Guide
Holiday During Your Notice Period
Notice and holiday overlap in ways that catch people out — especially when an employer wants leave used up before you go.
Who decides when holiday is taken
Your employer can generally require you to take holiday on specified dates, provided it gives notice at least twice as long as the leave itself. During a notice period that power still exists, so an employer can direct you to use accrued leave before your last day.
What it cannot do is deduct holiday from your final pay without your agreement, unless the contract expressly allows recovery of holiday taken in excess of accrual — and even then, deductions cannot take you below the National Minimum Wage.
If you resign with holiday left
Accrued but untaken statutory holiday must be paid in your final payslip. It is not lost because you resigned, and it is not discretionary. The payment should reflect your normal pay for those days.
If you have taken more holiday than you accrued, the employer may seek to recover the excess only where the contract provides for it. Many contracts do; check before assuming.
Garden leave and holiday
If you are placed on garden leave, you remain employed and continue to accrue holiday. Holiday taken during garden leave is usually paid at normal pay, and unused holiday at the end of employment is paid in lieu.
An employer cannot use garden leave to avoid holiday pay: the entitlement continues because the employment continues.
Payment in lieu
Payment in lieu of statutory holiday is lawful only when employment ends. While you are employed, holiday must be taken as time off — an employer cannot simply pay you the value instead.
On termination the calculation is: accrued entitlement for the part-year worked, minus holiday already taken, paid at your normal rate. For variable pay, use the 52-week average.
If your employer refuses to pay
Raise it in writing before your final payslip is processed, quoting the dates and the amount. If the payment is missing, it is recoverable as an unlawful deduction from wages at an employment tribunal, generally within three months less one day of the deduction.
Worked example: resigning with leave left
The leave year runs January to December and you resign on 1 September on a five-day week. You have accrued 28 × (244 ÷ 365) = 18.7 days for the year and have taken 12, leaving 6.7 days to be paid in your final payslip at your normal daily rate.
If your pay varies, use the 52-week average rather than the rate on your last payslip. If you have taken more leave than you accrued, the employer may seek to recover the excess only where the contract allows it, and never in a way that takes you below the National Minimum Wage.
Does holiday extend your notice period?
No. Notice runs in calendar time, and taking holiday during it does not push your leaving date back unless you and your employer agree otherwise. Garden leave works the same way: you remain employed, notice runs, and holiday continues to accrue.
Where an employer wants accrued leave used up before you go, it can direct dates — with notice at least twice as long as the leave. If you would prefer to be paid for the days instead, that is a negotiation, not a right: payment in lieu of statutory holiday is only required on termination.
Holiday During Your Notice Period — FAQs
Can my employer make me take holiday during notice?
Yes, if it gives notice at least twice as long as the leave. It can direct dates, including within a notice period.
Do I get paid for unused holiday when I resign?
Yes. Accrued but untaken statutory holiday must be paid in your final payslip.
Can my employer deduct holiday from my final pay?
Only where the contract allows recovery of holiday taken in excess of accrual, and subject to National Minimum Wage limits.
Does holiday accrue during garden leave?
Yes. You remain employed, so entitlement continues to accrue.
Related guides
Work out your own figure with the holiday entitlement calculator or check what you should be paid with the holiday pay calculator.
Review and sources
Reviewed October 2026 against the Working Time Regulations 1998, GOV.UK holiday entitlement guidance and ACAS. Figures are the statutory minimum in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; contractual terms may be more generous. Not legal advice — see the editorial policy and contact page.