Holiday Leave Accrual Calculator UK

What Is Holiday Accrual?

If you've ever asked yourself "how much holiday am I entitled to part time?" — or started a new job mid-year and wondered how many days off you've actually built up — you've asked a holiday accrual question. Holiday accrual simply means the paid leave you build up as you work through the year. Instead of getting your full annual allowance on day one, your entitlement grows month by month (or week by week) in line with the time you've worked.

In the UK, almost all workers are legally entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year — that's 28 days if you work a standard five-day week. This is the statutory minimum set out on GOV.UK's holiday entitlement guidance; many employers offer more, but nobody on a standard contract should get less. Accrual is how that 5.6 weeks gets divided up fairly when you don't work a full year — because you joined partway through, you work part-time, you work irregular hours, or you're leaving a job.

Think of it like earning interest: each week or month you work adds a slice of holiday to your pot. Our calculator does the maths for you — you enter your work pattern and where you are in the leave year, and it estimates how much holiday you've accrued so far, and how much you have left to take.

Accrual exists for fairness. Without it, someone joining in November would get a full year's holiday for two months' work, while someone leaving in February would walk away with nothing despite two months of service. By tying entitlement to time worked, everyone gets exactly their share — no more, no less. That's also why accrual is the number disputes, final-pay calculations and holiday-pay claims all come back to: it's the auditable record of what you've earned.

One more concept worth knowing: the leave year. Your accrual is always measured against your employer's holiday year, which is often January to December or April to March — but it can also run from the anniversary of your start date. Everything on this page (and in the calculator) assumes you know your leave year, because "how much have I accrued?" only has an answer relative to a start and end date. If you're not sure, check your contract or your HR portal before running the numbers.

Holiday Accrual vs Holiday Pay: What's the Difference?

People mix these up constantly, so let's separate them. Holiday accrual is about time: how many days or hours of leave you've earned. Holiday pay is about money: what each of those days is worth in pounds. You accrue the days first; your employer then pays each day at your normal rate of pay.

Why does the distinction matter? Because the two calculations use different rules. Accrual for irregular-hours workers uses the 12.07% method described above, while holiday pay for workers with variable pay is typically based on average earnings over the previous 52 paid weeks. If you're checking "how many days do I have left?", you're asking an accrual question — this page and the calculator above answer it. If you're asking "how much will I be paid for my week off?", use our Holiday Pay Calculator, which covers the 52-week average and the common rates for 2026/27.

How to Use the Holiday Leave Accrual Calculator

Using the calculator takes under a minute. Here's what each input means — because with this calculation, a wrong input quietly gives you a wrong answer.

• Work pattern: choose full-time, part-time, or irregular hours. This decides which calculation method the tool uses (the 5.6-week rule, pro-rata, or the 12.07% method — explained below).
• Days or hours worked per week: your normal pattern. For part-time, it's your contracted days; for irregular hours, an average or the hours in the pay period you're checking.
• Leave year start date: most employers run the holiday year from January to December or April to March, but some use your start date. Check your contract or ask HR — using the wrong year is the single most common reason people get a surprising result.
• Date you're checking: usually today, or your last day if you're leaving.
• Holiday already taken: days you've used so far this leave year, so the calculator can show your remaining balance.

Hit calculate and you'll see your accrued entitlement to date, minus what you've taken, leaving your remaining balance. Scroll down for the worked examples to check the maths makes sense for your situation.

How Holiday Accrual Is Calculated in the UK

There are three methods, and which one applies to you depends on how you work. All three start from the same legal foundation: the 5.6-week statutory minimum.

Full-time workers: the 5.6-week minimum

If you work five days a week, your minimum entitlement is 5.6 × 5 = 28 days of paid holiday a year. Employers may include the eight bank holidays in England and Wales within those 28 days — check your contract to see whether your allowance is "28 days including bank holidays" or "28 days plus bank holidays", because the difference is eight days. Your entitlement accrues evenly: after six months of the leave year, you've built up roughly 14 days.

