Answers · UK 2025/26

How does holiday pay accrue for part-time workers?

Part-time workers are entitled to the same 5.6 weeks of statutory paid holiday as full-time workers, but calculated pro-rata based on their actual working pattern. Someone working three days a week gets 16.8 days a year (3 x 5.6), ensuring part-time workers receive proportionally the same holiday entitlement as full-time colleagues.

Last updated: 2 July 2026Last reviewed: 2 July 2026How we verify

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Part-time workers are legally entitled to the same proportional holiday entitlement as full-time employees, and understanding the pro-rata calculation helps ensure you are receiving your correct entitlement. **The statutory minimum: 5.6 weeks** All UK workers, regardless of full or part-time status, are entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year -- for a standard full-time worker on a 5-day week, this equates to 28 days (5.6 × 5), which includes bank holidays unless your contract specifies they are additional to your statutory minimum. **Pro-rata calculation for part-time workers** For part-time workers, the 5.6-week entitlement is calculated based on the number of days (or hours) they actually work per week -- someone working 3 days a week gets 5.6 × 3 = 16.8 days a year; someone working 4 days a week gets 5.6 × 4 = 22.4 days a year. **Calculating for irregular hours** For workers with genuinely irregular hours (rather than a fixed part-time pattern, such as zero-hours or variable-shift workers), holiday entitlement and pay are typically calculated using an accrual method of 12.07% of hours worked, or a 52-week reference period average pay calculation when leave is actually taken -- this reflects the fact that a simple "days per week" pro-rata does not work cleanly when hours vary significantly week to week. **Where the 12.07% figure comes from** The 12.07% accrual rate is derived from dividing 5.6 weeks of holiday by the 46.4 working weeks remaining in a year (52 weeks minus the 5.6 weeks of holiday itself) -- this percentage, applied to hours actually worked, produces the equivalent proportional holiday entitlement for genuinely irregular-hours workers. **Bank holidays and part-time work** If a part-time worker does not normally work on the day a bank holiday falls, they are not automatically entitled to an extra day off or pay for it -- their bank holiday entitlement is already factored into their pro-rata statutory holiday calculation, based on their normal working pattern, rather than being treated as a separate additional benefit. **Worked example** A part-time worker on a fixed pattern of 2 days a week is entitled to 5.6 × 2 = 11.2 days of paid holiday a year. If they normally earn £100 a day, a full year's holiday entitlement is worth £1,120, which should be paid at their normal rate of pay when leave is taken (or via rolled-up holiday pay if their hours are irregular and rolled-up pay applies). **Calculating a week's pay for holiday purposes** For workers with variable pay (commission, regular overtime, etc.), a "week's pay" for holiday pay purposes should reflect their normal, typical earnings including regular overtime and commission, not just their base contractual hourly rate -- calculated using a reference period average, commonly over the previous 52 paid weeks. **Practical tip** Use the Holiday Entitlement calculator to check your correct pro-rata entitlement based on your specific working pattern, and if your pay includes regular overtime or commission, make sure your holiday pay reflects your normal average earnings, not just your base rate, since this is a common area where employers make calculation errors.