Annual leave should be a rule, not a recurring argument.
Write down the leave year, allowance, working pattern and request rule before the busy week arrives. Then managers can decide with the same context and employees can see how the answer was reached.
- 5.6 weeks for almost all workers
- Working pattern before balance
- One visible decision trail
How should a small team manage annual leave?
Start with the worker's actual arrangement and the current statutory method. Almost all workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday, but regular full-year, part-time, irregular-hours and part-year work do not all use the same calculation. Record the leave year, contractual allowance, working pattern, bank-holiday treatment and any employment-boundary rule.
A request is a separate decision from entitlement. Publish how requests are made, the notice expected, who approves them and how team coverage is considered. Keep the balance inputs and the approval reason together so a later question does not become spreadsheet archaeology.
This is practical general information, not legal advice. Use the current linked official guidance for the facts in front of you.
Get the inputs straight before showing a balance.
A useful balance sits on several decisions: the statutory floor, any extra contractual leave, the leave-year dates, bank-holiday treatment, working pattern, employment dates and recorded adjustments. If any layer is missing, a precise-looking number may still be wrong.
Part-time workers with regular hours generally receive 5.6 weeks expressed through their pattern. Irregular-hours and part-year workers have specific accrual rules. Use the official calculator and guidance for the actual arrangement rather than applying a convenient full-time fraction to everybody.
- 01
Name the leave year and whether bank holidays sit inside the allowance.
- 02
Record regular working days or hours before calculating booked duration.
- 03
Separate statutory entitlement from extra contractual leave.
- 04
Record starter, leaver, carry-over and manual adjustments with reasons.
- 05
Keep holiday pay and final-pay calculations with payroll, not a leave calendar.
Coverage is context, not a secret rule.
Employees should know how to request leave, what notice helps, and when the business may need to discuss different dates. Managers should see approved and pending overlap, but only the absence information needed for that decision.
Fairness comes from applying a visible rule consistently and explaining exceptions. It does not require every request to receive the same result. Record who decided, when, the dates considered and the operational reason rather than relying on an unexplained decline.
- Show approved and pending overlap before the decision.
- Avoid publishing medical or unnecessary personal detail in team calendars.
- Respond promptly enough for the employee to make plans.
- If dates cannot work, discuss alternatives rather than leaving a silent rejection.
- Dates
- Wed 12 – Fri 14 Aug
- Pattern used
- Mon · Wed · Fri
- Balance effect
- −2 days
- Decision owner
- Line manager · 19 Jul
Make the balance and decision inspectable.
A useful leave record shows the allowance, working-pattern inputs, booked duration, pending reservation, adjustments and the resulting balance. If an employment-boundary rule is optional, record whether it was enabled and which dates were used.
Review the rule when working patterns change, someone starts or leaves, or official holiday guidance changes. Do not silently recalculate history using today's pattern; preserve enough evidence to explain what the system did at the time.
HollyHR tracks a policy. It is not a statutory holiday-pay engine.
HollyHR supports whole- and half-day requests, working-pattern-aware duration, public-holiday context, pending balance reservation and an optional inclusive calendar-day starter/leaver proration using current employment dates and FTE. It does not calculate irregular-hours statutory accrual, historical or blended FTE, mandatory carry-over, holiday pay, final pay, rota coverage or multi-step approvals.
HollyHR can help with
- Pattern-aware requests and balances
- Pending reservation and manager decision
- Optional current-date starter/leaver proration
Keep outside the claim
- Irregular-hours statutory engine
- Holiday pay or final pay
- Historical blended-FTE recalculation
Check the rule where it is maintained.
We reviewed these sources on 19 July 2026. Follow the official page for the current rule, conditions and exceptions rather than relying on an old quotation.
- GOV.UK — holiday entitlementThe statutory floor and routes for regular, irregular-hours and part-year work.
- GOV.UK — booking time offNotice, refusals and employer-directed leave.
- GOV.UK — holiday payKeep pay questions separate from the leave-calendar workflow.
- Acas — asking for and taking holidayPractical guidance for discussing dates and resolving problems.
Questions behind the checklist.
Short answers for scanning; the practical detail and source links stay above.
How much annual leave do UK workers get?
Almost all workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year. The expression in days or hours and the accrual method depend on the person's working arrangement, so use the current GOV.UK method for the actual pattern.
Can an employer refuse a holiday request?
An employer can refuse or cancel particular dates with the required notice, but must still make it possible for the worker to take their entitlement. Check the current GOV.UK and Acas guidance and handle disputed or exceptional cases carefully.
Does HollyHR calculate holiday pay?
No. HollyHR records leave entitlement, requests, balances and supporting evidence. Holiday-pay and final-pay calculations remain a payroll and legal-rules task.
Keep the rule, owner and people record in one calm place.
HollyHR is in early access for small UK teams. See the relevant product workflow, or tell us what you are trying to improve.