Did you know? In the UK, almost all workers are legally entitled to paid time off, and it’s more than you might think.
Whether you’re an employee planning your next holiday or a manager coordinating team vacations, this guide will walk you through everything you need to know about UK paid time off. Let’s dive in!
How Many Paid Annual Leave Days Do Employees Get in the UK?
By law, UK workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid annual leave per year, that’s 28 days for a full-timer. Employers can choose to include bank holidays as part of their annual leave entitlements.
However, many UK companies offer more than the legal minimum. It’s common to see 30 days or more, including bank holidays. Some even allow buying or selling holiday days or flexible carry-over of unused days.
While the legal minimum hasn’t changed in years, how employees use, or don’t use, their holiday time has been evolving.
Do Part-Time Employees Get Holiday Pay in the UK?
Part-time workers are not left out of the UK's PTO policy. They are entitled to the same 5.6 weeks’ worth of holiday, prorated to the hours or days they work. It’s also worth noting that part-time and full-time employees must be treated fairly. If a company gives its full-time staff more than the statutory 28 days, part-timers should get a proportional increase too. Fair is fair!
Tip: Read our guide to learn how to calculate prorated PTO for part-timers.
Annual Leave in the UK: Are Employees Using It?
Recent surveys show that roughly two-thirds of UK employees do not use their full holiday allowance. In 2024, one study found 65% of workers left some holidays untaken, with 17% leaving five or more days on the table each year.
Why are so many Brits skipping their hard-earned rest?
It turns out 26% worry that taking time off will look bad for their performance. Others feel workload pressure or a sense of guilt for taking a break.
Ironically, not taking enough holiday often backfires. It can lead to burnout, stress, and even higher sickness absence down the line. HR experts note that holiday uptake dropped by about 7.6% from 2022 to 2023, potentially fueling a rise in stress-related sick days.
Are UK Workers Vacation-Deprived?
A study by Expedia, covering North America, South America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, introduces the concept of “vacation deprivation,” a phenomenon that happens when workers spend too much time working and not enough time resting.
According to this study, more than half of UK workers (56%) fall into this category. However, based on these findings, the UK ranks second to last, suggesting that its workers experience less vacation deprivation compared to those in most other nations. This standing is well below the global average and is only beaten by Japan, which holds the best spot.
Sick Leave in the UK
Sick leave has been a hot topic for UK employers lately, as absence levels have climbed after years of decline.
In 2022, workers took around 5.7 sick days on average, and a total of 185.6 million working days were lost to sickness, the highest number ever recorded. The UK’s sickness absence rate hit 2.6% in 2022, its highest since 2004.
Minor illnesses like common colds, coughs, and the seasonal flu remain the number one cause, making up about 29% of sickness absences. After the pandemic, employees may also be less inclined to “soldier on” when ill, which is a positive cultural shift, even if it bumps up the stats.
But there are other factors at play too: mental health-related absences have been rising, and long-term health conditions account for a growing number of days lost.
How Many Sick Days Are You Legally Entitled to in the UK?
The UK doesn’t specify a set number of paid sick days per year. Instead, employees who are off sick for at least four consecutive days (including non-working days) may qualify for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP).
Unfortunately, Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is notoriously low, currently at £118.75 per week, payable for up to 28 weeks.
To qualify, an employee must be sick for at least 3 days in a row and earn above the National Insurance lower earnings threshold. Many employers offer their own paid sick leave to top up or fully pay employees during short-term illness, because surviving on about £17 per day isn’t exactly conducive to recovery.
Sick Days in the UK vs. Other Countries
Our analysis of data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) official website, along with a recent study conducted by Raconteur, points to an obvious fact: the UK’s sickness absence rate ranks among the lowest in both Europe and the OECD countries. According to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the average UK worker took just 5.7 days off due to illness in 2022. On the other hand, Germany, well-known for its productivity, had an average of 19.9 sick days per worker.
Is a low absence rate necessarily good news? Does it reflect positively on the overall health and well-being of employees?
For more in-depth data, explore our Sick Leave Policy Around the World Guide.
Working Holidays in the UK: Navigating Bank Holidays
When it comes to public holidays, workers in the UK receive fewer days off than those in any other country in Europe, and almost any country in the world. England and Wales have 8 bank holidays, Scotland has 9, and Northern Ireland has 10. In comparison, the average number of public holidays in the EU is 12.8 days, which is nearly 5 more days than what workers in England and Wales get.
