Annual Leave on Maternity Leave
You keep building up your statutory holiday through all 52 weeks of maternity leave: 5.6 weeks a year, which is 28 days if you work 5 days a week. You cannot take holiday and maternity leave at the same time, so you take it before or after, and any you could not use is carried over.
5.6 weeks
Statutory holiday a year
28 days
For a 5-day week, can include bank holidays
52 weeks
Of maternity leave, all of it accruing
Carried over
Holiday you could not take because of leave
By Idiris Chadburn, UK payroll professional
Do you accrue holiday on maternity leave?
Yes. You build up your full statutory holiday of 5.6 weeks a year (28 days on a 5-day week) for every week of maternity leave, including bank holidays if your employer counts them in your entitlement.
GOV.UK lists building up holiday among the employment rights protected during Statutory Maternity Leave, alongside pay rises and the right to return to work. Its holiday guidance puts it plainly: the leave year and holiday entitlement are not affected by maternity, paternity or adoption leave. Acas says the same, and adds that this includes bank holidays.
That holds for the whole 52 weeks, not only the 39 weeks when you get Statutory Maternity Pay. Part-time workers on regular hours build up 5.6 times their working week, so 3 days a week gives at least 16.8 days a year. Statutory holiday is capped at 28 days, even if you work 6 days a week.
Can you take annual leave during maternity leave?
No. You cannot take holiday and maternity leave at the same time. Taking holiday before you have used all 52 weeks automatically ends your statutory maternity leave.
Acas gives the example of Gill, who takes 39 weeks of maternity leave followed by 2 weeks of paid holiday. The holiday ends Gill's maternity leave, and Gill cannot take the remaining 13 weeks afterwards.
Acas suggests agreeing a plan with your employer before you go: how much holiday you will build up before and during your leave, whether you take it before or after, and how much you will carry over. The options Acas lists are:
Split it
Take some annual leave before maternity leave and some after you return to work.Use it all first
Take all of your holiday for the year before maternity leave starts.End maternity leave early
Finish maternity leave earlier and take annual leave instead.Take it after, carry some over
Take most of your holiday after maternity leave and carry some into the next holiday year.
Changing your return to work date needs at least 8 weeks' noticeto your employer, so settle the plan early. In Gill's example the holiday starts after week 39, when all 39 weeks of SMP have already been paid. If you are thinking of ending leave before then, ask your employer how it affects your SMP.
Holiday works differently from a keeping in touch (KIT) day. You can work up to 10 KIT days without ending your maternity leave or losing SMP, whereas taking holiday ends the leave. How KIT days are paid is covered in keeping in touch days pay.
Do you get bank holidays on maternity leave?
If bank holidays are part of your holiday entitlement, they keep building up while you are on maternity leave. Your employer can include them in the 28 statutory days.
There is no separate legal right to bank holidays off as paid leave. GOV.UK says an employer can choose to include bank holidays in your statutory annual leave, and Acas says that where they are included, paid days off for bank holidays still build up during maternity leave. So a bank holiday that falls while you are on leave is not lost: it is part of the holiday you take before or after.
If your contract gives bank holidays on top of 28 days, how they are treated during leave is a contract question. Check your handbook or ask HR.
Can you carry over holiday after maternity leave?
Yes. All the statutory holiday you could not take because you were on maternity leave must be carried over into the next leave year, not just the 8 days usually allowed on 28 days.
Normally a worker with 28days' leave can carry over a maximum of 8 days. GOV.UK makes an exception for family-related leave: if you cannot take some or all of your leave because of it, you can carry the untaken leave into next year. Acas says your employer must allow it, and that you should arrange it as early as possible.
The law behind this changed on 1 January 2024. The Working Time Regulations 1998 split statutory holiday into two parts:
| Part | Amount | Carry-over after maternity leave |
|---|---|---|
| Regulation 13 | 4 weeks | Untaken leave carries forward into the following leave year (regulation 13(14)) |
| Regulation 13A | 1.6 weeks | Untaken leave carries forward into the following leave year (regulation 13A(7A)) |
Both rules apply where taking “statutory leave” (which includes maternity leave) left you unable to take your holiday in that leave year, and both carry the untaken leave into the following leave year. They do not use the 18-month window that applies to holiday lost to sickness. If your leave spans two holiday years, plan the dates with your employer.
