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Almost all workers in the UK are legally entitled to 5 days off per week. Every year, employees are given six weeks of paid vacation. This is referred to as statutory leave entitlement, and it may include bank holidays.

Employees working a 5-day week are entitled to a minimum of 28 paid holiday days per year (including bank holidays).

What is pro-rata vacation entitlement?

Pro-rata holiday entitlement is a calculation based on the amount of annual leave an employee is entitled to in relation to the number of holiday days worked during the holiday year.

If your employees work full-time, five days a week, they are entitled to a statutory minimum of 28 days of paid annual leave per year, or 5 weeks. 6 weeks of vacation If your employees work part-time and work the same number of hours every day, Monday through Friday, they are also entitled to 5 days off per week. 6 weeks of vacation, but this is less than 28 days because they work fewer hours per week.

Workers on zero hours have the same right to vacation as full- and part-time employees, at a rate of 5 days per week. Six weeks per year However, a person on such a contract may work 12 hours one week, 20 the next, and then none the following. Because of this flexibility, calculating their entitlement in hours rather than days is frequently easier.

To determine how much vacation they should take, take an average of their hours worked over the previous 12 weeks. If there were any weeks when they did not work and thus were not paid, those weeks should be replaced with the most recent previous weeks where they were paid for working.

How to Calculate Pro-rata Holiday Allowance

The simplest way to determine how many days of vacation an employee is entitled to is to   multiply the number of days they work per week by 5 6 That gives someone working a five-day week the previously mentioned 28 days. Someone who works part-time and only three days per week is entitled to 3 x 5. 6 = 16 8 days

It becomes more complicated if their working hours differ on different days, but our online calculator can help you figure it out.   entitlement to vacation   both in terms of days and hours worked per week

Similarly, if you have a member of staff who starts or leaves part way through the holiday season, The amount of annual leave they are entitled to will be calculated based on the time they have actually worked for you and will be a percentage of the total entitlement that they have accrued. This is their pro-rata vacation entitlement.

Our   Dashboard for HR users   provides a quick look at your employees' holiday allowances, including any adjustments you've made from the calculations above or below To learn more, go to the adjustment tab and click on (time off in lieu) TOIL - this is also used to update holiday from overtime hours worked.

Various examples of pro-rata holiday entitlement

Employees who join or leave your company during the holiday season, regardless of full or part-time status, are entitled to annual leave based on the amount of time worked during their time with you.

It is important to note that employees accrue annual leave at a rate of 1/12 for each month worked.

Calculating pro-rata holiday entitlement for an employee who begins the holiday season halfway through

Employees who begin their employment later in the year will have their holiday entitlement calculated from the date they begin.

For example, if your holiday year begins on January 1 and they begin working for you on March 1, their holiday allowance will be calculated based on the period from March 1 to December 31.

Employees accrue annual leave at a rate of one-twelfth for each month of the holiday year; thus, in this case, the employee will be entitled to ten-twelfth of a full year's holiday allowance.

Calculating pro-rata vacation entitlement for an employee who leaves part way through the holiday season

If an employee leaves part-way through the year, the period of entitlement will run from the start of your holiday year to their departure date.

If they have taken more than their annual leave entitlement at the time they leave, you can reimburse them in their final pay package, but only if it has been agreed in writing beforehand. You may be able to offer them more if they took less than their entitlement at the time of departure.   alternative payment   of holiday

Other factors to consider when calculating pro-rata holiday entitlement

If you have part-time employees or employees who work irregular hours each month, the calculations are done differently. You must also consider bank holidays when calculating their entitlement.

Calculating pro-rata vacation entitlement for part-time employees who work in days and hours

If employees work irregular hours, such as shift workers or work patterns that change frequently, holiday pay will be calculated based on the average number of hours worked over the previous 12 weeks.

Calculations and rights for bank holidays

Understanding how to handle bank holiday entitlement in relation to your employee's annual leave allowance can understandably leave you perplexed. Should they be included in the annual vacation allowance or taken in addition to it? What if someone never works on Mondays or Fridays, when most bank holidays occur?

With eight bank holidays in the UK each year (and a couple more in Northern Ireland), it's something all workers should think about.

Workers, contrary to popular belief, do not have a statutory right to not work on bank holidays. You, as an employer or human resource manager, have the authority to decide whether or not they can work. You can also choose whether bank holidays are included in or added to their vacation time, but you must specify this in any employment contract. It should also be stated whether you offer additional pay for working bank holidays.

Part-time workers are entitled to the same number of bank holidays as full-time employees, but on a pro-rata basis, and if their employment terms require them to work bank holidays, they have no right to refuse.

Obtaining vacation time

Employees begin accruing vacation time the moment they begin working for you. Employees accrue vacation as a monthly percentage of their annual entitlement. As a result, they accumulate one-twelfth of their annual entitlement in advance each month.

For example, if a worker with 28 days annual entitlement begins working in January, they will have accrued 6/12 of that annual entitlement, or 14 days, by June.

Even if an employee is on maternity, paternity, adoption, or sick leave, they will still accrue leave.

Part-time and zero-hour employees accrue vacation in the same way, but it is calculated slightly differently. For part-time employees, multiply the annual entitlement by 5 to determine how many days they are allowed per year. 6 weeks based on the number of days they work e g 5 6 x 2 = 11 2 which you round up to the nearest day, for a total of 11 5

If you apply the same scenario as in the previous example for a full-time employee, a part-time worker who starts in January will have accrued 5 hours. 75 days of vacation

Workers who work zero hours are also entitled to a pro-rata share of the five-day pay period. 6 weeks of vacation per year, calculated in hours rather than days Holidays are accrued at a rate of 12 per year. 07% hourly

Carrying over vacation time into the next holiday season

Carry over is a term used in relation to annual leave that refers to when an employee has unused vacation that they want to 'carry over' into the following holiday year. Can someone carry over their remaining five days of vacation to the following year?

Employees are entitled to four weeks of paid leave per year under the EU working time directive, which must be used within that leave year or it will be forfeited. The extra one If you agree as an employer, 6 weeks (or eight days) available in the UK can be carried over to the following year.

You can also include extra leave and what happens when it occurs in an employee's contract. For example, a new trend is to add a couple of days to an employee's vacation time to serve as duvet days.

The only exception to these carryover rules is if an individual is unable to take their statutory minimum leave e. g due to illness or maternity, in which case it may be carried over to the following year but must be used within 18 months

However, as a business owner, you have complete control over whether or not you allow leave to be carried over. Staff morale and wellbeing are important, but you don't want a rush of people taking extra leave to fit it in, leaving you short-staffed. Employees who know they can roll over leave may also take fewer breaks throughout the year, which according to research can lead to employees feigning illness in order to take time off work and rest.