Part-time holiday is not simply 'full-time days minus a few'. The correct approach depends on the worker's pattern: fixed days, fixed weekly hours, irregular hours or part-year work.
1. Start with the statutory baseline: 5.6 weeks
Most workers are legally entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid statutory holiday each year . For someone working five days a week, that usually means 28 days. The statutory entitlement is capped at 28 days, so working more than five days each week does not increase the statutory minimum beyond 28 days.
Part-time workers receive the same 5.6-week entitlement, but because their normal working week contains fewer days or hours, the total number of days or hours is lower.
Fixed-days example
A worker who works three fixed days each week for the whole leave year has a statutory minimum of 3 × 5.6 = 16.8 days .
2. Part-time staff who work fixed days of equal length
This is the simplest case. Where somebody works a fixed number of equal-length days each week, GOV.UK guidance calculates full-year statutory entitlement as 5.6 multiplied by the number of days worked each week, subject to the 28-day cap.
| Normal pattern | Statutory calculation | Full-year entitlement |
|---|---|---|
| 2 days/week | 2 × 5.6 | 11.2 days |
| 3 days/week | 3 × 5.6 | 16.8 days |
| 4 days/week | 4 × 5.6 | 22.4 days |
| 5 days/week | 5 × 5.6 | 28 days |
If the worker starts or leaves part-way through the leave year, entitlement normally needs to be pro-rated for the period of employment. GOV.UK provides a statutory holiday calculator for these situations.
3. Fixed weekly hours spread over days of different lengths
Some part-time employees have a fixed weekly total but work days of different lengths. In these cases, recording leave in hours can make the deduction fairer and clearer because one day of leave may not always represent the same amount of working time.
Government guidance discusses calculating entitlement in days and converting it using the average working day for fixed-hour patterns where day lengths vary. The right operational method should reflect the contract and how the worker's normal hours are structured.
Practical point: decide whether your business records this person's allowance in days or hours and apply that approach consistently. Do not deduct a “day” worth eight hours from a person whose scheduled day would only have been four hours unless the contract and leave system justify that treatment.
4. Irregular-hours and part-year workers use a different accrual method
For leave years beginning on or after 1 April 2024, GOV.UK says statutory holiday entitlement for irregular-hours and part-year workers is calculated as 12.07% of the actual hours worked in each pay period .
Irregular-hours example
If an irregular-hours worker completes 30 hours in a weekly pay period, 30 × 12.07% = 3.621 hours. Under the statutory rounding approach, that becomes 4 hours of accrued holiday.
GOV.UK defines an irregular-hours worker, for these rules, by reference to contractual paid hours being wholly or mostly variable in each pay period. Part-year workers have periods of at least a week in the leave year when they are not required to work and are not paid for that period.
5. Holiday entitlement and holiday pay are related but different
Entitlement answers how much leave the worker has. Holiday pay answers how much they are paid while taking it . Do not use one calculation as a substitute for the other.
Current GOV.UK guidance says workers are entitled to a week's pay for each week of statutory leave. How a week's pay is calculated depends on the working and pay pattern. For irregular-hours and part-year workers, employers may use the relevant 52-week approach or, where permitted, rolled-up holiday pay.
For regular-hours full- or part-time workers, rolled-up holiday pay is not permitted. GOV.UK allows it for irregular-hours and part-year workers under the post-April-2024 rules, subject to the applicable requirements.
6. Decide how bank holidays fit into the allowance
Employers can include bank holidays within the statutory 5.6 weeks. This often causes confusion for part-time staff, especially where the employee does not normally work Mondays.
The safest operational approach is to define the annual entitlement clearly and then deduct leave according to the worker's actual contractual working pattern and your documented policy. Avoid giving one group a hidden advantage or disadvantage simply because bank holidays fall on particular weekdays.
7. Avoid the most common holiday-calculation mistakes
Common mistakes to avoid
- Giving a part-time worker less than 5.6 weeks simply because they are part-time
- Using the fixed-days formula for an irregular-hours worker
- Confusing holiday entitlement with holiday-pay calculations
- Ignoring part-year or irregular-hours rules introduced for leave years from April 2024
- Using inconsistent day/hour deductions for staff who work days of different lengths
- Forgetting to account for approved leave when the rota is built
- Failing to keep the records required for annual leave and holiday pay
From 6 April 2026, GOV.UK says employers must keep detailed annual-leave and holiday-pay records for at least six years.
8. Connect holiday allowance to the rota, not a separate spreadsheet
Calculating the allowance is only the first half of the job. Managers also need to know what has been requested, what has been approved and whether the time away leaves enough staffing cover.
FlowRota's leave management keeps employee requests and recorded allowances connected to rota planning. If you prefer a spreadsheet, the free holiday planner template includes allowances, requests, remaining balances and team-overlap warnings.
Official sources checked
- GOV.UK — Holiday entitlement
- GOV.UK — Calculate leave entitlement
- GOV.UK — Holiday entitlement and pay reforms
- GOV.UK — Holiday entitlement calculator
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Contracts, collective arrangements and individual working patterns can change the calculation.
Next step
Manage holiday allowance without a separate spreadsheet
Keep allowances, requests and the rota connected so approved time off is visible when shifts are planned.