Holiday Pay Calculator
Work out what a week of statutory holiday should be worth using your normal weekly pay or your recent paid-week average. The calculator shows the maths, while the guide below explains which earnings count, when unpaid weeks are skipped, and when rolled-up holiday pay can be used.
Calculate your estimate
Informational estimate only, based on official GOV.UK guidance and assumes the person is eligible — see the eligibility notes below. Not legal or payroll advice.
Quick answer: If your weekly pay is genuinely fixed, a week of holiday will normally be paid at that weekly amount. If your pay varies, holiday pay is usually based on an average of the previous 52 paid weeks, with weeks of no normal pay replaced by earlier weeks where possible. For irregular-hours and part-year workers, all 5.6 weeks of statutory leave must be paid at the normal rate.
Written by Ruby Miller · HR & Employment Law Content Lead
Holiday pay at a glance
Holiday entitlement tells you how much time off you can take. Holiday pay tells you what you should be paid while taking it. They are related, but they are not the same calculation.
Usually the normal weekly amount
If your hours and weekly earnings do not vary, a week of holiday normally leaves you with the same weekly pay you would have received for working.
Use paid weeks, not empty weeks
Where pay varies, the reference-period calculation looks at up to 52 weeks in which normal pay was received. Weeks with no normal pay are replaced by earlier weeks where possible.
All 5.6 weeks at normal pay
For irregular-hours and part-year workers, statutory holiday pay is based on normal pay. Employers can also choose rolled-up holiday pay where the legal conditions are met.
How holiday pay is calculated
The right method depends on whether your pay is genuinely fixed or changes from week to week. For a worker on fixed hours and fixed pay, a week of holiday is normally straightforward: their pay continues at the amount they would ordinarily receive for that week.
Where weekly pay varies, the calculation needs a reference period. The current approach uses the worker’s previous 52 paid weeks. A week with no normal pay is not simply treated as a £0 week and left in the divisor. Instead, the employer normally looks further back for another paid week, up to a maximum look-back of 104 weeks. If the worker has not built up 52 paid weeks yet, the available complete paid weeks are used.
That distinction matters. A seasonal worker who had several unpaid weeks should not have those empty weeks automatically pull down the average. The aim is to work from weeks that actually show the worker’s normal earnings.
One important distinction for regular-hours workers
For regular-hours workers, UK rules distinguish between different parts of the statutory 5.6 weeks of annual leave. At least 4 weeks must be paid at the worker’s normal rate of pay, while the remaining 1.6 weeks can be paid at a basic rate. Some employers choose to pay the same normal rate across all 5.6 weeks because it is simpler and more generous.
For irregular-hours and part-year workers, all statutory holiday entitlement is paid using the normal-pay approach. That is why commission, regularly paid overtime and certain status-related payments matter when their holiday pay is worked out.
If the question you are trying to answer is how much leave you have rather than what a week of leave is worth, use the Holiday Entitlement Calculator. The two calculations should not be mixed together.
Which holiday pay method applies?
The easiest mistake is choosing a method from a job title. “Part-time”, “full-time” and “zero-hours” do not by themselves tell you how holiday pay should be worked out. Start with how pay actually behaves.
| Working / pay pattern | Typical method | What you need | What this page’s calculator does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed hours + fixed weekly pay | Normal weekly pay | Normal gross weekly pay | Supported — use “Fixed weekly pay” |
| Pay varies week to week | Average of relevant paid weeks | Total relevant pay + number of complete paid weeks | Supported — use the average option |
| Irregular-hours / part-year, paid when leave is taken | 52-week normal-pay average | Previous paid weeks, replacing excluded weeks where required | Supported as a simplified average |
| Irregular-hours / part-year with rolled-up holiday pay | At least 12.07% of total pay in each pay period | Total pay for that pay period | Explained below; not calculated by the tool |
The calculator deliberately stays simple. It gives a useful estimate from the figures you enter, but payroll may need to identify which payslip items form part of “normal pay” before producing the final statutory figure.
The 52-week reference period, step by step
The phrase “52-week average” can sound as though payroll simply adds the last 52 calendar weeks and divides by 52. That is not always what happens. The calculation is built from relevant paid weeks.
Work backwards from the calculation date using complete weeks.
Use weeks showing the worker’s normal pay. Certain no-pay or reduced statutory-pay weeks are replaced.
Payroll can look back as far as 104 weeks to find up to 52 relevant paid weeks.
Add the relevant pay and divide it by the number of complete paid weeks used.
| Week in the look-back | What happened? | Typical treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Week A | Normal work and normal pay | Use the week |
| Week B | No pay received | Replace by looking further back, where possible |
| Week C | Sick leave with only statutory sick pay | Use an earlier normal-pay week instead, where the reference-period rules require it |
| Week D | Statutory family leave with reduced statutory pay | Use an earlier normal-pay week instead, where applicable |
| New starter | Only 26 complete paid weeks exist | Average those 26 complete weeks |
This is why “total pay ÷ 52” can be wrong even when 52 calendar weeks have passed. The divisor should reflect the relevant paid weeks used in the statutory reference-period calculation.
