Holiday pay ― legal points

Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
Produced by Tolley in association with Sarah Bradford
Employment Tax
Guidance

Holiday pay ― legal points

Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
Produced by Tolley in association with Sarah Bradford
Employment Tax
Guidance
imgtext

The right to be paid for holidays is a statutory entitlement and there may also be a further contractual entitlement. Almost all workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks paid holiday per year (which can include bank holidays). Self-employed workers have no statutory leave entitlement.

ACAS provides guidance on all elements of holiday, sickness and leave.

Statutory holiday pay

The Working Time Regulations 1998 entitle a worker to be paid:

  1. •

    during his statutory holiday, entitlement of 5.6 weeks a year

  2. •

    in lieu of any statutory holiday entitlement accrued but unused on termination of his employment

This does not prevent an employer offering a more generous annual paid leave entitlement as part of a contract of employment.

Calculating statutory holiday pay

During any period of statutory holiday, a worker is entitled to be paid at the rate of a week’s pay for each week of holiday.

The Employment Rights Act sets out the method of calculating a week’s pay except that references to ‘employee’ in the ERA 1996 should be read as ‘worker’ and

Continue reading the full document
To gain access to additional expert tax guidance, workflow tools, generative tax AI, and tax research, register for a free trial of Tolley+™
TAKE A FREE TRIAL NOW
Sarah Bradford
Sarah Bradford linkedinicon twittericon

Director at Writetax Ltd

Sarah Bradford BA(Hons), ACA, CTA (Fellow) is the director of Writetax Ltd, a company providing tax technical writing services on tax and National Insurance, and also of its sister company, Writetax Consultancy Services Ltd. Sarah writes widely on tax and National Insurance and is the author of several books.

Read moreRead more
Powered by Tolley+™
  • 30 Mar 2026 11:08

Home/ Tolley Tax Guidance/ Employment Tax / Legal aspects of employment

Popular Articles

Trusts and Inheritance Tax

Transfer of assets to beneficiaries ― legal, administration and tax issues

Transfer of assets to beneficiaries ― legal, administration and tax issuesThis guidance note outlines how assets are transferred to beneficiaries and the tax consequences that flow from the transfer. Whether a payment is income or capital is discussed in the Payments to trust beneficiaries guidance

14 Jul 2020 13:52 | Produced by Tolley Read more Read more
Employment Tax

Loans written off

Loans written offCompanies sometimes provide directors, employees or shareholders with low interest or interest-free loans either as part of the reward package or on special occasions to help the individual meet significant expenditure. The employment income implications of these loans are discussed

14 Jul 2020 12:11 | Produced by Tolley Read more Read more
Corporation Tax

Temporary differences

Temporary differencesCalculation of temporary differencesThe temporary difference arising in respect of an asset or liability is calculated by comparing the carrying value of that asset or liability with its tax base.IAS 12 uses the concept of taxable or deductible temporary differences. Whether a

14 Jul 2020 13:49 | Produced by Tolley in association with Steve Collings Read more Read more