Work out statutory annual leave from the days you work each week, including the 28 day cap, part-year starters and irregular hours accrual.
Almost every worker is entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year. For a fixed weekly pattern that is simply the days you work each week multiplied by 5.6, capped at 28 days. Someone on five days a week gets the full 28 days; someone on three days a week gets 16.8 days.
On £35,000 a year, a standard 2026/27 tax code and no pension or student loan, the figures work out like this. Open a calculator to put your own numbers in.
Each row multiplies the working pattern by 5.6 weeks and then applies the 28 day cap. The half-year column shows a starter or leaver in post for six months of the leave year.
| Working pattern | Full leave year | Six months in post | Effect of the cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 day a week | 5.6 days | 2.8 days | under the cap |
| 2 days a week | 11.2 days | 5.6 days | under the cap |
| 3 days a week | 16.8 days | 8.4 days | under the cap |
| 4 days a week | 22.4 days | 11.2 days | under the cap |
| 5 days a week | 28 days | 14 days | under the cap |
| 6 days a week | 28 days | 14 days | capped from 33.6 days |
This is a planning estimate of the statutory minimum. Contracts often give more than the statutory entitlement, and bank holidays only count towards it if your employer includes them.
Almost every worker is entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year. For a fixed weekly pattern that is simply the days you work each week multiplied by 5.6, capped at 28 days. Someone on five days a week gets the full 28 days; someone on three days a week gets 16.8 days.
| Tax/source year | 2026/27 |
|---|---|
| Region | England/Wales/Northern Ireland |
| Tax code basis | 1257L where the page uses PAYE defaults |
| Pension basis | No pension deduction unless this example says otherwise |
| Student loan basis | No student loan unless selected in this example |
| What is not decided here | PayBreakdown does not decide payroll correctness, lender approval, benefit entitlement or employer compliance, and does not give regulated financial, mortgage, debt, tax, payroll or legal advice. |
|---|
The figures on this page use the values below. Open the calculator if your example salary differs.
The statutory minimum is 5.6 weeks, so the calculation scales with your working pattern rather than with your hours or your pay.
For leave years beginning on or after 1 April 2024, irregular hours and part-year workers accrue holiday as 12.07% of the hours worked in each pay period.
This is a planning estimate of the statutory minimum. Contracts often give more than the statutory entitlement, and bank holidays only count towards it if your employer includes them.
Almost every worker is entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year. For a fixed weekly pattern that is simply the days you work each week multiplied by 5.6, capped at 28 days. Someone on five days a week gets the full 28 days; someone on three days a week gets 16.8 days. Read the result and assumptions first, then use the related calculators only when you need to change inputs or continue into a wider plan.
PayBreakdown is an informational calculator and household-finance modelling tool. It does not provide legal, tax, employment, payroll, benefits, lending, accounting or regulated financial advice.
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Multiply the days you work each week by 5.6, then cap the result at 28 days. Five days a week gives the full 28 days, four days gives 22.4 days, three days gives 16.8 days and two days gives 11.2 days.
They can, but they do not have to. Bank holidays are not required to be given as paid leave, so an employer may either include the eight England and Wales bank holidays within the 28 day statutory minimum or give them in addition to it. Your contract will say which.
For leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024 you accrue 12.07% of the hours you actually work in each pay period. Work 100 hours and you accrue 12.07 hours of paid holiday; work 40 hours and you accrue 4.83 hours.
Your entitlement is pro-rated for the part of the leave year you are in post. On five days a week for six months that is 14 days rather than the full 28.
Last updated 2026-08-19. Estimates are for planning and should be checked against official records where the decision matters.