Statutory annual leave carry-over in Great Britain: Working Time Regulations 1998, 2024 reforms, sickness, family leave and employer duties, with pre-2024 case law and termination pay

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Practice notes

Statutory paid holiday

In Great Britain, workers have a legal entitlement to 5.6 weeks’ paid annual leave under the Working Time Regulations 1998 (WTR 1998), SI 1998/1833. It should be recognised from the start that this is made up of two components:

a core entitlement of four weeks’ paid annual leave (often called ‘Euro leave’) (WTR 1998, SI 1998/1833, reg 13), and
an extra 1.6 weeks’ paid annual leave (WTR 1998, SI 1998/1833, reg 13A)

Different rules apply to irregular hours and part-year workers for holiday years beginning on or after 1 April 2024. For further details, see Practice Note: Statutory paid holiday—irregular hours workers and part-year workers.

For the position in Northern Ireland, which has its own Working Time Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016, SI 2016/49, see Practice Note: Employment law in Northern Ireland—Working Time Regulations and holidays.

The basic four-week entitlement reflects the UK’s implementation of the EU minimum in Article 7 of Directive 2003/88/EC (the Working Time Directive), while the additional 1.6 weeks is found solely in UK domestic law. This difference matters because: before 1 January 2024, cases from the Court of...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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