Annual Leave Entitlement in the UK: The Complete Guide for 2026

Understanding annual leave entitlement is one of the most common questions UK employers and employees face. Whether you're running a small business or managing HR for a growing team, getting leave entitlement right is both a legal requirement and essential for employee wellbeing.

How much annual leave are UK employees entitled to?

Under the Working Time Regulations 1998, almost all workers in the UK are entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks of paid annual leave per year. For someone working a standard 5-day week, this equals 28 days (including bank holidays).

This is the statutory minimum — employers can offer more, but never less. Many employers choose to offer additional days as a benefit, particularly for senior roles or long-serving employees.

Can bank holidays be included in the 28 days?

Yes. There is no legal requirement to give bank holidays as additional leave. Most employers in the UK include the 8 bank holidays within the 28-day statutory entitlement, leaving employees with 20 days of "flexible" annual leave plus 8 bank holidays.

However, this is entirely up to the employer. Some businesses offer 28 days plus bank holidays, while others include bank holidays within the 28-day total.

How to calculate annual leave for part-time employees

Part-time employees are entitled to the same 5.6 weeks of leave, but calculated pro rata based on the number of days they work per week.

The formula is simple:

Annual leave for irregular hours and shift workers

For employees who work irregular hours or don't have fixed weekly patterns, annual leave is calculated as 12.07% of hours worked. This figure comes from 5.6 weeks ÷ 46.4 working weeks (52 weeks minus 5.6 weeks of leave).

Annual leave carry-over rules

By default, the Working Time Regulations allow employees to carry over up to 1.6 weeks (8 days for a full-time worker) of unused leave into the next leave year — but only if the employment contract or workplace agreement allows it.

Key carry-over scenarios:

• Sickness: Employees who couldn't take leave due to long-term sickness can carry over up to 4 weeks (20 days) into the next leave year.
• Maternity/paternity leave: Untaken leave during family leave can be carried over.
• Employer prevented leave: If the employer prevented the worker from taking leave, the full amount can be carried over.

When does the leave year start?

The leave year is defined in the employment contract. If no start date is specified, it defaults to:

• 1 January for employees who started before 1 October 1998
• The anniversary of the employee's start date for all other employees

Most UK businesses choose to run the leave year from 1 January to 31 December, or 1 April to 31 March (aligning with the tax year).

Common mistakes employers make

1. Not including bank holidays in the calculation — forgetting that bank holidays count towards the 28-day minimum, leading to over-entitlement.
2. Getting pro-rata wrong for part-timers — using incorrect formulas or rounding down instead of up.
3. Not tracking leave balances — relying on spreadsheets that quickly become outdated, causing disputes.
4. "Use it or lose it" policies without contract backing — you can't enforce a use-it-or-lose-it policy unless it's in the contract.
5. Paying in lieu instead of giving actual time off — rolled-up holiday pay is not permitted except at termination.

How Leavely helps manage annual leave

Tracking annual leave entitlement manually — with spreadsheets, emails, or paper forms — is error-prone and time-consuming. Leavely automates the entire process:

• Automatic balance calculation — allowances, used days, and remaining leave are always accurate.
• Part-time pro-rata built in — set the work pattern and Leavely handles the maths.
• UK bank holidays pre-loaded — no manual entry needed.
• Visual leave calendar — see who's off at a glance and spot coverage gaps.
• One-click approvals — managers approve or decline in seconds.