Worked example: how much holiday builds up
On 28 days a year, you build up 2.33 days a month, so a full leave year spent on maternity leave still gives you all 28 days.
Sam works 5 days a week with the statutory 28 days and a leave year running January to December. Sam starts 52 weeks of maternity leave on Monday 1 March 2027, ending Sunday 27 February 2028, and takes 3days of holiday before leave starts. The method is the GOV.UK accrual rule: one-twelfth of the year's leave for each month, rounded here to whole months.
| Period | Status | Months | Holiday built up |
|---|---|---|---|
| January to February 2027 | Working | 2 | 4.67 days |
| March to December 2027 | Maternity leave | 10 | 23.33 days |
| January to February 2028 | Maternity leave | 2 | 4.67 days |
| March to December 2028 | Back at work | 10 | 23.33 days |
| Leave year 2027 total | 12 | 28.00 days | |
| Leave year 2028 total | 12 | 28.00 days |
In 2027 Sam is entitled to 28.00 days but is on leave from March, so takes only 3. The other 25.00 days carry over into 2028. Back at work from 28 February 2028, Sam has 53.00 days to take in 2028: 28.00 days for the year plus 25.00 days carried over. Acas lists ending maternity leave early and carrying some into the next holiday year among the ways to use a balance like this.
Is holiday pay paid at the SMP rate?
No. Holiday is paid at a week's pay for each week you take, worked out from your normal pay, not from Statutory Maternity Pay. The government's view is that weeks on SMP are left out of the holiday pay calculation.
SMP is £194.32a week, or 90% of your average weekly earnings if lower, after the first 6 weeks. Holiday pay is a separate entitlement: workers get a week's pay for each week of statutory leave they take. How a week's pay is worked out depends on your hours:
| Working pattern | A week's holiday pay |
|---|---|
| Regular hours, fixed pay | Your pay for a week |
| Shift work with regular hours | Average weekly fixed hours over the previous 52 weeks, at your average hourly rate |
| Irregular hours or part-year | Average pay over the previous 52 weeks, counting only weeks in which you were paid |
For the 52-week averages, a week with no pay is skipped and the employer counts back further, up to a maximum of 104 weeks. Government guidance on holiday pay for workers without fixed hours says that, in its view, statutory payments such as SMP should not be included, and a week where you received statutory payments instead of your regular pay should be excluded, with the employer counting back a further week. That guidance is the government's view rather than the wording of the law, so if your holiday pay after maternity leave looks low, ask your employer to show the weeks they used.
For regular-hours workers, at least 4 weeks must be paid at your “normal” rate, which includes regular overtime and commission, and the remaining 1.6 weeks can be paid at a “basic” rate. From 6 April 2026 employers must keep records of annual leave and holiday pay for at least 6 years.
Irregular hours and part-year workers on maternity leave
If you work irregular hours, you build up holiday during maternity leave at 12.07% of your average weekly hours from the 52 weeks before your leave started, for each week of leave.
For leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024, irregular-hours and part-year workers normally build up holiday at 12.07% of the hours worked in each pay period. You do not work during maternity leave, so regulation 15C of the Working Time Regulations sets a different method for statutory leave:
Find the 52-week relevant period
Take the 52 weeks before the day your maternity leave started, or your whole employment if shorter. Leave out weeks with any sick leave or statutory leave, but keep weeks you did not work for other reasons. Count back further if needed, but not beyond 104 weeks.Average the weekly hours
Work out the average number of hours a week you worked in that period.Take 12.07%
12.07% of that average is the holiday you build up for each week of maternity leave.
Someone who averaged 16 hours a week before their leave builds up 1.93 hours of holiday for each week of maternity leave. Accrued leave is rounded to the nearest hour, with 30 minutes or more rounding up, and you cannot build up more than 28 days in a leave year. Holiday you could not take because of maternity leave carries forward to the next leave year under regulation 15D. The zero hours contract maternity pay guide covers the pay side.
What about contractual holiday above 28 days?
Extra holiday above the statutory 28 days depends on your contract. Acas says to agree with your employer whether you take and carry over the extra days, or are paid in lieu of them.
