UK Holiday Pay Calculation (2026/27): Overtime, Commission + the 12.07% Rule
UK holiday pay 2026/27: the 5.6-week minimum, the 52-week reference period, which overtime and commission count, and 12.07% accrual for irregular hours.
This guide covers the Working Time Regulations 1998, which apply in England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland has its own Working Time Regulations and the April 2024 changes below do not apply there.
Statutory entitlement basics
- 5.6 weeks a year, capped at 28 days. Part-time workers on regular hours get 5.6 times their working week.
- The 5.6 weeks is 4 weeks under regulation 13 plus 1.6 weeks under regulation 13A. The difference matters for pay (see below).
- Bank holidays can be counted within the 28 days. There is no separate statutory right to paid bank holidays.
- Leave year: set by the contract; if it is not, it starts on the first day of the job.
- Pay in lieu: statutory leave can only be replaced by a payment when employment ends.
What must be included in holiday pay
Since 2024 the rules that courts had built up are written into regulation 16(3ZA) of the Working Time Regulations, inserted by SI 2023/1426.
| Pay component | Include? | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Basic pay | Yes | All statutory leave |
| Commission and other payments intrinsically linked to tasks you must do under your contract | Yes, for the 4 weeks under reg 13 | WTR reg 16(3ZA)(a) |
| Payments for professional or personal status (length of service, seniority, qualifications) | Yes, for the 4 weeks under reg 13 | WTR reg 16(3ZA)(b) |
| Overtime and other payments regularly paid in the previous 52 weeks | Yes, for the 4 weeks under reg 13 | WTR reg 16(3ZA)(c) |
| The same items, for the extra 1.6 weeks under reg 13A | Not required by law (contract may give more) | reg 16(3ZA) applies to regs 13 and 15B only |
| Irregular-hours and part-year workers (reg 15B leave) | Yes, for all their statutory leave | WTR reg 16(3ZA) |
52-week reference period (variable pay)
- Take the 52 complete weeks before the leave starts in which you were paid.
- Skip weeks with no pay and go further back, but no further than 104 weeks.
- If you have worked there for under 52 weeks, use the complete weeks you have worked.
- Add up the qualifying pay for those weeks and divide by the number of weeks.
- Pay that average for each week of leave.
Irregular-hours and part-year workers
For leave years beginning on or after 1 April 2024:
- Entitlement accrues at 12.07% of the hours worked in each pay period, up to 28 days a year (reg 15B).
- Rolled-up pay is allowed for these workers only: a 12.07% uplift on pay for work done, paid at the same time and shown separately on the payslip (reg 16A).
- Pay rate under either method is based on total pay, including the items in regulation 16(3ZA), for all their statutory leave.
Rolled-up pay is in addition to normal pay, which must itself be at least the National Minimum Wage. Using it for workers with regular hours is not permitted by regulation 16A.
Related guides
- UK Employment Contract Red Flags 2026/27 - holiday clauses to check.
- UK Probation Period Rights 2026/27 - holiday accrual during probation.
- UK Notice Period Rules 2026/27 - accrued holiday paid on termination.
- UK Statutory Sick Pay 2026/27 - holiday during sickness.
- UK SMP 2026/27 - holiday during maternity leave.
Frequently asked questions
How much holiday am I entitled to?
At least 5.6 weeks of paid leave a year, which is 28 days for someone working five days a week. The statutory entitlement is capped at 28 days, so a six-day worker still gets 28. Part-time workers on regular hours get 5.6 times their working week (for example 16.8 days for three days a week). Your employer can count bank holidays as part of the 28 days. Leave starts to accrue from your first day.
What rate should my holiday be paid at?
A week's pay for each week of leave. If your pay does not vary, that is your normal weekly pay. If it varies, it is the average over the last 52 weeks in which you were paid, ignoring weeks with no pay and looking back no further than 104 weeks (fewer weeks if you have worked there under a year). For the 4 weeks of leave under regulation 13, that week's pay must include commission linked to your contractual tasks, payments for seniority or qualifications, and overtime or other payments regularly paid in the previous 52 weeks.
What is rolled-up holiday pay?
Paying holiday pay as a 12.07% uplift on each payslip instead of when leave is taken. For leave years beginning on or after 1 April 2024 employers may do this for irregular-hours and part-year workers only. The holiday pay must be paid at the same time as the pay for the work and shown as a separate amount on the payslip. For workers with regular hours, holiday pay is still paid when the leave is taken.
What was the Harpur Trust v Brazel decision?
In Harpur Trust v Brazel [2022] UKSC 21 (20 July 2022), the Supreme Court unanimously held that a part-year worker's leave did not have to be, and under domestic law must not be, pro-rated to the weeks they actually work. For leave years beginning on or after 1 April 2024, irregular-hours and part-year workers in Great Britain instead accrue leave at 12.07% of the hours they work in each pay period, up to 28 days a year. Leave years that began before 1 April 2024 are still governed by the earlier rules.
Can my employer make me take holiday at specific times?
Yes. Under regulation 15 an employer can require you to take leave on particular days by giving notice of at least twice as many days as the leave (10 days' notice for 5 days of leave). It can refuse leave on particular days by giving notice of at least as many days as the leave requested. A contract can set different notice rules.
Can I carry over unused holiday?
Generally the statutory leave must be taken in the leave year. The exceptions in regulation 13 are: leave you could not take because of statutory leave such as maternity leave (carried into the next year); leave you could not take because of sickness (which must be taken within 18 months of the end of the year it arose in); and leave your employer did not give you a reasonable opportunity to take, or did not warn you would be lost. The additional 1.6 weeks under regulation 13A can also be carried into the next leave year where a relevant agreement (a written agreement with your employer, a collective agreement or a workforce agreement) allows it, under regulation 13A(7). Carry-over of contractual leave above the statutory minimum depends on your contract.
I think I have been underpaid holiday pay. What can I do?
Raise it with your employer first. If that fails, a claim for unauthorised deductions from wages under section 23 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 goes to an employment tribunal, after Acas Early Conciliation. The Deduction from Wages (Limitation) Regulations 2014 limit a claim to deductions made in the two years before it is presented. The time limit is 3 months from the deduction (or the last in a series), extended to 6 months where that payment date is on or after 1 October 2026 (SI 2026/954).
How does holiday accrue if I do not have regular hours?
If you are an irregular-hours or part-year worker, for leave years beginning on or after 1 April 2024 you accrue leave at the end of each pay period at 12.07% of the hours you worked in it (regulation 15B), up to 28 days a year. The 12.07% figure is 5.6 weeks of leave divided by the 46.4 weeks left to work. Your employer then pays it either by the 52-week average when you take leave or as rolled-up holiday pay.