Guide

5.6 Weeks Holiday Entitlement Explained

The statutory minimum holiday entitlement in the UK is 5.6 weeks — but what does that actually mean in practice? Here is everything you need to know.

What is 5.6 weeks?

The Working Time Regulations 1998 (SI 1998/1833), regulation 13, sets the statutory minimum annual holiday entitlement for all eligible workers at 5.6 weeks per year. This is the legal floor — your employer cannot give you less than this.

The figure of 5.6 weeks sounds abstract. In practice it is calculated by multiplying 5.6 by the number of days you work per week:

  • 5 days a week: 5.6 × 5 = 28 days
  • 4 days a week: 5.6 × 4 = 22.4 days
  • 3 days a week: 5.6 × 3 = 16.8 days
  • 2 days a week: 5.6 × 2 = 11.2 days

Your employer can round up your entitlement to the nearest half or full day — they do not have to, but it is common and is considered good practice.

The 28-day cap

For full-time workers on a 5-day week, the 5.6-week entitlement caps out at 28 days. This is the maximum statutory entitlement — even if you work a 6-day week, your employer only has to give you 33.6 days (5.6 × 6), and in practice most employers apply the 28-day cap for a 5-day week as the reference point.

Note: this cap applies to the statutory minimum. Your contract may provide for more than 28 days — if so, your employer must honour the contractual amount.

The employer trick: 20 days vs 28 days

The most common way employers under-calculate holiday is by treating the 5.6-week entitlement as "20 days holiday plus bank holidays." At first glance this looks like it adds up — 20 + 8 = 28. But there are two problems:

  • Northern Ireland has 10 bank holidays, not 8. So "20 + bank holidays" gives 30 days in NI — but the statutory minimum is still only 28 days (capped). That means the employer is giving 2 days more than the minimum — generous, but the description implies it is the minimum when it is not.
  • The direction matters: if your employer says "28 days including bank holidays", you get 28 total — not 28 + bank holidays. If there are 8 bank holidays and you get 28 including them, your base holiday is only 20 days. That may still be the legal minimum — but it depends on what your contract says.

Always check your contract wording: "X days including bank holidays" and "X days plus bank holidays" are not the same thing.

Who does the 5.6-week rule apply to?

Almost all workers in the UK are entitled to the statutory minimum holiday, regardless of their employment status, except:

  • Self-employed individuals (they are responsible for their own leave arrangements)
  • Armed forces personnel (covered by separate arrangements)
  • Some specific categories of worker explicitly excluded by the regulations — though these are relatively narrow

Part-time workers, agency workers, and workers on zero-hours or variable-hours contracts are generally entitled to the 5.6-week minimum (subject to employment status), calculated using the relevant statutory method.

Working Time Regulations 1998 — the legal basis

The statutory holiday entitlement is set out in:

The regulations are updated from time to time — always verify current rates against GOV.UK, particularly at the start of each calendar or holiday year.