Holiday Entitlements

Almost all workers are legally entitled to 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday per year (known as statutory leave entitlement or annual leave).

An employer has the choice to include bank holidays as part of statutory annual leave.

Most full-time staff who work a 5-day week must receive at least 28 days paid annual leave per year. This is the equivalent of 5.6 weeks of holiday.

Staff that are part-time workers are entitled to less paid holiday than full-time workers. They are entitled to at least 5.6 weeks of paid holiday but this amounts to fewer than 28 days because they work fewer hours per week than full time staff.

Statutory paid holiday entitlement is limited to 28 days, so even if a member of staff is working 6 days a week, the paid holiday entitlement is still only 28 days.

Bank holidays or public holidays do not have to be given as paid leave, this is a decision the employer makes as to whether bank holidays are included in an employees statutory annual leave. An employer can also choose to offer more leave than the legal minimum.

They don’t have to apply all the rules that apply to statutory leave to the extra leave. For example, a worker might need to be employed for a certain amount of time before they become entitled to the additional entitlement.

Paid annual leave is a legal right that an employer must provide. If a worker thinks their right to leave and pay are not being met, there are a number of ways to resolve the dispute.