UK Statutory Holiday Entitlement

5.6 weeks of paid leave per year — capped at 28 days. The starting point for every UK worker's entitlement.

What type of worker are you?

Regular full-timeSame hours every week, usually 5 days.Regular part-timeSame hours every week, fewer than 5 days.Irregular / zero-hoursHours vary week to week.Part-year (e.g. term-time)Contracted to work only part of the year.

Days worked per week

Hours per week (optional)

Your contract treats bank holidays as…

Region

Mid-year joiner, leaver, or above-statutory entitlement

Contractual days/year (above 28)

Leave year start

Joining date (mid-year only)

Leaving date (mid-year only)

Your entitlement

28 days(210 hours)

Annual entitlement. Statutory minimum is 28 days.

5 days per week × 5.6 weeks (statutory minimum) = 28 days per year
Your contract treats bank holidays as part of this total — book them as you would any other day off.

The Working Time Regulations 1998 in plain English

The Working Time Regulations 1998 (as amended) require every UK worker to receive at least 5.6 weeks of paid annual leave each leave year. Four of those weeks come from EU law retained in UK law after Brexit; the additional 1.6 weeks are a UK addition.

For someone working five days a week, that adds up to 28 days. The cap means that workers doing six days a week don't automatically get 33.6 days as a right — though their employer can offer more, and many do.

How the statutory minimum applies

Regular workers — entitlement is days-per-week × 5.6, capped at 28 days. Full-time at 5 days/week gets exactly 28; a part-timer at 3 days/week gets 16.8.
Irregular-hours and part-year workers — entitlement accrues at 12.07% of hours worked (since April 2024). The 5.6 weeks come out by maths if hours over the year are constant.
Bank holidays — not a separate statutory right. They may or may not count toward the 5.6 weeks depending on the contract.

What contracts can and cannot do

An employment contract can give you more than 5.6 weeks but cannot give you less. It also cannot include rolled-up holiday pay for regular workers, cannot pay you in lieu of statutory annual leave while still employed (though it can in the final pay on leaving), and cannot deduct holiday entitlement to penalise sick leave.

Frequently asked questions

What is the UK statutory minimum holiday entitlement?+

5.6 weeks of paid annual leave per year, capped at 28 days. Workers doing more than five days a week do not automatically get more than 28 days as a right, though their employer can offer it.

Can my employer cap holiday at 20 days?+

Not lawfully if you work five days a week. The 5.6 weeks minimum equals 28 days at five days a week, and applies regardless of whether bank holidays are also given as time off.