In fact, in the UK, employees are not legally entitled to paid leave on bank holidays, and employers may require them to work on those days. The handling of bank holidays is determined by the specific contract between the employee and the company. Still, most employers in the UK typically provide the standard 8 bank holidays to all employees, in addition to 28 days of paid annual leave each year.
Some voices are urging the UK government to introduce 4 new public holidays, a move that would bring England in line with the standards enjoyed by other countries around the world.
Public holidays in Germany and Canada vary by state or province, with nine public holidays applying to all states in Germany and ten to all provinces in Canada.
Parental Leave and PTO in the UK
Supporting new parents in the workplace remains a crucial aspect of leave management. The UK’s core entitlements for maternity and paternity leave have not drastically changed in recent years, but there are notable trends in how they’re being used, and new legislation aiming to give families more flexibility.
How long is maternity leave in the UK?
Eligible new mothers can take up to 52 weeks of maternity leave, with the first 26 weeks as “Ordinary Maternity Leave” and the next 26 as “Additional Maternity Leave.”
Up to 39 weeks of this can be paid. Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) typically pays the first 6 weeks at 90% of the mother’s average earnings and the remaining 33 weeks at a flat rate of £187.18 per week, or continue with 90% of your pay, whichever is less.
Many employers enhance maternity pay, for instance, offering full pay for a certain period, to support the retention of female talent. Recent years have seen a steady return-to-work rate for mothers, though challenges remain around childcare costs and work-life balance after maternity leave.
Do men get paid paternity leave UK?
New fathers (or the mother’s partner) are entitled to 1 or 2 weeks of paternity leave at the statutory rate of pay. Employees can take either one block of 2 weeks or two separate one-week blocks. Statutory Paternity Pay is the same flat weekly rate (£187/week) as SMP after the initial maternity period. Given how short this paternity leave is, it’s no surprise that many fathers use other leave (like annual leave) or unpaid leave if they want more time at home in those critical first months.
What is the UK’s Shared Parental Leave Policy?
Introduced in 2015, Shared Parental Leave was meant to revolutionize how parents split childcare in the first year. The uptake, however, has been…well, let’s call it underwhelming.
Under SPL, parents can share up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of pay, since the mother can effectively transfer most of her maternity leave/pay to the partner.
In theory, this is fantastic flexibility, but in practice, SPL’s complexity and low pay rate have kept take-up low. A government report in late 2023 found that only about 1% of eligible mothers and 5% of eligible fathers were taking Shared Parental Leave in the early years of the policy.
Even with a slow upward trend, only about 13,000 people used SPL in 2021-2022, and approximately 25,000 in 2023–2024. This is a tiny percentage out of hundreds of thousands of births.
There’s talk of making SPL a right from day one of employment, as currently parents need 26 weeks’ tenure to qualify, simplifying paperwork, or even overhauling the system completely. For now, HR managers should ensure employees at least know SPL exists, it’s surprising how many don’t.
Do Adoptive Parents Get Paid in the UK?
The UK’s adoption leave largely mirrors maternity leave, offering up to 52 weeks, with similar pay entitlements. Adoption policies have kept pace with maternity/paternity changes, ensuring adoptive parents aren’t left out of the discussion.
How does the UK's maternity and paternity leave stack up against the rest of the world? Find out here.
New Leave Entitlements Every UK Employer Should Know
New entitlements are coming into force to support employees through various life challenges, notably caring for loved ones and dealing with neonatal health crises. HR leaders need to be aware of these, as they represent the latest evolution in work-life balance policy.
Carer’s Leave (introduced April 2024): This new policy grants employees the right to take up to 1 week of unpaid Carer’s Leave per year to care for someone with a long-term care need. This is a day-one right, no minimum service required. The leave can be taken flexibly, in half-days or full days, and covers caring for a dependent with a long-term illness, injury, disability, or an elderly dependent.
Neonatal Care Leave (effective April 2025): Another major update is aimed at supporting parents of premature or sick babies. From 6 April 2025, eligible working parents will gain a day-one right to Neonatal Care Leave, with up to 12 weeks of leave and pay on top of existing maternity or paternity leave if their newborn is admitted to neonatal care. To use it, the baby generally must be under 28 days old when admitted to the hospital and need at least 7 continuous days of care there.
Best Practices for Managing Annual Leave in the UK
Managing employee annual leave requires staying informed and being proactive. Here are the key takeaways:
- Ensure Compliance: Double-check that your policies meet statutory minimums and latest leave entitlements.
- Encourage Employees to Use Their Annual Leave: With a majority of workers not taking all their holiday, managers should actively remind and encourage teams to take breaks. It may feel contradictory, but promoting time off can reduce unexpected absences and burnout in the long run.
