Whether you work full time or part time, you are entitled to holiday, or annual leave. In this blog post, I will outline the basics of what holiday you are entitled to, and how you are able to calculate how many days or hours holiday you can have throughout the year.
As a worker, you are legally entitled to 5.6 weeks paid holiday throughout the year. There are some exceptions to this, such as if you work casual or irregular hours. If you work full or part time, you should receive 5.6 weeks of holiday, so if you work 5 days a week, you are entitled to 28 days. If you work part time, for example 2 days a week, you will be entitled to 11.2 days’ holiday per year. This is calculated by multiplying the days you work a week by 5.6. If you work more than 5 days a week, you will still only be entitled to the 28 days’ holiday. This is because holiday entitlement is limited to 28 days, however, your employer can decide to give you more than this amount.
If you start or leave a job during the leave year, this will affect how much annual leave you are entitled to. If you are starting throughout the year, how much annual leave you get depends on how much of the year is left. If you start early in the year, you will be entitled to more holiday than if you start towards the end of the year. Also if you are leaving a job part way through the year, you may be able to use your left over holiday during your notice period, but you will need to check with your employer about this.
Your employer can decide to have bank holidays taken as part of your annual leave, so for example, if you are allowed 28 days throughout the year, once bank holidays have been taken, you would be left with 20 days’ holiday for the year. Bank holidays also do not necessarily have to be given as paid leave.
When booking time off, you should check your contract to see if there is a specific notice period you need to give before taking time off. You may also be told by your employer to take time off at specific times, such as over Christmas. It is also possible to have limits on when you can take leave, for example if there is a certain time of year that is very busy, you can be asked to not take leave during this time. In some circumstances, if you request to take leave, your employer can refuse this. In this case, your employer should give you notice of it being refused, which is the same amount of time as the time you have requested off.
To find out your annual leave, visit https://www.gov.uk/calculate-your-holiday-entitlement which is an easy to use calculator to show you what you are entitled to. It is important to know your rights when it comes to annual leave, and with this helpful guide you should know what you are entitled to. Now you can book that lovely holiday!
For more information on Holiday Entitlement, visit https://www.gov.uk/holiday-entitlement-rights.
