Holiday entitlement calculator – calculations made easy

Calculating holiday entitlement for full-time employees is relatively straight-forward. But what about when an employee starts or leaves part way through the holiday year, and what about part-time employees?

That’s when calculating holiday entitlement gets much more difficult…

But don’t worry – to help you through this arithmetic exercise, we’ve compiled the following guide to take the stress out of your calculations.

Click on an example below to jump to that calculation.

Quick links

Full-time employees

• Quick video on holiday calculations for full-time employees
• Full-time employees starting or leaving part way through the holiday year
• Statutory minimum – 28 days inclusive of bank holidays
• Example: Starter
• Example: Leaver

Part-time employees

• Part-time employees starting or leaving part way through the holiday year
• Statutory minimum holiday entitlement for part-time employee
• Example: Starter
• Example: Leaver

Holiday calculators

Just want the answer? Explore our holiday calculators which will do it all for you!

• Part-time holiday entitlement calculator
• Zero-hour (casual worker) holiday calculator
• 12.07% holiday accrual calculator

Basic method for starters or leavers

What is the statutory minimum holiday entitlement?

The statutory minimum holiday entitlement is 28 days inclusive of bank holidays, or 5.6 weeks.

Whether your company recognises the bank holidays and closes on these days or whether they are normal working days as they would be in the care and service industries, the calculation will be the same.

Regardless of the start date of your holiday year, the following calculation will give you the holiday entitlement for someone starting part way through your holiday year.

Holiday entitlement per month of service

Here’s the basic calculation to work out holiday entitlement per month of service i.e. if they’ve started or left a few months into the year.

Example of entitlement calculation per month of service

Example parameters: pensionable earnings and basic pay

The below examples work on the basis that minimum contributions of 8% are applied (3% for the employer, 5% for the employee). In the examples below, the employee earns £35,000 per year through their salary and £10,000 in commission.

Therefore, the employer would contribute £1,050 and the employee would contribute £1,750.

So the calculation is:

Number of days inclusive of bank holidays ÷ 12 months

So the statutory minimum would be:

28 days ÷ 12 months = 2.33 days holiday entitlement per month

That’s:

2.33 × the number of months left in the holiday year for a new starter

Or:

2.33 × the number of months already gone in the holiday year for a leaver.

Please note, these calculations need to take into account your company’s leave years, not calendar years. So if a new starter joined in May and the leave year started the previous month in April, they would be entitled to 11 months of holiday allocation. If they joined in May but the leave year started in January, they would be due nine months, etc.

Example: Starter (Top ↑)

In this example, the employee begins three months into the holiday year, and the company closes for bank holidays.

Example calculation for a starter

28 days entitlement ÷ 12 months = 2.33 days per month

2.33 × 9 months left = 20.97 days total
(rounded up to 21 days which INCLUDES any bank holidays which fall on one of their normal working days.)

Which bank holidays to include in the real-world example above

So in England and Wales, if your holiday year was 1st April to 31st March, and this person begins in July, they will have the August bank holiday, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day – a total of four bank holidays taken out of their 21 days, leaving 17 days which can be booked as annual leave.

If your holiday year was 1st January to 31st December, and this person begins in April, they will have Good Friday, Easter Monday, May Day, Late May Spring Bank holiday, August bank holiday, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, a total of 7 bank holidays out of their 21 days, leaving 14 days which can be booked as annual leave.

If you don’t close for the bank holidays the calculation is exactly the same – the employee will be entitled to all 21 days.

Click on these articles for a reminder on bank holidays for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Full-time employees

Calculating for full-time employees starting or leaving part way through the year (Top ↑)

Regardless of how many days holiday you give, the calculation will follow the same format. In all cases, the total number of days used for the calculations should always be inclusive of bank holidays even if you close on these days.

Example: Leaver (Top ↑)

In this example, the employee leaves three months into the holiday year and the company closes for bank holidays.

Example calculation for a leaver

28 days entitlement ÷ 12 months = 2.33 days per month

2.33 days × 3 months = 6.99 days total
(rounded up to 7)

This employee will have accrued 7 days holiday, inclusive of any bank holidays which have occurred in the first three months of the holiday year.

The bank holiday(s) plus any holiday they have already taken should be deducted from the 7 days they have accrued.

If there is entitlement left, this should be paid with their final salary.

If they have taken more holiday than the 7 days they have accrued, you will need to reclaim the overpayment from their final salary.

The same will apply where the company doesn’t close – they will still have accrued 7 days so deduct what holidays, if any, they have taken, and either pay for the remainder or recover the excess as above.

Calculating enhanced entitlement for starters and leavers (above statutory minimum)

Of course, many employers give their employees enhanced holiday entitlement, more than the statutory minimum. To do this, the same calculation applies, you simply have to change the first number so their total days of holiday entitlement is accounted for.

Enhanced entitlement example: 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays

To do this, you first add the number of holiday days plus bank holidays given to find the total annual leave allowance. You then divide this by 12 months a year, as above, to find the monthly entitlement.