Part-time workers: pro-rata entitlement

Part-time workers get the same 5.6 weeks, scaled to the days they work — this is the pro-rata principle, and it's the law: part-timers must not be treated less favourably than comparable full-timers. The formula is simple:

Annual entitlement = 5.6 weeks × your working days per week

So if you work 3 days a week: 5.6 × 3 = 16.8 days a year. Work 4 days: 5.6 × 4 = 22.4 days. Fractions are normal — most employers round to the nearest half day or let you take the odd hours as time off. If you join or leave mid-year, that annual figure is then scaled again by the proportion of the leave year you've worked (see Example 4 below).

Irregular hours and part-year workers: the 12.07% method

If your hours vary week to week — zero-hours contracts, casual shifts, term-time-only roles — the government introduced a dedicated accrual method: your holiday entitlement is 12.07% of the actual hours you work in each pay period. This comes from the GOV.UK holiday pay and entitlement reforms guidance, which states: "Holiday entitlement for these workers will be calculated as 12.07% of actual hours worked in a pay period."

Where does 12.07% come from? It's the 5.6-week statutory minimum expressed as a share of the time you actually work across the year — 5.6 weeks of holiday out of 46.4 working weeks gives 12.07%. So it isn't a pay cut or a special deal; it's the same legal minimum, just measured in hours instead of weeks. Work 100 hours in a month and you accrue 12.07 hours of paid holiday. Simple, fair, and it automatically adjusts when your hours go up or down.

Worked Examples

Four realistic scenarios with the maths shown, so you can sanity-check your own result.

Example 1 — Full-time employee, mid-year check

Priya works full-time, five days a week. Her employer's leave year runs January to December. It's the end of June and she's taken 5 days so far.

• Annual entitlement: 5.6 × 5 = 28 days
• Accrued by end of June (6 of 12 months): 28 × 6/12 = 14 days
• Remaining: 14 − 5 taken = 9 days left to book

Example 2 — Part-time employee, three days a week

Tom works Monday to Wednesday. His leave year runs April to March. It's the end of July and he's taken 2 days.

• Annual entitlement: 5.6 × 3 = 16.8 days
• Accrued by end of July (4 of 12 months): 16.8 × 4/12 = 5.6 days
• Remaining: 5.6 − 2 taken = 3.6 days left (his employer lets him take the 0.6 as hours)

Example 3 — Zero-hours worker, 12.07% method

Aisha is on a zero-hours contract, paid monthly. In June she worked 124 hours and hasn't taken any holiday yet this leave year.

• Accrued in June: 124 × 12.07% = 14.97 hours of paid holiday
• If her average shift is 7.5 hours, that's roughly 2 days banked from a single month's work
• Her running total is simply the sum of 12.07% of every pay period's hours, minus any holiday taken

Example 4 — New starter halfway through the leave year

Daniel joins a company on 1 July, working four days a week. The leave year is January to December. He hasn't taken any holiday yet.

• Full-year equivalent: 5.6 × 4 = 22.4 days
• Proportion of leave year worked: 6 of 12 months
• Accrued entitlement: 22.4 × 6/12 = 11.2 days
• The same maths in reverse tells a leaver what they're owed in their final pay (often called "payment in lieu" of untaken holiday)

Example 5 — Term-time worker, part-year pattern

Sofia works in a school kitchen, term-time only, averaging 25 hours a week during term. She is paid monthly across 39 working weeks of the year. In a typical term-time month she works 108 hours.

• Because she doesn't work the full year, the 12.07% method applies: 108 × 12.07% = 13.04 hours accrued that month
• Over a full year her total is 12.07% of every hour actually worked — the weeks she doesn't work add nothing, which is exactly why the method is fair for part-year roles
• Her employer may pay this as "rolled-up" holiday pay added to each payslip, or let her take it as paid time off in the holidays — the entitlement is the same either way

Full-Time vs Part-Time vs Irregular Hours at a Glance

All figures are statutory minimums — your contract may give you more. Bank holidays can be counted within the 28 days for full-timers in England and Wales, so always check whether your employer's headline figure includes them.

