Holiday pay when you leave a job
Accrued, untaken statutory holiday must be paid when employment ends — it can't be waived, and "use it or lose it" doesn't apply to a leaver. The payment belongs in your final payslip.
Owed on leaving
2026/27(entitlement × year fraction) − days taken
Each remaining day is paid at your normal daily rate (52-week average if pay varies). No rounding down — but no statutory rounding up for leavers either.
The rules on exit
The statutory position sits in regulation 14 of the Working Time Regulations: leave accrues up to the termination date and the balance is paid in lieu. Three things employees often miss:
- Notice periods accrue holiday — including garden leave. Only PILON stops the clock early.
- Bank holidays falling before your exit that were part of your allowance count as taken; ones after your leave date are irrelevant.
- Overtaken holiday can only be clawed back from final pay if a written agreement allows it.
Common questions
Can my employer make me use my holiday during notice instead of paying it?
Yes, if they give notice twice the length of the leave (e.g. 2 days' notice to require 1 day of holiday) or the contract provides for it. Many prefer that to paying in lieu.
What rate is a paid-out day worth?
A normal working day's gross pay — including regular overtime, commission and allowances averaged over the last 52 paid weeks if your pay varies. It's taxed as ordinary earnings.
I was on a zero-hours contract — same rules?
Yes. Whatever you accrued at 12.07% of hours worked and haven't taken (or had rolled up in each payslip) must be paid on exit. Check payslips for the itemised 12.07% line — if it's missing, you're owed.
My employer refuses to pay — what now?
Raise it in writing first (an unlawful-deduction claim needs to reach a tribunal within 3 months less a day of the underpayment). Acas early conciliation is the required first step and free.
Sources for the figures on this page
Last checked 3 July 2026How we keep these current: methodology & update policy.