Leaving Your Job?

Make sure you get the holiday pay you're owed

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Summary

When you leave, you must be paid for statutory holiday you have built up but not taken.
Most full-time workers build up 5.6 weeks (28 days) a year.
Your holiday pay should include regular overtime and commission.
If it is missing from your final pay, you can claim it back.

You've handed in your notice, or been let go, and your final payslip arrives. Is the holiday pay you didn't take on it? Too often, it isn't.

Unpaid holiday pay is one of the most common ways workers are short-changed when they leave. Here's what you're owed and how to get it.

Your right to holiday pay when you leave

Almost all workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks' paid holiday a year. For someone working five days a week, that's 28 days, which can include bank holidays.

When your job ends, your employer must pay you for any statutory holiday you've built up in the current holiday year but not taken. This is often called 'payment in lieu of holiday'.

Your contract may give you more holiday than the legal minimum. Whether you're paid for the extra depends on what your contract says.

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How to work out your holiday pay

1. Find your holiday year. Check your contract. If it doesn't say, it usually starts on the anniversary of your start date.

2. Work out what you've built up. Divide your yearly entitlement by 12 and multiply by the months worked this holiday year. Six months into the year on 28 days paid holiday and you've built up 14 days.

3. Take away what you've used. If you've taken 8 days, you're owed 6.

4. Multiply by a day's pay. That gives your holiday pay.

Irregular hours or zero hours? For holiday years starting on or after 1st April 2024, you build up paid holiday as you go: about 7 minutes for every hour you work (12.07% of your hours). So if you work 100 hours in a month, you've built up just over 12 hours of paid holiday.

What holiday pay should include

Holiday pay should reflect your normal pay, not just your basic salary. For at least four weeks of your holiday, that includes:

regular overtime, including voluntary overtime you do regularly
commission
regular allowances and bonuses linked to the work you do.

If your pay varies, it's usually based on your average pay over the last 52 weeks that you got paid for.

If your holiday pay is missing

1. Check your final payslip. Look for a line for holiday pay and compare it with your own calculation.

2. Ask in writing. Set out what you think you're owed and how you worked it out. Give a reasonable deadline for a response, such as 7 to 14 days.

3. Make it formal. If you're still employed, raise a grievance. If you've already left, send your old employer a formal written complaint instead. It should look into it and give you a written answer. If it ignores you, or still won't pay, go to step 4.

4. Make a claim. Unpaid holiday pay can be claimed in an employment tribunal, often as an unlawful deduction of wages. No minimum length of service is needed.

5. Watch the deadline. For pay due on or after 1st October 2026, you have six months less one day to start Acas early conciliation, the first step towards a claim.

Holiday pay is often missed alongside notice pay. See notice pay and pay in lieu of notice.

How Grapple Law can help

Grapple Law is a legal AI. It helps you work out the holiday pay you're owed, including any overtime and commission.

It can then help you write to your employer for the money and, if it still won't pay, help you prepare your tribunal claim.

Using Grapple Law is free to start, with a choice of legal services at a fraction of the cost of a traditional solicitor.

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Frequently asked questions about holiday pay

Do you get holiday pay on a zero hours contract?

Yes. You build up holiday as you work, at 12.07% of your hours. Your employer can either give you paid time off or add the holiday pay to each payslip, shown separately.

Can my employer take money back for holiday I've taken but not earned?

Only if your contract or a written agreement allows it. If there's no such term, your employer usually can't deduct it from your final pay.

Can I be made to use my holiday during my notice?

Yes, if your employer gives you notice of at least twice the length of the holiday. For example, two weeks' notice to take one week off.

Do I get holiday pay for time off sick?

Holiday builds up while you're off sick. If you couldn't take it because of sickness, up to four weeks can carry over, usually for up to 18 months, and is paid when you leave.