Common Mistakes When Calculating Holiday Accrual

• Using the wrong leave year. If your employer's holiday year runs April to March but you calculate January to December, every number will be off. Check your contract first.
• Forgetting holiday already taken. Accrual is what you've earned; your remaining balance is accrual minus taken. People routinely check one and forget the other.
• Counting bank holidays twice. If your 28 days already include bank holidays, don't add eight more on top.
• Using the 12.07% method for regular part-timers. The 12.07% rule is for irregular-hours and part-year workers. If you work fixed part-time days, use pro-rata (5.6 × days per week) instead.
• Rounding down your own entitlement. That 0.8 of a day is still yours — most employers round to the nearest half day or convert fractions to hours. Don't silently donate it.
• Assuming leavers lose everything. Untaken accrued holiday is normally paid out in your final pay. Run the numbers before your last day.
• Mixing up accrual with holiday pay. Days accrued and pounds per day are separate calculations with separate rules — if your pay varies, the 52-week average governs the pay, not the 12.07% accrual figure. Don't use one number where the other belongs.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much holiday am I entitled to if I work part time?

Take the 5.6-week statutory minimum and multiply by the days you work each week: 5.6 × your days. Three days a week gives 16.8 days a year; two days gives 11.2 days. If you joined or left mid-year, scale that figure by the months you've worked. This is the pro-rata rule, and it's a legal minimum — your contract may offer more.

What is the 12.07% holiday rule?

It's the accrual method for irregular-hours and part-year workers (for example, zero-hours contracts). Your holiday builds up at 12.07% of the actual hours you work in each pay period — so 100 hours worked banks 12.07 hours of paid leave. The figure comes from expressing the 5.6-week statutory minimum as a share of working time, and it's set out in GOV.UK's holiday entitlement reforms guidance.

Does the 28 days include bank holidays?

It can. The statutory minimum is 28 days for a full-time five-day worker, and employers in England and Wales may count the eight bank holidays within that total. Many contracts instead offer "28 days plus bank holidays" (36 days total). The wording in your contract decides — if it just says 28 days, assume bank holidays are included until you confirm otherwise.

What happens to holiday I don't take?

It depends on your contract and the reason. Employers can require you to take holiday within the leave year, and many operate "use it or lose it" for anything above the statutory minimum. If you couldn't take holiday for a specific reason — such as sick leave or maternity leave — different carry-over rules can apply. Check your contract first, then GOV.UK's holiday entitlement pages for the statutory position.

I'm leaving my job — do I get paid for untaken holiday?

Usually, yes. Work out what you've accrued up to your leaving date (pro-rata or 12.07%, as above), subtract what you've taken, and the balance is normally paid in your final pay — sometimes called payment in lieu. If you've taken more than you've accrued, your employer may deduct the excess from your final pay if your contract allows it.

Does holiday accrue while I'm on sick leave or maternity leave?

Statutory holiday continues to build up during sick leave and maternity, paternity, adoption or shared parental leave — being away doesn't pause your entitlement. If you can't take the holiday because of the leave, carry-over rules may let you take it later. Your employer's policy and the GOV.UK guidance set out the details.

The Bottom Line

Holiday accrual isn't complicated once you know which of the three methods applies to you: 5.6 weeks for full-timers, pro-rata for fixed part-time days, and 12.07% of hours worked for irregular patterns. Run your numbers above, compare against the worked examples, and if the figure looks very different from what your employer says, ask them to show their working — now you know exactly what the maths should look like.

Official Sources (GOV.UK, 2026/27)

• Holiday entitlement — GOV.UK (the 5.6-week statutory minimum)
• Holiday pay and entitlement reforms — GOV.UK guidance (the 12.07% accrual method for irregular-hours and part-year workers)
• Calculate your holiday entitlement — GOV.UK calculator

Explore More UK Salary Calculators

Pair this with our Holiday Pay Calculator to see what your accrued days are worth in pounds, our Shift Pay Calculator if you work varying shifts, or the Annual Salary Calculator for the full pay picture.