, because the Regulations extend to England, Wales and Scotland; Northern Ireland has separate regulations.

The basic entitlement: 5.6 weeks

Regulation 13 gives a worker four weeks’ annual leave in each leave year, and regulation 13A adds a further 1.6 weeks for leave years beginning on or after 1 April 2009. GOV.UK summarises the combined result as 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday a year for almost all workers, including agency workers, workers with irregular hours and part-year workers. Regulation 13A caps the combined entitlement at 28 days, so a person working six days a week is still limited to 28 days of statutory leave. Employers can offer more, and any extra leave need not follow all the rules that apply to the statutory minimum.

Part-time, irregular-hours and part-year workers

The entitlement is measured in weeks, so part-time workers with regular hours through the year are entitled to at least 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday, which is fewer than 28 days. GOV.UK gives the example of a person working three days a week, who must receive at least 16.8 days (3 × 5.6). For workers with irregular hours or who work only part of the year, GOV.UK says leave builds up depending on the hours already worked, rather than as a fixed number of days. That accrual approach applies to leave years beginning on or after 1 April 2024; for earlier leave years an estimate based on average weekly days or hours could be used.

Bank holidays

Bank or public holidays do not have to be given as paid leave. An employer may choose to count them as part of the 5.6 weeks, so a contract that gives 28 days including bank holidays can still meet the statutory minimum for a full-time worker. Where a contract gives bank holidays in addition to the statutory amount, the extra days are a contractual matter and depend on the terms agreed.

Taking leave and payment instead of leave

Leave may be taken in instalments. Regulation 13(9) provides that the basic four weeks may only be taken in the leave year in which it is due, subject to the carry-over exceptions, and cannot be replaced by a payment in lieu except when employment is terminated. Regulation 13A applies a similar rule to the additional 1.6 weeks. Under regulation 15, a worker may choose the days of leave by giving notice, but the employer can require the worker to take leave, or not to take it, on particular days by giving the notice the Regulations require.

Carrying leave into the next year

Since 1 January 2024, regulation 13 has set out express carry-over rights. A worker who could not take leave because of other statutory leave may carry the untaken leave into the following leave year. A worker who could not take leave because of sick leave may carry it forward, provided it is taken within 18 months of the end of the leave year in which the entitlement arose. Where an employer failed to recognise the right to leave or pay, failed to give a reasonable opportunity to take leave or encourage the worker to do so, or failed to warn that leave not taken and not carried forward would be lost, the worker may carry forward the untaken leave. That carried-over leave cannot be carried beyond the end of the first full leave year in which the employer’s failures no longer apply.

When employment ends

Regulation 14 deals with termination during a leave year. If the proportion of leave the worker has taken is less than the proportion of the leave year that has passed, the employer must make a payment in lieu of the untaken leave, calculated under the relevant agreement or, failing that, by the formula in the regulation and the holiday pay provisions of regulation 16. A worker’s leave year is set by a relevant agreement or, where there is none, by the start date of employment. Where leave carried forward remains untaken on termination, the employer must also pay for it. A relevant agreement may allow the employer to be compensated where the worker has taken more leave than had built up.

If holiday pay is withheld

Unpaid holiday pay can be a claim for unauthorised deductions, covered in the guide to unauthorised deductions from wages, and time limits for tribunal claims are summarised in the guide to ACAS early conciliation and tribunal time limits. Whether someone is a worker at all is explained in the guide to employment status.

FAQs

Do bank holidays count towards the 5.6 weeks?

Only if the employer chooses to include them. GOV.UK says bank or public holidays do not have to be given as paid leave.

Can an employer pay me instead of giving leave?

Not during employment. Regulation 13(9) says the basic leave may not be replaced by a payment in lieu except when employment is terminated.

How much leave does a person working four days a week get?

At least 5.6 weeks, which GOV.UK’s method gives as 22.4 days (4 × 5.6).

The bottom line

Workers in Great Britain are generally entitled to 5.6 weeks’ paid annual leave, capped at 28 days, with accrual rules for irregular-hours and part-year workers, carry-over rights since 1 January 2024 and a payment in lieu when employment ends. Bank holidays count only if the employer includes them. This is general information, not legal advice.