Holiday entitlement calculator
Workers whose hours vary earn 12.07% of every hour they work as paid holiday. Everyone else gets 5.6 weeks a year, which is 28 days for a five-day week and never more than 28 days in total.
Pick how the person works, enter their hours, and the calculator gives the holiday they have earned, rounded the way GOV.UK says.
Free, no signup. Rules from GOV.UK, Acas and nidirect, checked 22 October 2026.
Holiday entitlement calculator
A week, a month, whatever the payslip covers.
For rolled-up holiday pay.
Holiday earned
3.62 hours
12.07% of 30 hours. Rounded to the nearest hour for the payslip, that is 4 hours.
Rolled-up holiday pay: £46.02 on £381.30 of pay, shown as its own line on the payslip.
For leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024, in England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland has its own rules.
Worked example
A casual barista working 30 hours
Sam is on a zero-hours contract at a café, paid weekly at £12.71 an hour, the National Living Wage from April 2026. This week Sam worked 30 hours.
- Holiday earned: 30 × 12.07% = 3.621 hours.
- Rounded to the nearest hour for the payslip: 4 hours, because 0.621 of an hour is more than half.
- If the café pays rolled-up holiday pay instead: 30 × £12.71 = £381.30 of pay, and 12.07% of that is £46.02 of holiday pay on the same payslip.
Across a whole year of 30-hour weeks, that comes to the same 5.6 weeks a full-timer gets, just earned an hour at a time. Doing this by hand every week is where it goes wrong: Wavro accrues it from approved timesheets automatically.
How it works
Two ways to work out holiday
Hours that vary: 12.07% of hours worked
For zero-hours, casual and bank staff, and for part-year workers such as term-time staff. Holiday builds up at the end of each pay period, as 12.07% of the hours actually worked in it. This applies to leave years that started on or after 1 April 2024.
Fixed hours: 5.6 weeks a year
For anyone on the same days each week, full or part time. Multiply their working week by 5.6: five days gives 28 days, three days gives 16.8. Statutory holiday stops at 28 days, however many days someone works.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
How is holiday worked out for zero-hours and casual workers?
Irregular-hours and part-year workers build up holiday at 12.07% of the hours they actually work in each pay period, for leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024. Thirty hours worked earns 3.621 hours of holiday, which rounds to 4 hours on the payslip.
Why is the holiday accrual rate 12.07%?
Everyone is entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year, which leaves 46.4 weeks to work. 5.6 divided by 46.4 is 12.07%, so every hour worked earns 12.07% of an hour of holiday. A contract that gives more than the statutory minimum needs a higher rate.
How many days holiday does a full-time worker get?
5.6 weeks a year. For someone working five days a week that is 28 days, which is also the most statutory holiday anyone gets: a six-day worker is capped at 28 days too.
How much holiday does a part-time worker get?
5.6 times their working week. Someone working three days a week gets 16.8 days. If their hours are fixed, use the "Same hours each week" option; if they change week to week, the 12.07% method applies instead.
Do bank holidays count towards holiday entitlement?
They can. An employer may include bank holidays in the 5.6 weeks, and there is no legal right to bank holidays off on top of it. Whether yours are included is set by the contract.
How is holiday rounded?
GOV.UK rounds each pay period to the nearest whole hour: half an hour or more rounds up, anything less rounds down. Wavro keeps the exact figure as staff build it up, so nothing is lost to rounding across the year.
What is rolled-up holiday pay?
For irregular-hours and part-year workers, an employer can pay holiday as it is earned instead of when it is taken: 12.07% of the pay for the period, shown as its own line on the payslip. The worker still takes the time off; it just is not paid again.
Does the 12.07% rule apply in Northern Ireland?
No. The 12.07% accrual comes from Great Britain's Working Time Regulations. Northern Ireland has its own regulations, so check nidirect for workers there.
Sources
Where the rules come from
This calculator follows the published guidance below. It is a guide, not legal advice: a contract can give more than the statutory minimum, and the contract wins.
Keep going
Related guides and tools
- Rota and workforce guidesUK rules on breaks, rotas and pay for small shift teams.
- UK rest breaks and rota rulesThe working time rules every small shift team has to follow.
- Labour cost percentage calculatorWages, holiday accrual and agency cover as a share of sales, checked against published UK bands for cafés, restaurants, pubs, gyms and salons.
- Bank holiday pay calculatorWhat opening on bank holidays costs at your premium rate, for England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, this year and next.
- Wavro pricing£9.90/month for up to 10 people, with UK pay rules built in.
- See a sample weekA real rota, clock-ins and labour cost for a small UK team. No signup.
Let the timesheets keep the holiday balance
Wavro builds up 12.07% holiday on every approved shift, so each person's balance is always current and nobody works it out on a calculator again.
No card, no sales call.