Know how much holiday to give your staff

Statutory holiday entitlement

You must set out leave and holiday pay entitlements in an employee's written statement of employment. This should enable them to work out their entitlement, including untaken holiday pay when they leave.

Holiday entitlement for part-time workers is the same as for full-time workers, calculated on a pro rata basis. All workers above school leaving age - not just employees but also, for example, agency workers - are entitled to four weeks' paid holiday.

Workers below school leaving age must have a two-week break during school holidays.

Calculating leave

You may stipulate to workers when your business' leave year starts. In the absence of written leave arrangements a leave year will start:

• on the date a worker's employment begins - if the worker started work after 1 October 1998
• on 1 October - if the worker started work on or before 1 October 1998

Workers whose leave year is tied to your business' leave year and who start working for you part-way through that year are entitled to paid leave proportionate to the rest of that leave year.

The whole of a worker's statutory leave entitlement exists from the beginning of each leave year - but in the first year of their employment you may restrict your workers to accruing leave monthly at the rate of one twelfth of the annual entitlement. Read advice specifying when leave can be taken on the Acas website

Subjects covered in this guide

• Introduction
• Payment for leave
• Public and Bank Holidays
• Restrictions and notice
• Statutory holiday entitlement
• Leave and termination of employment

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