- Prepare for Higher Sick Leave: Sickness absence recently spiked to record levels. Review how you support sick employees, consider if your sick pay policy is adequate, and if your workplace culture truly lets people stay home when ill.
- Invest in Wellness: Implement wellbeing initiatives like mental health support to tackle the root causes of stress-related absence. Prevention is cheaper than a cure, or in this case, cheaper than covering multiple sick days.
- Support Working Parents: Maternity and paternity leaves are standard, but can you do more to support new parents? Small gestures like a phased return to work, or bigger moves like enhanced paternity leave, go a long way in retention.
- Stay Flexible and Fair: The theme across all leave types is flexibility. Treat each leave request with empathy and a solution-oriented mindset. Ensure fairness in how leave policies are applied; Inconsistency breeds resentment. Also, keep an eye on upcoming changes in employment law. An agile approach to updating policies will keep your company compliant and your employees feeling valued.
Tracking and Managing Holiday Leave in the UK
Knowing the rules of UK PTO and holiday entitlement is one thing. Managing and tracking it is another challenge altogether. Both employees and employers benefit when holiday leave is tracked accurately and transparently.
For employers, it’s critical for legal compliance, payroll accuracy, and workforce planning. For employees, good tracking means you always know how many days off you have left and can plan accordingly.
Let’s break down why tracking and managing holiday leave matters so much:
Staying Compliant
UK employment laws require that workers get their full 5.6 weeks off. If leave isn’t tracked properly, a company might accidentally deny someone their minimum holiday or not realize an employee hasn’t taken enough, which could lead to legal trouble.
Accurate records help ensure everyone gets what they’re entitled to, and that no one takes more than they should, either. Compliance also means keeping proper documentation of leave in case of disputes or audits.
Preventing Burnout
When people skip holidays, they risk burnout and stress over time. By tracking leave, employers can identify who hasn’t taken much time off and encourage them to recharge. Ensuring everyone takes their well-earned breaks leads to a healthier, happier team and actually improves productivity in the long run.
Avoiding Payroll Errors
Holiday mismanagement can hit the payroll hard.
For example, if you don’t track that an employee carried over 5 days from last year, you might underpay them when they leave or you might overpay because you thought they had more leave left than they really did.
Keeping an accurate record of accrued and taken leave means that when it’s time to calculate holiday pay or termination payouts, it’s done correctly. It also helps calculate part-timers’ holiday and overtime with ease and clarity. Inconsistent tracking, like that messy spreadsheet or lost thread of emails, can easily lead to costly mistakes or disagreements. Good tracking means smooth payroll and no end-of-year surprises.
Maintaining Team Coverage
From a planning perspective, a proper holiday calendar is a lifesaver. Without a clear system, you could end up with unexpected absences or too many people off at the same time, leaving your business short-staffed. By managing holiday requests in one place, managers can see scheduling conflicts in advance.
For instance, making sure not everyone in the same department is off on the same day and employees can plan knowing which dates are already popular. This prevents that last-minute scramble when two key team members realize they booked the same week off.
Solve Your Annual Leave Tracking Headaches with Vacation Tracker
Mismanaging PTO can cause headaches, stressed employees, payroll problems, and scheduling conflicts. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be manual or painful.
Vacation Tracker helps UK businesses stay on top of holiday leave by automating every detail, from employee requests to manager approvals, in seconds.
See how London-based company, ExecutiveSurf, replaced spreadsheets with a smarter solution.
Managing PTO manually was slowing their team down until they made the switch. Read the full case study to see how Vacation Tracker helped them simplify leave tracking and gain full visibility across their UK operations.
Forget the days of manual calculations and accidental errors leading to payroll disputes or compliance nightmares. With Vacation Tracker, your leave data is accurate, updated automatically, and stored securely in one easy-to-navigate dashboard. Employees can request leave directly through tools you already use, like Slack or Microsoft Teams, and managers can approve requests instantly with just one click.
The result?
Clear visibility into exactly who’s off, who’s available, and how much leave each team member has left. This helps you prevent staffing shortages, avoid scheduling conflicts, and reduce the risk of burnout caused by unused annual leave.
Ready to eliminate your annual leave frustrations once and for all?
Vacation Tracker can simplify leave management for your UK team, no more forgotten days or scheduling chaos. To see how it works, feel free to try it out, free for 14 days!
With the right system in place, you’ll keep your team happy, your business compliant, and your holidays stress-free. After all, taking time off should be relaxing, and that includes the process of managing it!
