Holiday Carry Over rules UK: 2026 Employer Guide

Holiday Carry Over rules UK affect annual leave planning, payroll accuracy, and employment law compliance. A full-time worker in the UK is usually entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid annual leave each year, equal to 28 days for someone working five days a week. Part-time workers also receive 5.6 weeks, but their entitlement is calculated proportionally.

So what happens when an employee reaches the end of the leave year with unused holiday? Can you remove it from their balance, or must you let them carry it forward?

The answer depends on the type of leave, the employment contract, sickness absence, statutory family leave, and whether you gave the worker a genuine opportunity to take time off. This guide explains Holiday Carry Over rules in clear terms so you can review your policy with more confidence.

TLDR

• UK statutory annual leave is often 5.6 weeks per year.
• For a full-time worker on a five-day week, this equals 28 days.
• If a worker gets 28 days’ leave, they can carry over a maximum of 8 days by agreement.
• If a worker is on long-term sick leave, they can carry over up to 4 weeks of holiday.
• Sickness-related carried-over leave must usually be used within 18 months from the end of the leave year in which it accrued.
• If someone cannot take holiday because they are on statutory leave, such as maternity leave, they must be allowed to carry it over.
• From 6 April 2026, UK employers must keep annual leave and holiday pay records for at least 6 years.

Worth knowing:

Carry over is not just an HR admin detail. From April 2026, employers must be able to show records of holiday taken, holiday carried over, holiday pay, and payments in lieu of holiday.

What are Holiday Carry Over rules in the UK?

Holiday carry over means moving unused annual leave from one holiday year into the next. For example, if your leave year runs from 1 January to 31 December and a worker has unused days at the end of December, those days may either expire, be carried forward, or be paid on termination.

The default rule is that statutory annual leave should be taken during the leave year in which it is earned. However, UK law recognises that some workers cannot take holiday for reasons outside their control. In those cases, employers may have to allow unused leave to move into a later leave year.

For employers, the main task is to separate:

• voluntary carry over – allowed because the contract, policy, or agreement says so,
• mandatory carry over – required because the worker could not take leave,
• contractual carry over – linked to holiday offered above the statutory minimum,
• termination payment – payment for accrued but unused holiday when employment ends.

Quick answer:

Holiday carry over in the UK means moving unused annual leave into the next holiday year. It may be allowed by agreement, but it can also be required where the worker could not take leave because of sickness, statutory family leave, or employer failure to enable leave.

Statutory leave vs contractual leave

Most UK workers are entitled to at least 5.6 weeks of paid annual leave each year. For a full-time worker on a five-day week, this equals 28 days. Bank holidays can be included as part of statutory annual leave if the employment contract says so.

This leave is often treated in two parts:

• 4 weeks of statutory leave derived from working time rules,
• 1.6 weeks of additional UK statutory leave,
• any extra days offered by the employer as contractual leave.

If a worker receives more than 28 days per year, the extra allowance is usually contractual leave. For example, if an employee receives 33 days of annual leave, the extra 5 days are typically governed by the employment contract, staff handbook, or holiday policy.

This distinction matters because not all holiday follows the same carry-over rules. The additional 1.6 weeks may often be carried over by agreement. Extra contractual leave can also be carried over if the employer allows it. The four-week statutory element has stronger protection in cases such as sickness, maternity leave, and employer failure to enable leave.

Worth knowing:

“28 days” is not always 20 days plus 8 separate bank holidays. An employer can include bank holidays within the 28-day statutory entitlement, but the contract should explain how this works.

How many days can be carried over by agreement?

If a worker receives the statutory minimum of 28 days, the commonly referenced carry-over amount by agreement is up to 8 days. This reflects the additional 1.6 weeks of UK leave.

The agreement may appear in:

• an employment contract,
• a workforce agreement,
• a collective agreement,
• a staff handbook,
• an HR policy,
• an individual written agreement.

For example, your policy might say:

“Employees may carry over up to 5 unused days into the next holiday year, provided those days are used by 31 March.”

That type of rule can work well for ordinary unused leave, as long as it does not override mandatory carry-over rights.

If you offer more than 28 days, you can decide how much of the extra contractual leave may be carried over. For instance, an employee with 33 days of annual leave might be allowed to carry over 5 contractual days, while statutory rules continue to apply separately.

When must employers allow holiday carry over?

Some situations require you to allow holiday carry over even if your internal policy says unused leave normally expires. These cases usually arise when the worker could not reasonably take annual leave.

Can holiday be carried over because of sickness?

Yes. If a worker is on long-term sick leave, they can carry over a maximum of 4 weeks of holiday entitlement. They must use it within 18 months, starting from the end of the leave year in which they accrued it.