During maternity leave you keep the benefit of all your terms and conditions of employment apart from pay, under regulation 9 of the Maternity and Parental Leave etc. Regulations 1999. GOV.UK notes that employers do not have to apply all the statutory rules to extra leave, and may allow you to carry over additional untaken days, so check your contract, handbook or intranet. Extra pay works the same way: see enhanced maternity pay.
Acas warns that refusing to let you take your holiday because of pregnancy or maternity could be discrimination. Employers can refuse particular dates, with notice, but cannot refuse to let you take your leave at all.
What happens to your holiday if you leave after maternity leave?
Your employer must pay you for statutory holiday you have built up but not taken when your job ends. Leaving is the only time statutory holiday can be paid instead of taken.
That includes holiday built up during maternity leave and any carried over from the year before. You may be able to take it during your notice period instead. Employers must pay for untaken statutory leave even if a worker is dismissed for gross misconduct, and any extra contractual days are paid in lieu if your contract says so.
GOV.UK says you are still entitled to SMP if you do not go back. See paying back maternity pay for when contractual pay can be clawed back. If your job is at risk instead, read redundancy on maternity leave.
These rules come from the Working Time Regulations 1998, which cover England, Scotland and Wales. In Northern Ireland, nidirect confirms you continue to build up holiday throughout ordinary and additional maternity leave, and that the 5.6-week minimum can include bank and public holidays.
Annual leave and maternity leave questions
Do you accrue holiday on maternity leave?
Yes. You build up your full statutory holiday, 5.6 weeks a year or 28 days on a 5-day week, for all 52 weeks of maternity leave, paid or unpaid.
Can I take holiday while on maternity leave?
No. You cannot take both at once. Taking holiday before the end of your 52 weeks ends your maternity leave, so take it before your leave starts or after it finishes.
Do I lose bank holidays while on maternity leave?
No, if they are part of your holiday entitlement. They keep building up during maternity leave and you take them before or after.
Is holiday pay after maternity leave paid at the SMP rate?
No. Holiday pay is a week's pay based on your normal pay. Government guidance says weeks on SMP should be left out of the 52-week average used for variable pay.
How many days of holiday can I carry over after maternity leave?
All the statutory holiday you could not take because of maternity leave. The usual 8-day carry-over limit does not apply. Extra contractual days depend on your contract.
To see what you will be paid while you are off, use the Maternity Pay Calculator. Employers planning cover and holiday for a team member can start with maternity pay for employers.
Sources
Every rule on this page comes from Acas, GOV.UK, legislation.gov.uk and nidirect. Checked 15 October 2026.
- Holiday and maternity leave (Acas): accrual including bank holidays, no holiday during maternity leave, the options, Gill's example and enhanced holiday.
- Carrying over holiday (Acas): holiday must be carried over after statutory leave.
- Bank holidays and Christmas (Acas): bank holidays build up during maternity leave if included.
- Irregular hours and part-year workers: other leave and sickness (Acas): the 3-step accrual method during statutory leave.
- Holiday entitlement (GOV.UK): 5.6 weeks, 28 days, part-time, bank holidays and the 28-day cap.
- Holiday entitlement: calculate leave entitlement (GOV.UK): leave year unaffected by maternity leave, monthly accrual, 12.07% and carrying over.
- Holiday entitlement: holiday pay (GOV.UK): a week's pay, the 52 and 104-week rules, normal and basic rates and record keeping.
- Holiday entitlement: taking holiday before leaving a job (GOV.UK): payment in lieu only on leaving.
- Holiday entitlement: booking time off (GOV.UK): employers can refuse dates but not all leave.
- Statutory Maternity Pay: employee circumstances that affect payment (HMRC): KIT days and SMP if you do not return.
- Calculating holiday pay for workers without fixed hours or pay (GOV.UK, BEIS): weeks on statutory payments excluded from the reference period.
- Maternity pay and leave: leave (GOV.UK): 52 weeks and 8 weeks' notice to change your return date.
- Working Time Regulations 1998, regulation 13 and regulation 13A (legislation.gov.uk): carry-forward after statutory leave from 1 January 2024.
- Working Time Regulations 1998, regulation 15C (legislation.gov.uk): accrual for irregular-hours workers on statutory leave.
- Maternity and Parental Leave etc. Regulations 1999, regulation 9 (legislation.gov.uk): terms and conditions other than pay continue during leave.
- Holiday entitlements (nidirect): Northern Ireland accrual during maternity leave.