Pro rata holiday calculator (UK)
An annual leave calculator for employers: work out pro rata holiday entitlement for part-time staff and people who join partway through the leave year. It starts from the UK statutory 28 days for a five-day week; change it to your own allowance. Everything runs in your browser — nothing is sent anywhere.
Pro-rata entitlement
16.8 days
How pro-rata annual leave is calculated
The calculator scales the full-time allowance by two factors: how many days a week the employee works versus full time, and (if a start date is given) how much of the leave year is left when they join.
Formula
entitlement × (employee days ÷ full-time days) × (days left in leave year ÷ days in leave year)
Rounding conventions vary by employer (some round up to protect the employee, some to the nearest half-day). This tool keeps one decimal place so you can apply your own rounding.
UK statutory holiday, pro rata
Almost every UK worker is entitled to 5.6 weeks' paid holiday a year. For a five-day week that is 28 days, and statutory paid holiday is capped at 28 days, so someone on a six-day week still gets 28. A part-time worker gets 5.6 times the days they work each week: 3 days a week gives at least 16.8 days. An employer can choose to count bank holidays as part of that statutory leave. The calculator scales your full-time allowance, so for the statutory figure enter 28 days and a 5-day full-time week.
A worker who starts part way through a leave year is entitled to only part of that year's leave. GOV.UK's worked example accrues 1/12 of the allowance each month and rounds up to the nearest half day. For staff on irregular hours or part-year contracts, holiday builds up at 12.07% of hours worked instead: use the holiday accrual calculator for them.
Related terms
Learn more in the glossary: pro-rata leave, FTE, leave entitlement, and carry-over.
Frequently asked questions
- How do you calculate pro rata holiday in the UK?
- Start from the statutory 5.6 weeks: multiply 5.6 by the days a week the employee works. Someone on 3 days a week gets at least 16.8 days (3 × 5.6). Statutory paid holiday is capped at 28 days, and an employer can count bank holidays within it. If your full-time allowance is above the statutory minimum, scale that allowance instead.
- How much holiday does someone get if they start part way through the leave year?
- Only part of the year's allowance. Multiply the full-year figure by the share of the leave year left on their start date: a 3-day-a-week starter joining with half the year to go gets 16.8 × 0.5 = 8.4 days. GOV.UK's worked example for a first year accrues 1/12 of the allowance each month and rounds up to the nearest half day.
- How do you calculate pro-rata annual leave?
- Multiply the full-time entitlement by the employee's working days divided by full-time working days. For 25 days full-time and someone working 3 of 5 days: 25 × 3/5 = 15 days. If they also start partway through the leave year, multiply again by the share of the year remaining.
- How is holiday entitlement worked out for part-time staff?
- Part-time entitlement is the full-time allowance scaled by the proportion of full-time hours or days worked. Counting in days is simplest; counting in hours is more precise for irregular schedules.
- Does this calculator include public holidays?
- No — it calculates annual-leave entitlement only. In the UK an employer can count bank holidays within the 5.6 weeks; in many other countries public holidays come on top. See our public-holiday calendars for 190+ countries to add them per office.
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