Pro Rata Holiday Calculator UK

Pro Rata Holiday Calculator UK: Part-Time, Starters and Leavers

Work out paid holiday entitlement for a part-time worker with regular hours, and compare it with the UK statutory minimum of 5.6 weeks a year. It also works as an annual leave calculator for full-time staff, and as a holiday entitlement calculator for people who start or leave part way through the leave year.

This is general information, not legal advice. Your contract may give you more than the statutory minimum. Check the figures with the GOV.UK holiday entitlement calculator and the Acas guidance on holiday entitlement.

Irregular hours and part-year workers

If your hours change from one pay period to the next, or your contract has weeks with no work and no pay, your statutory holiday builds up as 12.07% of the hours you work in each pay period. This applies to leave years that started on or after 1 April 2024.

This uses the statutory minimum rate. If your contract gives more than 5.6 weeks, your employer will need to use a higher percentage. Sources: GOV.UK guidance on the holiday reforms and Acas on irregular hours and part-year workers.

How pro rata holiday is worked out

Almost all workers in the UK are entitled by law to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year. For someone who works 5 days a week that is 28 days. Statutory holiday is limited to 28 days, even for people who work 6 or 7 days a week.

• Statutory minimum in days = days worked a week × 5.6, up to 28 days
• Pro rata share of an employer’s allowance = full-time allowance × days worked a week ÷ 5
• Entitlement in hours = entitlement in days × hours in an average working day
• Starting part way through the leave year: full-year entitlement × months left in the leave year ÷ 12, rounded up to the next half day
• Leaving part way through the leave year: full-year entitlement × calendar days employed in the leave year ÷ days in the leave year, rounded up to one decimal place

The starter and leaver methods follow the GOV.UK guidance on calculating holiday entitlement for different types of contract. An employer can round entitlement up but cannot round it down.

Annual leave calculator for full-time and part-time staff

To use this as an annual leave calculator for a full-time worker, enter 5 days a week. With the statutory allowance of 28 days the result is 28 days. Enter fewer days a week for a part-time worker. The holiday entitlement calculator shows the pro rata share of the employer’s allowance next to the statutory minimum and uses the higher of the two.

Worked example

You work 3 days a week. Your employer gives full-time staff 25 days of holiday plus 8 bank holidays, which is 33 days in total. Your pro rata share is 33 × 3 ÷ 5 = 19.8 days a year. The statutory minimum for 3 days a week is 3 × 5.6 = 16.8 days, so your contract gives you 3 days more than the legal minimum.

Employers handle bank holidays for part-time staff in different ways. This calculator adds them to the full-time allowance and gives a pro rata share of the total, which is a common approach and follows the principle that part-time workers get leave in proportion to the hours they work. The law does not set a method for this. Check your contract for the method your employer uses. Acas explains bank holidays and holiday entitlement.

Questions about pro rata holiday

How do I calculate pro-rata holiday days?

Multiply the days you work each week by 5.6 to find the statutory minimum, up to a limit of 28 days. If your employer gives full-time staff more than the minimum, multiply the full-time allowance by the days you work each week and divide by 5. For example, if full-time staff get 33 days including bank holidays and you work 3 days a week, you get 33 × 3 ÷ 5 = 19.8 days.

How much annual leave is a full-time worker entitled to in the UK?

Almost all workers in the UK are entitled by law to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year. For someone who works 5 days a week that is 28 days, and an employer can count bank holidays as part of this. To check a figure, enter 5 days a week in the annual leave calculator on this page. It also works as a holiday entitlement calculator for part-time workers, starters and leavers.

How many holidays am I entitled to if I work 3 days a week?

The legal minimum is 16.8 days a year, which is 3 × 5.6. Your employer can count bank holidays as part of this. If your working day is 7.5 hours, as in a 37.5-hour full-time week over 5 days, 16.8 days is 126 hours. Your contract may give you more.

What happens if a bank holiday falls on my non-working day?

Your employer cannot make you use that day as part of your holiday entitlement. There is no legal right to paid time off on bank holidays, so any extra leave depends on your contract. Many employers give part-time staff a pro rata share of bank holidays as leave, whichever days they work. This calculator uses that method if you choose “No, they are given on top”.

How many days annual leave if you work 4 days a week?

The legal minimum is 22.4 days a year, which is 4 × 5.6. With a 7.5-hour working day, as in a 37.5-hour full-time week over 5 days, that is 168 hours. If full-time staff get 25 days plus 8 bank holidays, a pro rata share for 4 days a week is 33 × 4 ÷ 5 = 26.4 days.

Can my employer round my holiday entitlement down?

No. GOV.UK and Acas both say that an employer can round holiday entitlement up but cannot round it down. Acas says that in the first year of employment part days must be rounded up to the nearest half day.

How is holiday worked out if I start or leave part way through the year?

You get a share of the full-year entitlement. GOV.UK guidance works out a starter’s entitlement as the full-year figure multiplied by the months left in the leave year and divided by 12, rounded up to the next half day. For a leaver it is the full-year figure multiplied by the calendar days employed in the leave year and divided by the days in that year. The GOV.UK calculator rounds this up to one decimal place.

How is holiday worked out for irregular hours and part-year workers?

For leave years that started on or after 1 April 2024, holiday for irregular hours and part-year workers builds up at 12.07% of the hours worked in each pay period. For example, 68 hours worked in a month gives 8.21 hours, which is rounded to 8 hours of holiday. Part hours of 30 minutes or more are rounded up to a full hour.