If an employee works part-time, starts part-way through the year or leaves before the end of the holiday year, their holiday entitlement may need to be calculated pro-rata.
Most UK workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday each year. For someone working 5 days a week, this usually works out as 28 days’ holiday per year, which can include bank holidays.
Rather than working it out manually, you can use our free holiday entitlement calculator to estimate holiday allowance for full-time and part-time employees with a regular working pattern.
Use our free holiday entitlement calculator
Work out entitlement for part-time staff, starters, leavers and pro-rata holiday calculations.
Use the calculator →What does pro-rata holiday mean?
Pro-rata simply means “in proportion”.
For holiday entitlement, it usually means an employee receives a proportion of the full annual allowance, based on how much they work or how much of the holiday year they are employed for.
For example, if a full-time employee receives 28 days’ holiday and a part-time employee works 3 days per week, their entitlement would usually be based on their part-time working pattern.
When might you need to calculate holiday pro-rata?
You may need a pro-rata holiday calculation when an employee:
- works part-time
- starts part-way through the holiday year
- leaves part-way through the holiday year
- changes their working pattern during the year
- has their holiday calculated in hours instead of days
These situations can quickly become confusing, especially if you’re also including bank holidays or dealing with different working patterns.
How is pro-rata holiday calculated?
The starting point is usually the employee’s full-time annual entitlement. You then adjust the calculation based on their working pattern and, where relevant, the part of the holiday year they are employed for.
For example:
- a full-time employee working 5 days per week may be entitled to 28 days per year
- a part-time employee working 3 days per week may be entitled to 16.8 days per year
- someone who starts or leaves part-way through the year would usually receive a proportion of their annual entitlement
Statutory holiday entitlement should not be rounded down. You can keep the exact figure or round it up.
Use our holiday entitlement calculator
Our holiday entitlement calculator can help you work out entitlement for employees with a regular working pattern, including part-time staff, starters, leavers and employees whose holiday needs to be calculated pro-rata.
It can calculate holiday in days or hours and can also include bank holidays where they form part of the employee’s entitlement.
If your employee works irregular hours or is a part-year worker, different rules may apply, so you should check the latest GOV.UK guidance or use the official GOV.UK calculator.
Want to manage holiday entitlement automatically?
A calculator is useful for working out individual entitlement, but it can still be difficult to manage requests, approvals and remaining allowance in a spreadsheet.
The Holiday Tracker calculates entitlement for you, keeps each employee’s remaining allowance up to date, and lets staff request holiday online.
Start your free trial and see how much easier holiday management can be.
