Holiday entitlement calculator
Annual leave entitlement in the UK is straightforward for full-time employees who have been with you all year. It gets more complicated when someone joins mid-year, works part-time, or has a leave year that does not start in January. This calculator works out the correct pro-rata entitlement to the nearest half day, based on UK statutory rules. For a full breakdown of leave types and entitlements, see our guide to annual leave in the UK.
days per year (statutory minimum is 28 for full-time employees, including bank holidays)
days per week (enter 5 for full-time)
How annual leave entitlement is calculated in the UK
Full-time employees in the UK are entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks of paid annual leave per year, which works out to 28 days for someone working five days a week. This includes bank holidays, though many employers offer bank holidays on top of the statutory minimum as an additional benefit. Once you know how many days someone is entitled to, working out what to pay them while they are on leave is the next step, and our guide to calculating holiday pay covers that in detail.
When an employee starts part-way through the leave year, their entitlement is calculated on a pro-rata basis - they are entitled to a proportion of the annual allowance that reflects how much of the leave year they will be working. If they cannot use their full allowance within the leave year, our guide to annual leave carry-over explains when unused days can be carried into the next one.
Annual leave for part-time workers
Part-time employees are entitled to the same 5.6 weeks of leave as full-time employees, but because they work fewer days, the entitlement in days is lower. A part-time employee working three days a week is entitled to 5.6 x 3 = 16.8 days per year, rounded up to the nearest half day. For worked examples covering variable hours and mid-year starters, see our full guide to calculating annual leave for part-time workers.
When does the leave year start?
The leave year start date varies by employer. Some use 1 January, others use 1 April (the start of the financial year), and some use the employee's start date. Check your employment contract or staff handbook if you are unsure.
A note on rounding
UK employment law does not require entitlement to be rounded up, but rounding to the nearest half day is standard practice. Absently calculates entitlement to the nearest half day automatically for every employee.
Managing leave entitlements for your whole team?
If you are calculating entitlements manually for multiple employees, Absently does this automatically. Every team member's allowance is calculated and tracked in real time - no spreadsheets, no manual calculations, no errors.
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