Holiday entitlement calculator
Work out the UK statutory minimum for any working pattern. Most calculators assume a Monday-to-Friday week, so they get shift workers badly wrong — somebody on four-on-four-off is told 28 days when the real figure is closer to 19.5.
5 days a week × 5.6 weeks, capped at the statutory 28 days.
This is the legal minimum, not advice, and your contract may give more. Bank holidays can be counted inside the 28 days and usually are — they are not a separate entitlement. If you are unsure where you stand, ACAS give free guidance.
Why shift patterns break the usual sums
Statutory holiday is 5.6 weeks, not 28 days. The 28 comes from multiplying 5.6 by a five-day week and hitting the legal cap. Change the pattern and the answer changes with it.
| Pattern | Average days a week | Statutory days |
|---|---|---|
| Monday to Friday | 5 | 28 |
| Four on, four off | 3.5 | 19.5 |
| Three on, three off | 3.5 | 19.5 |
| Monday to Thursday | 4 | 22.5 |
| Weekends only | 2 | 11 |
Those 19.5 days are twelve-hour shifts, so the total hours are not far off a Monday-to-Friday year. That is the point people miss in both directions: counting a long day as one day is fair, counting it as five is not.
Questions
- How much holiday am I entitled to in the UK?
- The statutory minimum is 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year, capped at 28 days. For somebody working five days a week that is 28 days. For part-time staff it is 5.6 times the number of days worked each week.
- How does holiday work on a four-on-four-off rota?
- Four on, four off averages 3.5 days a week, so the statutory minimum is 3.5 x 5.6 = 19.6 days, usually rounded to 19.5 or 20. It is not 28. Those are longer days, which is why leave on a rolling pattern is fairer counted in shifts than in days.
- Are bank holidays on top of my holiday entitlement?
- Not automatically. There is no legal right to paid time off on a bank holiday, and employers are allowed to count the eight English and Welsh bank holidays inside the 28 days. Many do. Your contract decides.
- How is holiday calculated for irregular hours or zero-hours staff?
- For leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024, irregular-hours and part-year workers accrue holiday at 12.07% of the hours they actually work. That is the same 5.6 weeks, expressed as a proportion of a 46.4-week working year.
- What if I start part way through the leave year?
- Entitlement is normally pro-rated for the part of the year you work. Nine months of a 28-day entitlement is 21 days.
Doing this for a whole team?
Rotasmith counts leave against the pattern each person actually works, so nobody has to do this by hand or argue about it afterwards. It also builds the rota, records clocking in and out, and works out hours and overtime.
This calculator gives the statutory minimum under the Working Time Regulations 1998 and the April 2024 changes for irregular-hours workers. It is information, not legal advice, and your contract may give you more. ACAS publish free guidance if you are unsure.