What counts as “normal pay” for holiday pay?
A useful way to think about normal pay is: what does the worker regularly earn because of the job they actually do? The answer is broader than basic salary for many workers.
| Pay element | Usual treatment | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Basic salary or hourly pay | Included | The starting point for both fixed and variable-pay workers. |
| Commission linked to contractual work | Included in normal pay | A worker should not normally lose a regular earnings component simply because they take statutory holiday. |
| Regular overtime | Included in normal pay | Regularly paid overtime can form part of the worker’s normal remuneration. |
| Payments linked to seniority, length of service or qualifications | Included in normal pay | These can be part of normal remuneration where they relate to professional or personal status. |
| One-off / genuinely discretionary bonus | Depends on the bonus | Bonus treatment depends on what the payment is for and whether it forms part of normal remuneration. |
| Expense reimbursements | Normally not earnings | Repayment of genuine business expenses is not the same thing as pay for work. |
Why unpaid weeks can change the result so much
Take the seasonal-worker example used later on this page: £18,500 of relevant pay across 44 paid weeks. The correct simple average is about £420.45 a week. If someone incorrectly divided the same earnings by all 52 calendar weeks, the figure would fall to about £355.77.
Same £18,500 earnings — different divisor
Illustrative weekly holiday-pay comparison
Difference: £64.68 for one week of holiday. This chart is an illustration of the reference-period principle, not a separate calculator.
The point is not that every worker will have this exact difference. It is that zero-pay or excluded weeks can materially distort a holiday-pay average if they are handled as ordinary £0 earnings weeks.
Who can use this holiday pay calculator?
This page is designed for UK workers and employers who already know that statutory paid holiday applies and want to sense-check the weekly value of that leave.
- Use the fixed-pay option where weekly earnings are genuinely fixed and do not need a variable-pay average.
- Use the average option where the relevant holiday pay needs to be based on previous paid weeks.
- Do not treat the result as a full payroll audit. The calculator cannot inspect which overtime, commission, bonus or status-related payments should legally sit inside the total pay figure you enter.
- Contractual holiday can be more generous. Employers can pay more than the statutory minimum or apply the normal rate across all 5.6 weeks.
Before you calculate: gather these figures
| What to check | Why you need it | Where to find it |
|---|---|---|
| Your working/pay pattern | Determines whether a fixed amount or reference-period average makes sense. | Employment contract, rota or payroll setup |
| Normal weekly pay | Used for genuinely fixed weekly pay. | Payslip or contract |
| Relevant pay across paid weeks | Forms the numerator for an average calculation. | Payslips / payroll records |
| Number of complete paid weeks | Forms the divisor; excluded no-pay weeks should not simply dilute the average. | Payroll history |
| Regular commission or overtime | May need to be included in normal pay. | Payslips, commission statements, overtime records |
Situations that need a closer look
Rolled-up holiday pay for irregular-hours and part-year workers
Employers can choose rolled-up holiday pay for eligible irregular-hours and part-year workers. Instead of receiving a separate payment when holiday is taken, the worker receives an additional holiday-pay amount alongside normal pay. It must be calculated at at least 12.07% of total pay in the pay period and shown separately on the payslip.
| Total pay in the pay period | 12.07% calculation | Rolled-up holiday pay |
|---|---|---|
| £500.00 | £500 × 12.07% | £60.35 |
| £1,000.00 | £1,000 × 12.07% | £120.70 |
| £1,500.00 | £1,500 × 12.07% | £181.05 |
| £2,000.00 | £2,000 × 12.07% | £241.40 |
Do not confuse the two uses of 12.07%. For qualifying irregular-hours and part-year workers, 12.07% can be used to build holiday entitlement from hours worked, and it can also be used for rolled-up holiday pay from total pay where the employer has chosen that permitted method. One relates to time; the other relates to money.
Commission-heavy roles
If regular commission is connected with the work the employee is required to do, holiday pay can need to reflect it as part of normal remuneration. A fixed basic-salary figure may therefore be too low for the normal-pay portion of statutory leave.
Regular overtime
Overtime that is regularly paid can form part of normal holiday pay. The practical question is not simply whether the contract labels overtime “optional”; payroll needs to consider whether the payment has become a regular part of what the worker normally earns.
Fewer than 52 weeks of history
A new starter does not have to wait until 52 weeks of pay history exist. If only 26 complete paid weeks are available, the average is based on those 26 weeks. The reference period grows as more complete paid weeks become available.
Monthly-paid workers with variable pay
Monthly payroll does not remove the need for a weekly holiday-pay calculation. GOV.UK guidance describes converting monthly pay and hours into weekly figures when a worker’s pay varies, then using those weekly figures to establish the average.
