Essential points

• The minimum holiday entitlement that an employer must provide to a full-time worker is 28 days a year (or 5.6 weeks). 
• The 5.6 weeks is split between 20 days ‘statutory leave’, which was inherited from the European working time directive and subsequently codified into the UK’s Working Time Regulations. There are an additional eight days of ‘UK leave’ for bank holidays in the UK, although the rules around when these are taken can vary (this is explored in the text below).  
• This legal page defines these leave periods as the “20 days statutory leave” and “8 days additional UK leave”. 
• Statutory holiday entitlement applies to employees and all workers covered by the Working Time Regulations 1998. These regulations include agency workers, plus irregular hours and part-year workers (under certain conditions). 
• Employers must ensure that workers receive their normal pay when on statutory leave. ‘Normal pay’ means accounting for commission, overtime, bonuses and other allowances.