Example:

• Your leave year runs from 1 January to 31 December.
• An employee is on long-term sick leave for most of 2026.
• They cannot reasonably take holiday during that year.
• Up to 4 weeks of statutory leave may carry forward.
• The deadline is typically 18 months from the end of the 2026 leave year.

Worth knowing:

Sickness-related carry over is not the same as ordinary policy-based carry over. If the worker could not take leave because of long-term sickness, the employer cannot simply remove the protected statutory leave at year-end.

What happens to holiday during maternity leave?

Employees continue to accrue holiday entitlement while on statutory maternity leave, paternity leave, adoption leave, shared parental leave, ordinary parental leave, neonatal care leave, parental bereavement leave, carer’s leave, and bereaved partner’s paternity leave.

If someone cannot use a holiday because they are on statutory leave, for example maternity leave, they must be allowed to carry the holiday over to the next leave year.

Example:

• An employee starts maternity leave in March.
• The holiday year ends in December.
• She cannot use all accrued annual leave before year-end.
• The unused holiday should be carried forward.
• The employer should plan when the leave will be taken, before or after maternity leave.

Quick answer:

Annual leave continues to accrue during maternity leave and other statutory family leave. If the worker cannot take holiday because of that leave, the employer must allow the unused entitlement to be carried forward.

What if the employer failed to enable leave?

A high-risk area for employers is failing to make holiday genuinely available. A worker can carry over holiday if the employer does not let them take all their holiday, does not encourage them to take it, or does not inform them that they will lose holiday they do not take. In those circumstances, they can carry over a maximum of 4 weeks of holiday entitlement.

This matters because a “use it or lose it” policy is not enough by itself. You should be able to show that workers were:

• told how much holiday they had,
• reminded to use it,
• warned about expiry dates,
• given a fair chance to book leave,
• not discouraged from taking time off,
• offered another opportunity if a request was refused.

Worth knowing:

The biggest carry-over risk often comes from silence. If managers do not remind people to take holiday and do not warn them about losing unused leave, the employer may struggle to prove that the worker had a real opportunity to take it.

Holiday Carry Over Rules for irregular hours and part-year workers

For leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024, employers must use a specific accrual method for irregular hours workers and part-year workers. Their holiday entitlement accrues at 12.07% of the hours worked in each pay period.

This group may include:

• zero-hours workers,
• casual workers,
• seasonal staff,
• some term-time workers,
• workers whose hours often change between pay periods.

Carry-over rights still need careful handling. If an irregular hours worker cannot take leave because of sickness or statutory family leave, you should assess their carried-over entitlement based on:

• hours worked,
• leave accrued,
• leave already taken,
• reason the leave was not taken,
• whether rolled-up holiday pay applies,
• whether the worker had a genuine chance to take leave.

Worth knowing:

Irregular hours workers are not outside the holiday rules. They still accrue statutory holiday, but the calculation method is different.

Can employers pay instead of allowing holiday?

During employment, you generally cannot pay a worker instead of letting them take statutory holiday. Paid annual leave exists to support rest, recovery, and health. Replacing statutory leave with cash during employment can create legal risk.

Payment in lieu is allowed when employment ends. At that point, you must pay for accrued but unused statutory holiday. From April 2026, employers must also record payments in lieu of holiday, including unused holiday when someone leaves.

Payment may be relevant when:

• the worker resigns,
• the worker is dismissed,
• fixed-term employment ends,
• unused statutory holiday remains,
• the contract allows payment for unused contractual leave.

Record-keeping duties from April 2026

From 6 April 2026, UK employers must keep records of annual leave and holiday pay. These records should cover holiday taken, holiday carried over from previous years, holiday pay, and payments in lieu of holiday.

Employers must keep those records for at least 6 years from the date they were made. Employers can keep holiday records in any format they think is reasonable.

Your records should show:

• annual leave entitlement,
• holiday taken,
• holiday remaining,
• holiday carried forward,
• reason for carry over,
• deadline for using carried-over leave,
• holiday pay calculation,
• payments in lieu,
• contractual leave rules,
• manager approvals,
• refused requests and alternative dates offered.

Digital leave management can make this easier by keeping balances, approvals, carry-over settings, and audit trails in one place. Tools such as Calamari can support employers that need clearer visibility over annual leave records and carry-over balances.

Statistic:

From 6 April 2026, annual leave and holiday pay records must be kept for at least 6 years. This means a holiday decision made in 2026 may still need to be evidenced in 2032.