Weeks of sickness or statutory leave
If a reference week contains no normal pay, only statutory sick pay, or reduced statutory family-leave pay, the employer may need to use an earlier normal-pay week instead. This prevents an absence on statutory leave from automatically depressing the worker’s holiday-pay average.
Holiday pay worked examples
What this calculator does — and does not — decide
The calculator is intentionally transparent: it applies the figures you provide, but it does not make legal classifications for you.
- It does not decide whether a particular bonus, overtime payment or commission line legally forms part of normal remuneration.
- It does not reconstruct the statutory 52-week reference period from individual payslips or automatically replace excluded weeks.
- It does not calculate rolled-up holiday pay; the 12.07% examples above are explanatory only.
- It does not split a regular-hours worker’s statutory leave into the 4-week normal-rate portion and 1.6-week basic-rate portion.
- It does not calculate unused holiday owed when employment ends.
- It does not replace a more generous contractual holiday-pay policy.
Five holiday pay mistakes worth checking
The arithmetic is rarely the difficult part. Most discrepancies come from using the wrong weeks, the wrong pay components or the wrong method.
- ✕Automatically dividing by 52 calendar weeks. If some weeks should be excluded and replaced, leaving them in as £0 weeks can drag the average down.
- ✕Using basic salary when normal pay is higher. Regular commission, overtime and certain status-related payments can matter for normal holiday pay.
- ✕Assuming fixed hours always means fixed holiday pay. Someone can have fixed contractual hours while still receiving variable regular earnings.
- ✕Using rolled-up holiday pay for the wrong workers. It is a permitted option for qualifying irregular-hours and part-year workers, not a universal alternative for every employee.
- ✕Mixing up entitlement and pay. 5.6 weeks describes statutory leave entitlement; the amount paid for that leave is a separate calculation.
A 2026 record-keeping change worth knowing
From 6 April 2026, employers must keep detailed records of annual leave and holiday pay for at least six years. The rule does not change the underlying holiday-pay formula, but it makes the audit trail much more important.
| Record | What it can help verify |
|---|---|
| Payslips | Basic pay, overtime, commission and separate rolled-up holiday-pay entries. |
| Leave records | When statutory holiday was taken and how much leave was used. |
| Reference-period workings | Which paid weeks were included or replaced in the 52-week average. |
| Contract / holiday policy | Whether the employer offers more generous contractual holiday pay. |
If your payslip and this calculator disagree, asking payroll to show the reference weeks and pay components used is usually more useful than comparing only the final number.
Holiday pay FAQs
How do I calculate a week’s holiday pay?
If weekly pay is genuinely fixed, a week of holiday will normally match the normal weekly amount. Where pay varies, calculate an average from the relevant complete paid weeks in the statutory reference period.
Does overtime count towards holiday pay?
Regularly paid overtime can form part of normal holiday pay. For regular-hours workers, the distinction between the 4-week normal-rate portion and additional 1.6 weeks matters. For irregular-hours and part-year workers, all statutory leave is paid at the normal rate.
Does commission count towards holiday pay?
Commission linked to tasks the worker is required to perform can form part of normal remuneration. If commission is a regular part of earnings, a holiday-pay figure based only on basic salary may not represent the normal-pay requirement.
Do I divide my pay by 52 even if I had unpaid weeks?
Not automatically. Weeks with no normal pay can need to be replaced by looking further back. Employers can look back up to 104 weeks to find up to 52 relevant paid weeks.
What if I have worked for less than 52 weeks?
Use the complete paid weeks that are available. For example, if you have 26 complete usable paid weeks, the average can be based on those 26 rather than adding artificial zero-pay weeks.
What is rolled-up holiday pay?
For eligible irregular-hours and part-year workers, an employer may choose to add holiday pay to normal pay during each pay period instead of paying it when leave is taken. It must be at least 12.07% of total pay in the pay period and shown separately on the payslip.
Can salaried workers receive more holiday pay than basic salary?
Yes, depending on the worker’s earnings pattern and which statutory leave is being paid. Regular commission, overtime and certain status-related payments can form part of normal remuneration even where the employee has a fixed basic salary.
Is holiday pay the same as holiday entitlement?
No. Holiday entitlement is the amount of leave you can take. Holiday pay is the money you receive for that leave. A worker can have 5.6 weeks of statutory entitlement while the pay calculation still depends on their earnings pattern.
Can my employer pay the same normal rate for all 5.6 weeks?
Yes. The statutory rules set minimum requirements; an employer can use a more generous approach, including paying the normal rate across the full 5.6 weeks.
What records should an employer keep in 2026?
From 6 April 2026, employers must keep detailed annual-leave and holiday-pay records for at least six years. That makes clear payroll records, leave records and calculation workings particularly important when a figure is challenged.