Holiday Entitlement for Part-Time Workers: How to Calculate Pro-Rata Leave

Days per Week	Statutory Entitlement	In Hours (7.5h day)
1 day	5.6 days	42.0 hours
1.5 days	8.4 days	63.0 hours
2 days	11.2 days	84.0 hours
2.5 days	14.0 days	105.0 hours
3 days	16.8 days	126.0 hours
3.5 days	19.6 days	147.0 hours
4 days	22.4 days	168.0 hours
4.5 days	25.2 days	189.0 hours
5 days	28.0 days	210.0 hours

Bank holidays are one of the trickiest areas for part-time workers. Key principles:

• There is no automatic right to paid bank holidays — they can be included in the 5.6 weeks
• Part-time workers must not be treated less favourably than full-time workers
• If full-time staff get bank holidays on top of 20 days, part-timers must get the pro-rata equivalent

Example: Fair Bank Holiday Treatment

If your full-time (5-day) workers get 20 days holiday plus 8 bank holidays (28 days total), a 3-day worker should get:

• Total entitlement: 28 × (3/5) = 16.8 days
• This is the same as the statutory minimum of 5.6 × 3 = 16.8 days

Bank Holidays by UK Region

Region	Bank Holidays per Year
England	8
Wales	8
Scotland	9
Northern Ireland	10

When Part-Timers Don't Work on Bank Holiday Days

If a part-time worker never works on Mondays (when most bank holidays fall), they shouldn't lose out. The fairest approach is to convert all entitlement to hours and let the employee take those hours on their normal working days.

From April 2024, a new method for calculating holiday for irregular hours and part-year workers was introduced. Under this method, holiday accrues at 12.07% of hours worked in each pay period.

This applies to workers whose hours vary significantly from week to week, or who only work part of the year (such as term-time workers or seasonal staff).

Rolled-Up Holiday Pay

From April 2024, employers can also use rolled-up holiday pay for irregular hours and part-year workers. This means adding 12.07% to every payment instead of paying separately when holiday is taken. The worker must be clearly told they are receiving rolled-up holiday pay.

Workers who start or leave partway through the leave year have their entitlement pro-rated:

Pro-rata entitlement = full entitlement × (months worked ÷ 12)

Months Worked	Entitlement (5-day worker)	Entitlement (3-day worker)
3 months	7.0 days	4.2 days
6 months	14.0 days	8.4 days
9 months	21.0 days	12.6 days

Holiday carry-over rules apply equally to part-time and full-time workers:

• The first 4 weeks (EU-derived leave) generally cannot be carried over — use it or lose it
• The additional 1.6 weeks can be carried over if your policy allows
• Exceptions exist for maternity/paternity leave, sickness, or when the employer prevented holiday being taken

When a part-time employee leaves, they are entitled to be paid for any accrued but untaken holiday. Calculate this based on the proportion of the leave year worked minus holiday already taken.

Conversely, if an employee has taken more holiday than they have accrued at the point of leaving, you may be able to deduct the overpayment from their final pay — but only if their contract allows it.

1. Rounding down: an entitlement of 16.8 days should be rounded up to 17 days, not down to 16. Always round in the employee's favour
2. Forgetting bank holidays: if full-time staff get bank holidays on top of their base allowance, part-timers must get the pro-rata equivalent
3. Using the wrong pay rate: holiday pay should be based on normal weekly earnings, including regular overtime and commission
4. Not recalculating when hours change: if a part-timer increases their days, their holiday entitlement must be recalculated
5. Treating all part-timers the same: a 4-day worker gets different entitlement than a 3-day worker