Holiday Entitlement Calculator

What this generator does

Multiplies the working week by the weeks of holiday, applies the cap if it is the statutory minimum, pro-rates by the days actually employed, and splits that across the months of the leave year.

How to use this tool

1. Say how many days a week you work, and how many weeks of holiday the contract gives.
2. Set when the leave year starts.
3. Tick the part-year box if the job started or ends partway through.
4. Add anything already taken or carried over to see what is left.

Understanding the controls

Days worked a week

The normal working week. Entitlement scales directly with it, which is what makes part-time leave straightforward once it is written down.

Weeks of holiday a year

5.6 weeks is the statutory minimum in the UK, which includes bank holidays unless the contract says otherwise. A more generous contract goes here instead.

Leave year starts

The date the year runs from — often January, often April, sometimes the anniversary of joining. Everything is measured from it.

Days already taken

Subtracted from what has been earned, to give what is left.

Days carried over

Brought in from last year, added on top before anything is subtracted.

Rounding

Exact, up to the next half day, or up to the next whole day. Rounding is only ever upwards, which is the direction it is allowed to go.

Apply the 28-day statutory cap

The statutory 5.6 weeks is capped at 28 days, which only bites above a five-day week. A contract giving more than the statutory minimum is not capped, so turn it off.

Only part of the leave year

For somebody who started or is leaving partway through. The entitlement is pro-rated by the days actually employed rather than by whole months.

Common use cases

• Working out a part-timer's entitlement properly rather than by eye
• Pro-rating leave for somebody who joined in April
• Checking a final figure when somebody leaves partway through the year
• Seeing how much leave has accrued so far this year
• Settling a disagreement about a running total that does not match the annual one

How this generator works

The entitlement is the working week times the weeks of holiday, capped at 28 days where the statutory cap applies. A part year multiplies that by the days employed over the days in the leave year, kept as an exact fraction. The month-by-month table takes each month's share of the same fraction, which is why it adds up: the check sums the months and requires the total to equal the annual figure to within a billionth of a day. It also checks that a part year never earns more than a full one, that rounding only ever goes upwards, and that what is left plus what has been taken equals what has been earned.

Randomness and fairness

Nothing is random. The same figures always give the same answer.

For how randomness is produced across the whole site, see how Generate Random works.

Limitations and good to know

• This is arithmetic, not employment advice, and the statutory figures quoted are the UK ones.
• Whether bank holidays come out of the entitlement depends on the contract, and this cannot know.
• Irregular hours and zero-hours arrangements are worked out differently and are not covered here.
• Accrual in the first year of employment follows a different rule in some contracts, which this does not model.

Privacy and your data

The arithmetic runs in your browser. No dates, days or figures are transmitted or stored.