Bank Holiday Pay Calculator — Work Out Your Entitlement

Use this guide to work out your bank holiday entitlement. We’ve simplified the maths to four scenarios that cover 95% of UK contracts.

Four scenarios that cover most UK contracts

Scenario 1 — Full-time, bank holidays included

You work Monday-Friday. Your contract grants 28 days a year including bank holidays. Result: 20 free days plus 8 bank holiday Mondays/Fridays = 28 total. You can use the 20 free days on any working day.

Scenario 2 — Full-time, bank holidays on top

Same Monday-Friday but contract grants 25 days “plus bank holidays”. Result: 25 free days plus 8 bank holidays = 33 total — significantly better than scenario 1.

Scenario 3 — Part-time, three days a week

You work Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Your contract grants 28 × (3/5) = 16.8 days of paid leave. Of those, your bank holiday allowance is 8 × (3/5) = 4.8 days, even if your working days happen to fall on more or fewer than 4.8 bank holidays in the year. Many bank holidays are on Mondays, so this matters.

Scenario 4 — Shift worker with rota-based time off

You work shifts, including weekends. Your bank holiday entitlement is calculated as a proportion of your average working hours over the previous 52 weeks. Your contract should set out the formula.

What about overtime / premium rates?

Premium rates (time-and-a-half, double pay) are not statutory — they only apply if your contract says so. If your contract is silent, your bank holiday rate is your normal rate.

Sick pay during a bank holiday

If you’re off sick on a bank holiday that you would otherwise have been paid for, you should still receive your contractual bank holiday pay. SSP doesn’t apply to days you weren’t scheduled to work.