Pro Rata Bank Holiday Calculator

Pro Rata Bank Holiday Calculator

Understanding Pro Rata Bank Holiday Entitlement

Managing annual leave for part-time employees can be complex, particularly when it comes to Bank Holidays. Under the Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations, part-time staff are legally entitled to the same holidays as full-time staff, calculated on a pro rata basis. This calculator helps employers and employees determine the exact number of Bank Holiday hours or days a part-time worker is owed.

Why Calculate Pro Rata Entitlement?

If a full-time employee works 5 days a week and gets a paid day off for every Bank Holiday (usually 8 in the UK), a part-time employee is entitled to a proportion of those days, regardless of whether they work on the days the Bank Holidays fall. Failing to calculate this correctly can lead to unfair treatment where a part-time worker receives fewer paid leave benefits than their full-time counterparts relative to the hours worked.

Key Concept: Even if a part-time employee does not work on Mondays (when most Bank Holidays fall), they are still entitled to a pro rata share of the Bank Holiday allowance added to their total annual leave pot.

How the Calculation Works

The most accurate method to calculate entitlement is by using hours rather than days. This accounts for employees who work irregular shift patterns or different hours on different days. The formula used is:

• Step 1: Determine the Pro Rata Ratio.
  (Employee Weekly Hours ÷ Full-Time Weekly Hours)
• Step 2: Calculate Full-Time Bank Holiday Entitlement in Hours.
  (Total Bank Holidays × Standard Work Day Hours)
• Step 3: Apply the Ratio.
  (Full-Time Entitlement × Pro Rata Ratio) = Employee Entitlement

Practical Example

Consider an employee named Sarah. The company's full-time contract is 40 hours per week (8 hours per day), and there are 8 Bank Holidays in the year.

Sarah works part-time, 20 hours per week.

• Full-Time Entitlement: 8 days × 8 hours = 64 hours of Bank Holiday leave.
• Sarah's Ratio: 20 hours ÷ 40 hours = 0.5 (50%).
• Sarah's Entitlement: 64 hours × 0.5 = 32 hours.

Sarah is entitled to 32 hours of Bank Holiday leave to be taken throughout the year, or added to her statutory annual leave entitlement.

Adjusting for Statutory Leave

In many jurisdictions, including the UK, the statutory minimum leave is 5.6 weeks (28 days for a full-time worker). This figure typically includes Bank Holidays. If your contract states "20 days holiday plus Bank Holidays," you must use this calculator to ensure the "plus Bank Holidays" portion is applied fairly to part-time staff.

Tips for Employers

To ensure compliance and clarity:

• Always state holiday entitlement clearly in the employment contract.
• Calculate entitlement in hours for shift workers to avoid rounding errors.
• Review entitlement if an employee changes their working hours mid-year.

Hours per year

Days per year