Holiday pay you never received : penalty rates and the amount owed

• Statutory leave is 5.6 weeks a year for most workers (28 days if you work a 5-day week), under the Working Time Regulations.
• Bank holidays may sit inside that 5.6 weeks unless your contract adds extra days on top.
• Unpaid or underpaid holiday is usually chased like other pay problems: evidence, informal raise, grievance if needed, then Acas Early Conciliation and possibly an employment tribunal.
• When you leave, employers must normally pay in lieu for untaken statutory holiday you have accrued.
• Diary the tribunal time limit. Grievance does not pause it. From 1 October 2026, most claims get a longer limit only if the clock starts on or after that date.

GOV.UK states that almost all people classed as workers are legally entitled to 5.6 weeks' paid holiday a year (statutory leave entitlement or annual leave). That includes agency workers, many irregular-hours workers, and part-year workers.

Acas matches that figure: workers have the right to statutory annual leave whether they work full time, part time, or under a zero-hours contract. Leave builds up from day one, including during probation, sickness, and many types of family leave.

The Working Time Regulations 1998 are the main statutory source. Your contract can be more generous. It cannot lawfully undercut the statutory floor for qualifying workers.

Full-time, part-time, and the 28-day cap

• Work 5 days a week: at least 28 days' paid leave a year (5 x 5.6).
• Work 3 days a week: at least 16.8 days (3 x 5.6).
• Statutory paid holiday is capped at 28 days. Someone on a 6-day week still gets 28 days' statutory paid holiday, not 33.6.

Use the GOV.UK holiday entitlement calculator if your pattern is awkward: https://www.gov.uk/calculate-your-holiday-entitlement

Bank holidays

Bank or public holidays do not have to be given as extra paid leave. An employer can include them inside the statutory 5.6 weeks. Many people discover this only when they count "28 days plus bank holidays" in their head and the contract quietly folds the banks into the 28. Read the written statement. If the contract adds bank holidays on top of 5.6 weeks, that is enhanced contractual leave, and you should be paid for those days too when the contract says so.

You work 5 days a week on a salary that equates to £120 a day (a simple daily rate for illustration: £600 a week, or about £31,200 a year before tax).

Statutory leave for the year: 28 days.

You take 5 days' approved leave in June. The June payslip shows those days at £0, as if you were unpaid.

• Correct holiday pay for that week: 5 x £120 = £600 gross
• What you received for those days: £0
• Gross shortfall: £600

If your holiday pay should have reflected overtime or regular premiums (the detailed averaging rules sit in GOV.UK and Acas holiday-pay guidance), the shortfall can be larger than basic salary alone. Start with the days and the rate you can evidence, then check whether your "normal remuneration" should include more.

Leaving mid-year

Suppose you leave after 6 months in a leave year, having taken only 5 of the days you had accrued. Acas says employers must pay workers in lieu for any untaken statutory holiday entitlement they have accrued when they leave. In simple terms for a 5-day-week worker with a straight half-year accrual:

• Rough statutory accrual over half a year: about 14 days (28 x 0.5)
• Days already taken: 5
• Days to pay in lieu: about 9
• At £120 a day: about £1,080 gross

Exact accrual depends on your leave year dates and any enhanced contractual rules. GOV.UK guidance on calculating entitlement (including regulation 14 payment in lieu under the Working Time Regulations) is the safer reference than a napkin sum. The point is simple: unused statutory leave at exit is usually paid, not forgotten.

If your hours jump around, or you only work part of the year, entitlement and pay are calculated differently. GOV.UK and Acas both flag special rules for irregular-hours and part-year workers, including accrual based on hours already worked for current leave years. This article does not walk those formulas in full. Use the GOV.UK calculator and Acas's irregular-hours material, then come back to the claim steps below once you know how many hours or days of paid leave were missing.

Treat missing holiday pay like other unpaid wages for practical purposes, while remembering the Working Time Regulations underpin the leave right itself.

1. Evidence pack

Gather:

• contract or written statement (holiday clause, leave year, bank-holiday wording)
• leave requests and approvals
• payslips for the leave period and the months around it
• rota or timesheets showing you were off and not working elsewhere for the employer
• final pay breakdown if you have left
• any holiday balance emails from HR or a portal screenshot

2. Informal raise, then grievance

Email payroll or your manager with the days, the rate, and the shortfall. Ask for correction by a clear date. If that fails, raise a formal grievance. Keep copies.

Acas Early Conciliation guidance reminds you that judges often expect you to have tried to resolve things first, but raising a grievance does not change tribunal time limits.

3. Acas Early Conciliation, then tribunal if needed

If you are considering an employment tribunal claim, notify Acas within the time limit. Early Conciliation can pause the clock if you notify in time. You may settle there. If not, use the certificate to claim.

Acas's September 2026 time-limits page is the one to diary against:

• most claims today: 3 months minus 1 day from the relevant date (for pay issues, commonly the date you were not paid correctly)
• from 1 October 2026: most claims become 6 months minus 1 day if the time limit starts on or after 1 October 2026

For a series of underpaid leave payments, take advice on whether the "last underpayment" and linked-series approach used in wages guidance helps your facts. Do not assume every historic holiday shortfall remains live forever.

• Thinking bank holidays are always extra. They often count towards the 5.6 weeks.
• Rolling over everything forever. Carry-over rules are limited and specific (sickness and family leave have special Acas/GOV.UK pathways). Do not bank years of leave on a hope.
• Accepting "we do not pay holiday on zero hours". Employment status matters. Many zero-hours workers still get statutory paid leave. Check status carefully.
• Ignoring final pay. Payment in lieu of untaken statutory leave is a normal part of leaving, not a goodwill gesture.
• Mixing contractual extras with the statutory floor. Extra contractual days may have different rules. Still claim what the contract promises, but separate it from the 5.6-week minimum when you argue the law.
• Missing the Acas deadline while waiting for a holiday balance "review". Put the review in writing, and still protect the clock.

Holiday disputes go smoother when the days and pounds are listed before the first heated email. Paye Mes Heures can help you estimate missing holiday pay and prepare a simple dossier (leave taken, rates, payslip gaps, exit payment in lieu) before you contact your employer or Acas. It is a preparation tool, not a ruling on your Working Time Regulations rights and not a finished UK tribunal product. Cross-check entitlement on GOV.UK, then use Acas if you need to talk options through.

Paid leave is part of your wage packet. If the days off were real and the pay never arrived, you are allowed to ask for the money back in clear, dated pounds.

• GOV.UK - Holiday entitlement rights: https://www.gov.uk/holiday-entitlement-rights
• Working Time Regulations 1998: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1998/1833/contents
• Acas - Checking holiday entitlement: https://www.acas.org.uk/checking-holiday-entitlement
• GOV.UK - Calculate your holiday entitlement: https://www.gov.uk/calculate-your-holiday-entitlement
• Acas - Holidays and final pay (payment in lieu): https://www.acas.org.uk/final-pay-when-someone-leaves-a-job/how-holidays-affect-final-pay
• Acas - Employment tribunal time limits: https://www.acas.org.uk/employment-tribunal-time-limits
• Acas - Early Conciliation: https://www.acas.org.uk/early-conciliation