Part-time workers have no legal right to bank holidays off, and neither do full-time workers. What they do have is the right not to be treated less favourably than a comparable full-timer. The safe way to handle bank holiday entitlement for part-time staff is to give them a pro-rata share of the full-time total, bank holidays included, and deduct each bank holiday that lands on one of their working days.
The problem usually shows up in a spreadsheet. Someone on a 30-hour week, someone else on a 9-day fortnight, leave tracked in days for some people and hours for others, and staff in Glasgow and London on different bank holiday calendars. Pro-rating all of that by hand gets messy fast. This guide sets out the rules, the method and worked examples.
Bank holiday entitlement for part-time workers: the rules
Four points, all from GOV.UK and Acas:
- No statutory right to the day off. GOV.UK says bank or public holidays do not have to be given as paid leave.
- Bank holidays can count towards the 5.6 weeks. An employer can include them in the statutory minimum. A worker on 3 days a week must get at least 16.8 days a year (3 x 5.6) in total.
- No less favourable treatment. Under regulation 5 of the Part-time Workers Regulations 2000, which apply in England, Wales and Scotland, a part-time worker must not be treated less favourably than a comparable full-time worker because they work part time, unless it can be objectively justified. The “pro rata principle” applies unless it is inappropriate.
- No forced holiday on a non-working day. Acas says that if a bank holiday falls on a day someone does not normally work, the employer cannot make them use that day as part of their holiday entitlement.
The contract also matters. The written statement of employment particulars must set out holiday entitlement and whether it includes public holidays.
Bank holidays for part-time workers in the UK: the Monday problem
Most bank holidays in England and Wales fall on a Monday. In 2026 there are eight (GOV.UK bank holidays): five on a Monday, one on a Thursday and two on a Friday.
A common policy is “part-timers get bank holidays that fall on their working days”. That sounds fair, but it gives very different results.
Worked example: a 3-day week
Full-time staff get 25 days plus the 8 bank holidays: 33 days in total. Two part-timers work 3 days a week. One works Monday to Wednesday, the other Tuesday to Thursday.
| Method | Monday–Wednesday | Tuesday–Thursday |
|---|---|---|
| 25 x 3/5 = 15 days, plus bank holidays on their working days | 15 + 5 = 20 days | 15 + 1 = 16 days |
| Pro-rata total: 33 x 3/5 = 19.8 days, bank holidays deducted from it | 19.8 days (5 used on bank holidays, 14.8 to book) | 19.8 days (1 used on a bank holiday, 18.8 to book) |
Under the first method the Tuesday–Thursday worker gets 16 days. That is less than the full-time pro-rata share, and below the 16.8-day statutory minimum for a 3-day week. Under the second method both get the same total. Acas gives a similar example: when bank holidays are inside a pro-rata allowance, the person who works Mondays simply uses more of it on bank holidays.
Whether a particular arrangement breaches the regulations depends on the facts. Pro-rating the whole total, bank holidays included, takes the question away.
How to pro-rate bank holiday entitlement in days and in hours
The method is the same for every pattern:
- Add up the full-time entitlement, bank holidays included.
- Multiply by the part-timer’s share of a full-time week (days or hours).
- Deduct each bank holiday that falls on a day they would have worked.
- The rest is theirs to book.
Days work if every working day is the same length. If days vary, use hours.
Bank holiday entitlement part-time calculator: 30-hour week
Full-time is 37.5 hours over 5 days, with 33 days of 7.5 hours: 247.5 hours a year.
- 30-hour worker: 247.5 x 30 / 37.5 = 198 hours (the statutory minimum is 5.6 x 30 = 168 hours)
Two people on 30 hours:
| 5 days x 6 hours | Tuesday–Friday, 4 days x 7.5 hours | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 bank holidays on working days (England and Wales) | 8 | 3 (1 Jan, 3 Apr, 25 Dec) |
| Hours used on bank holidays | 48 | 22.5 |
| Hours left to book | 150 | 175.5 |
Each has 198 hours. Booking in hours means a bank holiday costs exactly the hours that person would have worked.
9-day fortnight
A full-time employee works 75 hours a fortnight over 9 days, so each day is 8 hours 20 minutes.
