head head head

holidays

Thanks to European law and trade union campaigning, almost everyone at work in the UK has a right to take paid holidays.

Indeed these rights are getting better, as after a strong TUC campaign, the government is closing the loophole that allowed mean employers to count bank holidays such as Christmas Day against the 4 week minimum.

Holiday rights start building up the first day of a job.

This section deals with the commonest questions about holiday rights.

  • What are the entitlements to annual leave?  more...
  • How are bank holidays reckoned for annual leave purposes?  more...
  • What rate should my holiday pay be set at?  more...
  • How is my legal entitlement to holidays calculated as a shift worker?  more...
  • How do I work out my holiday entitlement?  more...
  • Am I entitled to Bank Holidays and public holidays in addition to the minimum holiday entitlement under the Working Time Regulations?  more...
  • How much should I get paid during my holidays?  more...
  • My employer will not agree to my request for holidays in the summer period. What should I do?   more...
  • Can my employer make me work on bank holidays?   more...
  • Does my employer have to let me carry forward my unused annual leave into the next holiday year?   more...
  • I'm leaving a job but haven't taken all my holiday allowance. Can I be paid for the days I lose?  more...
  • I want to take a break to travel. Do I have a right to unpaid leave from my job?  more...
  • I don't work Mondays. Will I miss out on Bank Holidays?  more...
  • Can my employer make me take my holidays when they want, rather than when I'd like?  more...
  • What are Bank Holidays?  more...
  • Am I allowed time off to attend a job interview?  more...
  • I've started a job half way through my company's leave year. How do I work out my entitlement for this year?  more...
  • I work a lot of overtime. Does this count towards my pro-rata holiday entitlement?  more...
  • Am I entitled to the following Monday off when a public holiday falls on a weekend?  more...
  • How soon after I start with a new employer can I use my annual leave?  more...

further information

paid holidays and rest breaks

Download our Know Your Rights leaflet on holidays and rest breaks as a pdf file

(you will need Adobe Acrobat to view this file, click here for free downloads of this software)