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Basic calculation

For a basic calculation of your leave allowance multiply the number of days you work a week by 4.8. For example, if you work a five day week it would be:

5 x 4.8 = 24, so you are entitled to 24 days annual leave a year.

For more complex holiday entitlement calculations you can use the employee holiday calculator on businesslink.gov.uk.

• Calculate your holiday entitlement Opens new window

Part-time workers

• More on part-time working
• Agency workers - an introduction

Casual or irregular working patterns

If you work casually or irregular hours it may well be easiest to calculate the holiday entitlement that accrues as hours are worked. The holiday entitlement of 4.8 weeks is equivalent to 10.2 per cent of hours worked. The 10.2 per cent figure is 4.8 weeks' holiday, divided by 47.2 weeks (being 52 weeks - 4.8 weeks).

The 4.8 weeks have to be excluded from the calculation as you would not be present during the 4.8 weeks in order to accumulate annual leave. So if you had worked 10 hours, you would be entitled to 61 minutes paid holiday (10.2 x 10 = 1.02 hours = 61 minutes). The holiday entitlement is just over 6 minutes for each hour worked.

From 1 April 2009 the entitlement is 5.6 weeks, which is equivalent to 12.1 per cent of hours worked. The 12.1 per cent figure is 5.6 weeks’ holiday divided by 46.4 weeks (being 52 weeks – 5.6 weeks).  As above, the 5.6 weeks have to be excluded from the calculation as you would not be present during those 5.6 weeks in order to accumulate annual leave. So if you had worked 10 hours, you would be entitled to 73 minutes paid holiday (12.1 x 10 = 1.21 = 73 minutes). The holiday entitlement is just over seven minutes for each hour worked.

Shift workers

If you are a shift worker your leave is calculated by using an average of your shifts over a 17 week period. For example:

If you always work four 12 hour shifts, followed by four days off (the ‘continental’ shift pattern) then the average working week is three-and-a-half 12 hour shifts. So 4.8 weeks’ holiday is 4.8 x 3.5 = 16.8 12 hour shifts (rising to 5.6 weeks from 1 April 2009 or 5.6 x 3.5 = 19.6 12 hour shifts).

For other shift patterns, it may be easiest to calculate according to the established pattern of repeat.

• Working time - find out what counts as working time
• Calculate your holiday entitlement Opens new window

Term-time workers

If you only work term-time your holiday arrangements will depend on your contract of employment. If you work a reduced number of weeks during the year, you accrue a pro-rata entitlement to paid leave.  You need to calculate how many hours a week you work on average over the whole year, then multiply this by the holiday allowance.

For example:

Step 1. Multiply your weekly contracted hours by the number of weeks you work:
If your contract is for 40 hours a week for 40 weeks of the year, 40 x 40 = 1,600 working hours for the year (or 33.9 hours a week averaged over 47.2 weeks of the year)

Step 2. Multiply your average working week by the holiday allowance:
33.9 x 4.8 = 162.72 working hours holiday allowance a year.
From 1 April 2009 the calculation changes to 5.6 weeks x 34.48 hours a week (over 46.4 weeks of the year) = 193.09 hours holiday for the year.

Step 3. If you want to convert this into holiday days, then divide again by the number of hours per day that you work.

More useful links

• Paid holiday entitlement in Northern Ireland - read more Opens new window
• Acas leaflet on holidays and holiday pay Opens new window
• Advice for your employer on holiday entitlements from Business Link Opens new window
• Advice for employers in Northern Ireland on holiday entitlements from nibusinessinfo Opens new window