- In days: 33 x 4.5 / 5 = 29.7 days
- In hours: 29.7 x 8.33 = 247.5 hours, the same as a five-day colleague
Giving them 33 “days” would mean 275 hours, more than everyone else. When a bank holiday falls on their non-working day, nothing is deducted; when it falls on a working day, 8 hours 20 minutes comes off. Our holiday entitlement calculator has a spreadsheet you can adapt for pro-rata figures.
Years with extra bank holidays
Some years have one-off bank holidays. England and Wales had 10 in 2022 and 9 in 2023, and Scotland has an extra one in 2026, according to GOV.UK’s list.
Acas says whether a worker gets an extra day off depends on their contract. That turns on the wording:
- “Plus 8 bank holidays” fixes the number. An extra day is at your discretion.
- “Plus all bank and public holidays” means a ninth day is owed.
If you give full-timers the extra day, give part-timers the pro-rata share: 0.6 of a day for a 3-day worker, or 6 hours for a 30-hour worker (7.5 x 30 / 37.5).
Scottish bank holidays and staff in more than one UK nation
Scotland has a different list. It has 2 January but no Easter Monday, its summer bank holiday is at the start of August, and it has St Andrew’s Day. In 2026 it also has a one-off World Cup bank holiday. These are the dates on GOV.UK:
| England and Wales | Scotland | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 Jan, 3 Apr, 6 Apr, 4 May, 25 May, 31 Aug, 25 Dec, 28 Dec (8) | 1 Jan, 2 Jan, 3 Apr, 4 May, 25 May, 15 Jun (World Cup bank holiday), 3 Aug, 30 Nov, 25 Dec, 28 Dec (10) |
| 2027 | 1 Jan, 26 Mar, 29 Mar, 3 May, 31 May, 30 Aug, 27 Dec, 28 Dec (8) | 1 Jan, 4 Jan, 26 Mar, 3 May, 31 May, 2 Aug, 30 Nov, 27 Dec, 28 Dec (9) |
Northern Ireland has its own list too, including St Patrick’s Day and the Battle of the Boyne holiday in July.
If you have staff in Glasgow and London, decide which of these you mean:
- Same total, local calendar. Everyone gets, say, 33 days including bank holidays. Glasgow staff use 10 of them on Scottish bank holidays in 2026, London staff use 8. Totals match.
- Base allowance plus local bank holidays. Everyone gets 25 days plus their nation’s bank holidays. In 2026 a Glasgow full-timer gets 35 days and a London one gets 33.
Either can be lawful. What causes disputes is not saying. Name the calendar in the contract, for example “the bank holidays for the nation where your normal place of work is”, and say what happens when someone moves site or works across both.
Then apply the same pro-rata method to part-timers on each calendar. A 3-day worker in Glasgow on the “same total” approach still has 19.8 days; more of them simply go on Scottish bank holidays.
Keeping this out of spreadsheets
Pro-rating is not hard once. It is hard across dozens of patterns, two calendars and leave in mixed units. Put the full-time total and the calendar in the policy, store each person’s balance in hours, and deduct bank holidays from the rota rather than by memory. Givver’s leave management holds balances and requests alongside multi-site management for teams across locations.
For shift rotas see holiday entitlement for shift workers, and for bank and zero-hours staff see holiday entitlement for irregular-hours workers.
FAQs
Do part-time staff get bank holidays?
There is no legal right to bank holidays off for anyone. If full-timers get them, part-timers should get a pro-rata share, usually as part of a pro-rata total.
How do you calculate bank holiday entitlement for part-time staff?
Multiply the full-time total (bank holidays included) by the part-timer’s share of a full-time week, then deduct the bank holidays that fall on their working days.
What if a bank holiday falls on a part-timer’s day off?
They cannot be made to use leave for it. On a pro-rata total, nothing is deducted.
Should part-time leave be in days or hours?
Hours, if their working days vary in length. Days are fine if every working day is the same length.
This guide is general information, not legal advice. For a specific contract, speak to Acas or an employment adviser.
Pro-rating bank holidays is a one-off decision followed by a lot of careful arithmetic. Get the decision into the contract and the arithmetic into a system. See how Givver handles this.