Website URL : http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1545

How much annual leave am I entitled to?

Most workers - whether part-time or full-time - are legally entitled to 5.6 weeks' paid annual leave. Additional annual leave may be agreed as part of a worker's contract. A week's leave should allow workers to be away from work for a week – ie 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. If he or she does 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 shutdown. If a worker's employment ends, he or she has a right to be paid for the leave time due and not taken.

The Work and Families Act does not create a legal right to have a paid day off on Bank Holidays and this remains a contractual matter.

For further information see Businesslink.gov.uk - Know how much holiday to give your staff . Businesslink also provide a useful interactive tool to calculate your employee's annual leave entitlement.