How to calculate bank holiday entitlement for part-time workers

If you have part-time workers, or are considering hiring one, you need to know how much holiday they’re entitled to, including bank holidays.

This guide tells you everything you need to know about calculating bank holiday allowances and pay for your part-time staff.

Skip to:

• How holiday entitlement works for part-time employees

• Whether employers need to provide paid bank holidays for part-time workers

• How to calculate bank holiday entitlement for part-time staff in the UK

• How to manage part-time employee holiday
  

• FAQs about bank holiday entitlement for part-time workers

   

 

How does holiday entitlement work for part-time employees? A quick overview  

 

Part-time employees have the same holiday rights as full-time staff. The only difference is how much holiday they receive, which is based on the hours they work. 

Regular hours workers work the same days and hours each week. They:

• Have their entitlement calculated using a holiday year or accrual system

• Get a minimum of 5.6 weeks' paid leave per year, proportional to their hours worked. For example, if full-time workers get 28 days for a five-day week, part-time workers get 16.8 days for a three-day week (5.6 x 3)

  
  
  

Irregular hours workers don't have a fixed schedule because their hours change week to week, or they only work at certain times of year. They:

• Build up entitlement throughout the year rather than receiving a fixed amount

• Accrue holiday at 12.07% of their hours worked in each pay period
  

Check out our guide on how to calculate holiday pay for irregular hours or seasonal workers or use our holiday calculator to quickly run the numbers.

 

How do bank holidays affect part-time workers?

Employers aren’t legally required to offer paid bank holidays in the UK. Whether your full-time and part-time employees receive them, and how, comes down to what's in their employment contract. Typically, employers either:

• Include bank holidays within the 28-day minimum, or

• Offer them on top of the minimum as an additional benefit
  
  

Bank holidays can be tricky for part-time employees due to the days they work. As most UK bank holidays fall on a Monday or Friday, part-time employees who don't work those days shouldn’t receive less leave than their full-time colleagues. To prevent this, most employers calculate bank holiday entitlement based on hours worked rather than specific days. This levels the playing field regardless of which days someone works.

How to calculate bank holiday entitlement for part-time staff in the UK 

The key to calculating bank holiday entitlement correctly is to focus on your part-time workers’ hours rather than days. As part-time employees work different patterns, tracking their hours is a fair and consistent way to calculate their leave, regardless of which days someone works. Here's how to do it in three steps.

Step 1. Work out full-time bank holiday entitlement (in hours)

Start with your full-time employees and the number of bank holidays in the region they work in:

• England and Wales = 8 bank holidays per year

• Scotland = 9 bank holidays per year

• Northern Ireland = 10 bank holidays per year
  
  

Multiply the number of bank holidays by the length of a standard working day to get the total entitlement in hours. For example:

8 bank holidays x 8 hours = 64 hours

Important: The calculation above assumes a standard 8-hour working day, but the formula only works accurately if you use the specific hours your employees work. If your full-time employees work shorter days, like 6 hours, use that figure instead.

Step 2. Calculate the pro-rata entitlement

Use this formula to work out your part-time employee's bank holiday entitlement:

(hours worked per week ÷ hours in a full-time week) x (number of bank holidays x hours per working day)

Then apply it:

• Divide your part-time employee's weekly hours by the full-time weekly hours to get their pro-rata fraction

• Multiply that fraction by the total bank holiday hours from Step 1

If the result isn't a round number, always round up rather than down.

Here’s an example of an employee working 16 hours a week, against a full-time week of 40 hours:

16 ÷ 40 = 0.4

0.4 x 64 = 25.6 hours, rounded up to 26 hours

Step 3. Apply it to your part-time employee

Your part-time employee now has an hourly bank holiday entitlement to use throughout the year. Here's how that works.

• If a bank holiday falls on a day they don't work: nothing changes, no entitlement is used

• If a bank holiday falls on a day they do work: they book it as leave in the usual way, and the hours come off their total entitlement

• If they work a shorter day than the standard: use the actual hours they would have worked that day, not the full-time day length

Here are a few more examples of how to calculate bank holiday entitlement for your part-time workers, based on their working patterns.

Note: These examples use eight bank holidays marked in England and Wales. Scotland has nine holidays and Northern Ireland has 10 bank holidays, so you’ll need to change the figure in the formula accordingly.

Not confident with the maths? Breathe's free holiday calculator does the hard work for you. 

Manage part-time employee holidays with Breathe

Calculating bank holiday entitlement for part-time staff is straightforward once you know the formula. Even so, keeping track of the numbers across an entire team working different hours and working patterns can become complicated.

Breathe's holiday management software calculates and tracks entitlement automatically, so you always have an accurate, up-to-date picture of who’s owed what. Your employees can see their own balances too, which means fewer queries landing in your inbox.

When entitlement is visible and calculations are automated, it’s easier to avoid disputes and stay compliant. Try Breathe for free today and take the stress out of managing bank holiday entitlement for part-time staff.

Frequently asked questions

Can workers carry over unused holiday leave?

Workers usually need to take their statutory holiday entitlement within the holiday year. Although, in some cases, it’s possible to carry over unused leave into the next year. The rules depend on the reason the employee didn’t take the leave on time, and what’s written in their employment contract. ACAS has a full breakdown of when holiday carryover applies.

What should I do if my employer hasn’t given me a contract?

All employees are legally entitled to an employment contract from the first day of their job. The full written statement of employment particulars should include key terms like your pay, number of hours, and holiday entitlement.

If you haven't received this, it's best to speak to your employer or HR team and request one. It's often just an oversight, but having it in writing gives you clarity and avoids confusion later on.

What happens if my bank holiday falls on my non-working day?

If a bank holiday falls on a day you don't normally work, what happens next depends on your contract. Some employers offer an alternative day's leave in its place. Others calculate bank holiday entitlement on a pro-rata hours basis from the outset, which already accounts for the days you work, so you don’t need to make any adjustments. If you're unsure, check your contract or speak to your employer.

Can you still use 12.07% to calculate holiday pay?

Yes, employers are still encouraged to use the 12.07% method to calculate holiday pay, but only for irregular hours and part-year workers. Following holiday reforms introduced in January 2024, 12.07% became the standard accrual rate for these workers, based on how many hours they worked in each pay period. Be aware it’s not the right method for employees who work regular, fixed hours.

Should I get paid double time for bank holidays?

Not necessarily. Employees don’t have a legal right to double time pay for working on a bank holiday. Whether you receive overtime, also known as enhanced pay, depends on what your contract says. Some employers offer double time or time off in lieu as an incentive, but this is a contractual benefit rather than a statutory right.