- Advice and Guidance
- Contracts and hours
- Annual holiday entitlement
Annual holiday entitlement
Key points
- At least the statutory holiday entitlement (5.6 weeks) must be given to workers -employers may give more under contractual term.
- Part time worker are entitled to the same amount of holiday (pro rota) as full time colleagues.
- Employers can set the times when workers can take their leave - for example a Christmas shut down.
- If employment ends workers have the right to be paid for any leave due but not taken.
- There is no legal right to paid public holidays.
Once an employee starts work details of holidays and holiday pay entitlement should be found in the employee's written contract, where there is one, or a written statement of employment particulars given to employees by their employer.
Note: The written statement is required by law and must be given to employees by the employer no later than two months after the start of employment.
Most workers - whether part-time or full-time - are legally entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid annual leave. Additional annual leave may be agreed as part of a worker's contract. A week of leave should allow workers to be away from work for a week - i.e. it should be the same amount of time as the working week. If a worker does a five-day week, he or she is entitled to 28 days leave. However, for a worker who works 6 days a week the statutory entitle is capped at 28 days. If they work a three-day week, the entitlement is 16.8 days leave. Employers can set the times that workers take their leave, for example for a Christmas shut down. If a worker's employment ends, they have a right to be paid for the leave due and not taken.
Public holidays
There is no legal right to paid leave for public holidays; any right to paid time off for these holidays depends on the terms of a worker's contract. Paid public holidays can be counted as part of the statutory 5.6 weeks of holiday.
Acas Helpline
If you would like further information on the legal requirements surrounding holiday entitlements you can call the Acas Helpline on 08457 47 47 47 for free and impartial advice.
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