Employees have the right to ‘statutory annual leave’ (paid holiday).

This is the case whether they work:

• full time
• part time
• under a zero-hours contract

The number of days’ holiday someone gets depends on:

• how many days or hours they work
• any extra agreements they have with their employer

Employees ‘accrue’ (build up) holiday from the day they start working, including when they’re on:

• a probationary period
• sick leave
• maternity, paternity, adoption or shared parental leave

When to ask for holiday

Employees should ask for their holiday dates as far in advance as possible, This is so the employer can make any arrangements needed.

Employees should ask for holiday at least twice the amount of time beforehand as the amount they want to take off. For example if an employee wants 10 days off they’ll need to ask at least 20 days before.

This is unless their employment contract says they must give more notice.

When to take holiday by

An employer can set a fixed start and end date for when employees should take their holiday entitlement in each year. This is called the ‘leave year’.

If an employer has set a leave year, they should:

• tell employees
• write it in the contract terms or another agreement document

For example, an employer might set the leave year to start and end alongside the financial year – 1 April to 31 March each year.

If an employer has not set a leave year, it begins from the day the employee started working for the organisation.

Employees should take their statutory 5.6 weeks’ holiday entitlement during the leave year.

In some circumstances, employees can carry over their holiday into the next leave year. Find out more about carrying over holiday.

Holiday when leaving a job

During their notice period, an employee might be able to take any holiday they have accrued.

This will depend on whether:

• they can give the right amount of notice to ask for holiday
• their employer lets them take the holiday

Alternatively, the employer might ask the employee to take the holiday before they leave.

How much holiday an employee has depends on how far through the leave year they end the job.

If an employee has any holiday entitlement left when they leave, their employer must add this holiday pay to their final pay. This is sometimes called ‘payment in lieu’ of taking holiday.

An employee might have taken more holiday than their entitlement by the time their job ends. In this situation, the employer can take money from their final pay. This must be agreed beforehand in writing. This is sometimes known as a ‘payback clause’.

Contact the Acas helpline

If you have any questions about holiday entitlement, you can contact the Acas helpline.