How holiday pay is calculated when you leave a job

The rule when you leave

Almost all workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday a year, limited to 28 days. Bank holidays can be part of it. You normally cannot swap holiday for money. Leaving your job is the exception: your employer must then pay you for the statutory holiday you have built up but not taken WTR 1998, reg.14.

GOV.UK adds two points:

• this payment is due even if you are dismissed for gross misconduct;
• if you have taken more holiday than you built up, your employer can take the difference from your final pay only if this was agreed in writing beforehand.

Leave carried over from an earlier leave year and still untaken must also be paid when you leave reg.14(6).

How much holiday have you built up? Regular hours

If you work the same days each week, the law uses a simple formula reg.14(3):

(A × B) − C

• A is your annual statutory entitlement in days: 5.6 × the days you work each week, up to 28.
• B is the share of the leave year that has passed by your last day.
• C is the number of days you have taken in this leave year.

Days worked a week	Annual entitlement (A)
5	28 days
3	16.8 days
6	28 days (the limit)

Your leave year is set by your contract. If it says nothing, it usually starts on the anniversary of your start date.

Worked example: £466.19

• Leave year starts on 1 January 2026. Last day: 30 June 2026.
• Works 5 days a week: A = 28 days.
• By 30 June, 181 of the 365 days of the leave year have passed.
• Holiday taken: 10 days.
• Pay: £600 a week, so £120 a day.

1. Built up: 28 × 181 ÷ 365 = 13.8849 days.
2. Balance: 13.8849 − 10 = 3.8849 days.
3. Pay: 3.8849 × £120 = £466.19.

The regulation does not round the days, so neither does our calculator. Rounding to half a day, which you may see on GOV.UK, applies to holiday built up in the first year of a job, not to the payment when you leave.

If you have taken too much. In the same case, with 16 days taken, the balance is 13.8849 − 16 = −2.1151 days. Nothing is due, and your employer can only deduct the value of those days if you agreed to it in writing in advance.

The daily rate: what is a day’s pay?

For regular hours with fixed pay, a day’s pay is your weekly pay divided by the days you work each week.

If your pay varies, GOV.UK says holiday pay is based on your average pay over the last 52 weeks in which you were paid. Weeks without pay are skipped, going back no more than 104 weeks.

What counts in that pay is more detailed. GOV.UK says at least 4 weeks of a regular-hours worker’s entitlement are paid at a “normal” rate, which includes commission and regular overtime, and the other 1.6 weeks at a “basic” rate. For irregular-hours and part-year workers, all leave is paid at the normal rate. How this split applies to a payment on leaving is not set out step by step in the official pages we have read. If overtime or commission is a large part of your pay, Acas or Citizens Advice can help you check.

Irregular hours and part-year work: 12.07%

If your hours vary from week to week, such as on a zero-hours contract, or you work only part of the year, a different method applies for leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024 reg.15B. You build up 12.07% of the hours you work in each pay period, rounded to the nearest hour, up to 28 days a year. For example, a 30-hour week builds up 4 hours of holiday. The balance on leaving is then counted in hours, not days.

Your employer may also pay your holiday as rolled-up holiday pay: an extra 12.07% shown on each payslip reg.16A. If it was paid correctly, there is usually nothing more to pay for those hours when you leave. Rolled-up holiday pay is not allowed for regular-hours workers.

The guide to rolled-up and zero-hours holiday pay explains the rounding, the hourly rate and the payslip checks, with a worked example.

Extra holiday in your contract

Many contracts give more than 5.6 weeks. Whether that extra holiday is paid when you leave depends on your contract. Our calculator includes it only if you confirm that your contract provides for it. Otherwise, it works on the statutory minimum.

If the payment is missing or short

Unpaid holiday pay can be claimed as an unlawful deduction from wages. The time limit runs from the date of the payment that was short ERA 1996, s.23. For payments on or after 1 October 2026, it is 6 months minus 1 day; for earlier ones, 3 months minus 1 day. You must contact Acas within that limit. The tribunal time limits guide gives examples, and the Acas early conciliation guide explains the next step.

Holiday pay is taxed like normal pay: see is redundancy pay taxed?.

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland has not adopted the 12.07% method or rolled-up holiday pay, and uses different reference periods. This guide covers England, Wales and Scotland only.

Next steps

1. Check, free. The holiday pay calculator applies the formula for regular hours or the 12.07% method, shows the balance in days or hours and the amount in pounds, and compares it with your final payslip. The final pay checker adds your wages, notice pay and redundancy pay.
2. Claim in writing. If the amount is missing or short, you can prepare a final pay claim letter yourself, with the calculation set out: £9, or £19 with a dated follow-up letter and reminders.
3. Next step. If nothing changes, a free Acas preparation sheet lists what Acas will ask. If you are still employed, or the problem is more than a number, see the grievance letter guide. Acas, Citizens Advice, a trade union or a solicitor can also help you.