Example calculation for enhanced entitlement

25 + 8 = 33 days
33 ÷ 12 = 2.75 days per month

So:

2.75 × number of months left in holiday year for a starter

Or:

2.75 × number of months already gone in the holiday year for a leaver

Using the example above, if the employee begins three months into the holiday year.

2.75 × 9 = 24.75 rounded up to 25 days (inclusive of bank holidays if you close on bank holidays).

What happens when someone starts or leaves part-way through a month?

The government’s calculator counts the month they start (in its entirety) towards their holiday allocation. So if someone starts on the 1st, 15th or 31st of March, and their annual leave year starts on 1st January, gov.uk gives them 10 months or 23.5 days holiday entitlement regardless.

Part-time employees

Formula to calculate a part-time employee’s holiday entitlement:

Example calculation for a part-timer

Full-time entitlement (including bank holidays) ÷ 5 (days) × the number of days the part-timer works.

Statutory minimum holiday entitlement for part-time employee (Top ↑)

Below we share how to calculate the statutory minimum holiday entitlement for part-time employees depending what number of days they work a week.

Calculations for a part-timer on statutory minimum holiday entitlement

Employee works one day per week:

28 days (20 holiday days + 8 bank) ÷ 5 (days in a working week) = 5.6 days holiday, rounded up to 6 days
(inclusive of any bank holidays which fall on one of their normal working days)

Employee works two days per week:

28 ÷ 5 = 5.6 days
5.6 × 2 = 11.2, rounded up to 11.5 days
(inclusive of any bank holidays which fall on one of their normal working days)

Employee works three days per week:

28 ÷ 5 = 5.6 days
5.6 × 3 = 16.8, rounded up to 17 days
(inclusive of any bank holidays which fall on one of their normal working days)

Employee works four days per week:

28 ÷ 5 = 5.6 days
5.6 × 4 = 22.4, rounded up to 22.5 days
(inclusive of any bank holidays which fall on one of their normal working days)

Employee works five days per week:

28 days
(inclusive of bank holidays)

In all of these calculations, the days’ entitlement are their normal working days, so the employee who works five days a week, two hours per day will be entitled to 28 days at two hours.

Calculating part-time entitlement in hours

If a part-time employee works different hours each day, you could use their weekly hours to calculate their holiday entitlement.

For example, if your full-time hours are 40 per week, and an employee’s part-time hours are 26 per week: 8hrs Monday, 3hrs Tuesday, 4.5hrs Wednesday, 3.5hrs Thursday and 7hrs on Friday.

Then the calculation would be:

Example calculation for part-time entitlement in hours

28 (days) × 8 (hours per day for full-time) = 224 hours full-time holiday entitlement
224 ÷ 40 (hours for full-time week) = 5.6 weeks entitlement
5.6 × 26 hours worked per week = 145.6 hours, rounded up to 147 hours.

Part-time employees starting or leaving part way through the holiday year (Top ↑)

Sometimes, there is confusion when calculating part-time entitlement for a starter or leaver.

We use the above formula to calculate a part-time employee’s holiday entitlement, and then use the basic calculation to work out entitlement per month of service, with one extra step in the middle to apply it to the part-timer’s hours.

So, start with the yearly holiday entitlement for full-timer (days) / 5 days a week = holiday entitlement in weeks. You then need to multiply this by the number of days a week the part-timer works to get the full yearly allowance for this part-time worker.

Like before, you then divide this yearly allowance by 12 months a year to get their monthly allocation of holiday days. And finally, multiply this by the number of months left in the holiday year for a starter, or the number of months already gone for a leaver, as before. See the example below for more information.

Example: Starter

In this example, a part-time employee begins seven months into the holiday year, working three days per week, and full-time entitlement is 23 days plus eight bank holidays.

Example calculation for a part-time starter

23 + 8 = 31 days (full-time in complete year)

31 (total no. holiday days) ÷ 5 (no. days in a working week) = 6.2 weeks entitlement
6.2 × 3 (no. days worked each week) = 18.6, rounded up to 19 days for the complete holiday year

19 ÷ 12 (months) = 1.58 days per month
1.58 × 5 (months left in the holiday year) = 7.9, rounded up to 8 days
(inclusive of any bank holidays which fall on one of their normal working days*)

In this example, the employee would receive eight days for the remainder of the holiday year.

Example: Leaver

In this example, the employee leaves eight months into the holiday year, working 2 days per week, and the company does not close for bank holidays. Full-time entitlement is 30 days.

Example calculation for a part-time leaver

30 (total no. holiday days) ÷ 5 (no. days in a working week) = 6

6 × 2 (no. days worked each week) = 12 days the for complete holiday year

12 ÷ 12 (months) = 1 day per month
1 × 8 (months already gone in the holiday year) = 8 days holiday entitlement

Therefore, if this employee has taken less than eight days holiday they should be paid for the remaining accrued holiday with their final salary or, if they have taken more than eight days, the excess will need to be deducted from their final salary.

What next?

The above formulas should assist in your holiday entitlement calculations, but if you are unsure or need any help with your holiday calculations please contact your Moorepay support team or a HR expert – we’re here to help you find the perfect solution.

Find out more about holiday entitlement on gov.uk.