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Staff holiday tracker

Holiday booked, approved and counted

Leavepad is a holiday tracker built around how UK teams book time off. Staff request holiday online, managers approve it in one click, and every allowance updates itself, with bank holidays, pro rata allowances and carry-over already taken care of.

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Leavepad staff holiday calendar for a UK team over the next 30 days, with annual leave, sick leave, training and time off in lieu

Sound familiar?

"Do bank holidays come out of my 28 days?"

Nobody's quite sure how bank holidays are counted, so the same question comes up every spring and every Christmas.

Pro rata maths for every part-timer

Each new starter or three-day-a-week contract means working out a holiday entitlement by hand, and hoping it's right.

Holiday booked in the corridor

Someone mentions a week in August to their manager, it never reaches the holiday tracker, and the clash only shows up in July.

Holiday entitlement

Every holiday allowance, always up to date

Give each person their yearly holiday entitlement and Leavepad tracks the rest. Each approved booking comes off the right allowance, counting only the days they'd have worked, and staff can check what they have left any time.

  • Holiday, TOIL and training tracked separately
  • Weekends and bank holidays never counted
  • Staff check their own allowance, any time

Bank holidays

Bank holidays in the calendar, not in the allowance

Import the year's UK-wide bank holidays in one click. They're shown on the team calendar and skipped when holiday is counted. If your contracts include bank holidays in a 28-day entitlement, give people 20 days to book and the bank holidays are already covered.

  • UK-wide bank holidays for any year, in one click
  • Add regional days, like St Andrew's Day
  • Add company closures, like Christmas Eve

Pro rata holiday

Pro rata allowances for part-timers and new starters

Work out a part-timer's or new starter's entitlement with our free pro rata holiday calculator, then adjust their allowance in a couple of clicks. The reason is saved with the change, so anyone can see why their allowance is what it is.

  • Adjust any person's allowance up or down
  • A note on every change explains why
  • Free pro rata calculator to work it out

More from the staff holiday tracker

Team holiday calendar

Everyone's booked and pending holiday on one calendar, so staff can see who's off before they book.

Carry-over at year end

Set how many unused days roll into the new holiday year, and Leavepad carries them over for you.

Your working week

Set the days your company works, so a four-day week or a Saturday shift is counted correctly.

TOIL tracked too

Add time off in lieu as its own leave type and top it up when someone works extra hours.

Book holiday for staff

Managers can book holiday or log a sick day for their team, so staff without a laptop still have a record.

Managers approve their team

Holiday requests go to the right line manager, and admins can approve anyone when they're away.

What Leavepad replaces

One staff holiday tracker for the whole team, instead of the holiday spreadsheet, the booking form and the email chain.

  • Holiday requestsA paper form or an email
  • Holiday approvalsA reply from your manager, eventually
  • Holiday allowancesThe staff holiday spreadsheet
  • Bank holidaysLooking up this year's dates
  • Pro rata entitlementsA calculator and a sticky note
  • Carry-overA December recount

Guide

How to track staff holiday in the UK

UK holiday rules are simple once they're written down, but easy to get wrong in a spreadsheet. These are the rules to build your holiday tracker around.

  1. 1

    Start from the 5.6 week minimum

    Almost all workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year, which is 28 days for someone working five days a week. You can include bank holidays in those 28 days, so many employers give 20 days plus the 8 bank holidays.

  2. 2

    Pro rata it for part-timers

    Part-time staff get the same 5.6 weeks, based on the days they work: 5.6 × 3 = 16.8 days for someone on three days a week. For irregular-hours and part-year workers, holiday can accrue at 12.07% of hours worked in leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024.

  3. 3

    Agree how holiday is booked

    Unless your contracts say otherwise, staff must give notice of at least twice the length of the holiday, and you can refuse with notice of at least the same length as the holiday. Most teams set their own simpler rule, so write it in the staff handbook.

  4. 4

    Use one holiday year for everyone

    Run the same holiday year for the whole team rather than one per start date. It makes pro rata allowances for starters and leavers much easier to work out. Leavepad's holiday year runs from January to December.

  5. 5

    Set your carry-over rule

    Statutory holiday should normally be taken in the year it's earned, but you can agree to carry over up to 1.6 weeks. If someone couldn't take holiday because they were off sick or on family leave, they must be allowed to carry it over.

Free UK holiday calculators

Staff holiday tracker: FAQ

What is a staff holiday tracker?

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A staff holiday tracker records each employee's holiday entitlement, the holiday they've booked and taken, and what's left for the year. Online holiday trackers like Leavepad also handle the booking and approval, so the tracker is always up to date.

How much holiday are UK employees entitled to?

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Almost all UK workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year. For someone working five days a week that's 28 days, which can include the 8 bank holidays. Part-time workers get the same 5.6 weeks, pro rata to the days they work.

Do bank holidays count towards holiday entitlement?

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They can. There's no legal right to paid bank holidays off on top of the 5.6 weeks, so employers can count them as part of the entitlement. In Leavepad, bank holidays are never deducted from an allowance, so set the allowance to what staff can book themselves, such as 20 days plus bank holidays.

Can an employer refuse a holiday request?

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Yes, as long as staff can still take their full entitlement during the year. Under the default rules you must give notice of at least the same length as the holiday you're refusing, so refusing a week off needs a week's notice. Contracts often set different rules.

Can staff carry over unused holiday?

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You can agree to let staff carry over up to 1.6 weeks of statutory holiday, plus any extra contractual holiday. Staff who couldn't take holiday because of sickness or family leave must be allowed to carry it over. Leavepad applies your carry-over limit automatically at year end.

Does the holiday tracker handle part-time staff?

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Yes. Set your working week, adjust each part-timer's allowance to their pro rata entitlement, and Leavepad counts only working days on every booking. Our free pro rata holiday calculator works out the number for you.

Can staff book holiday from their phone?

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Yes. Leavepad works in any modern browser, so staff can book holiday and check their allowance from a phone, tablet or computer.

More ways to use Leavepad

Built for every kind of team

Retire the holiday spreadsheet

Set up Leavepad for your team in a few minutes. Invite your people and they can book time off today.

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