Key figures employers should remember

• 5.6 weeks – statutory paid annual leave for most UK workers.
• 28 days – full-time equivalent for a worker on a five-day week.
• 8 days – maximum carry over by agreement where a worker gets 28 days’ leave.
• 4 weeks – maximum sickness-related carry over for long-term sick leave.
• 18 months – usual time limit for using holiday carried over because of long-term sickness.
• 12.07% – holiday accrual rate for irregular hours and part-year workers.
• 6 years – minimum record retention period from 6 April 2026.

Common employer mistakes

Many holiday carry-over disputes start with simple process gaps. Watch out for these issues:

• relying on a “use it or lose it” policy without sending reminders,
• failing to separate statutory leave from contractual leave,
• removing unused holiday from someone on long-term sick leave,
• not planning holiday around maternity or adoption leave,
• refusing holiday requests without offering alternative dates,
• failing to record why holiday was carried over,
• deleting annual leave records too early,
• not showing rolled-up holiday pay separately where required,
• treating irregular hours workers as if they had no holiday rights,
• leaving carry-over rules vague in contracts or policies.

Worth knowing:

A carry-over rule is only useful if managers apply it consistently. Inconsistent treatment can create employee relations problems and make payroll records harder to defend.

Example: standard employee with unused leave

Imagine an employee has 28 days of annual leave and has taken only 18 by November.

A safer employer process would look like this:

• the manager checks the leave balance in autumn,
• the employee receives a reminder,
• the manager encourages the employee to book time off,
• the employee is told what will happen if leave is not used,
• any carry-over request is checked against the policy,
• the final decision is recorded.

If the employee takes 6 more days and asks to carry over 4, that may be manageable if your policy allows it. If the manager ignored the unused balance, the employer’s position would be weaker.

Example: maternity leave and annual leave

An employee starts maternity leave in April and returns the following February. During that period, annual leave continues to accrue. If she cannot take the holiday before the end of the leave year, the employer should allow the unused entitlement to carry forward.

A safer approach is to discuss:

• how much leave has accrued before maternity leave,
• how much will accrue during maternity leave,
• whether some leave will be taken before maternity leave starts,
• whether some leave will be added to the return-to-work period,
• how the carried-over balance will appear in the HR system.

Example: long-term sickness absence

An employee is absent because of long-term sickness for most of the holiday year. They cannot reasonably take annual leave before the year closes.

In this case:

• up to 4 weeks of statutory holiday may carry over,
• the 18-month usage period should be tracked,
• the worker’s holiday balance should remain visible,
• payroll should record any later holiday pay correctly,
• managers should avoid treating the leave as lost automatically.

Managing carry-over requests without manual follow-ups

Carry-over rules are easier to apply when every leave request follows the same approval path. With Calamari, employers can set up clear leave approval rules, define who reviews each request, and keep decisions visible for HR and managers. 

This helps reduce confusion around unused holiday, especially when a worker asks to carry days into the next leave year or when a manager needs to check whether time off was refused, approved, or still pending.

What employers should do next

Holiday Carry Over Rules UK require active management. You should review your contracts, update your holiday policy, train managers, and check whether your HR and payroll records show enough detail for the April 2026 record-keeping duty.

Start with these actions:

• audit current annual leave balances,
• identify workers with unused entitlement,
• separate statutory and contractual leave,
• review carry-over settings in your HR system,
• check long-term sickness cases,
• review maternity and family leave cases,
• document reminders sent to employees,
• update record retention processes for the 6-year rule,
• make sure payroll can evidence holiday pay calculations,
• train managers before the next leave year closes.

A well-managed carry-over process reduces disputes, protects payroll accuracy, and helps your team take annual leave in a healthier, more predictable way.

Sources

• GOV.UK, Holiday entitlement, including statutory annual leave rules, 5.6-week entitlement, 28-day full-time equivalent, part-time entitlement and bank holiday treatment: https://www.gov.uk/holiday-entitlement-rights
• GOV.UK, Holiday entitlement: Calculate leave entitlement, including the rule that if a worker gets 28 days’ leave, they can carry over a maximum of 8 days: https://www.gov.uk/holiday-entitlement-rights/calculate-leave-entitlement
• ACAS, Carrying over holiday, including long-term sickness carry over, 18-month rule, statutory leave carry over and employer failure to enable leave: https://www.acas.org.uk/checking-holiday-entitlement/carrying-over-holiday
• ACAS, Sickness and holiday, including accrual during statutory leave and rules for irregular hours and part-year workers: https://www.acas.org.uk/checking-holiday-entitlement/sickness-and-holiday
• ACAS, Keeping records, including the 6-year annual leave and holiday pay record-keeping duty from 6 April 2026: https://www.acas.org.uk/checking-holiday-entitlement/keeping-records