NHS Annual Leave 2026/27: Entitlement, Bank Holidays, Part-Time Calculations & Carry-Over

Continuous NHS service includes: • All time employed by any NHS employer in England, Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland • Breaks of up to 12 months between NHS jobs (in most cases) • Time on maternity, paternity, adoption, or shared parental leave • Time on sick leave • Time on career breaks (up to trust policy limits) Previous NHS service is not automatically transferred — you need to provide evidence (P45, contract letters, or payslips) to your new employer's HR department. If you're moving trusts, get this confirmed in writing before your start date.

Part-time staff receive the same total hours of leave — it's just expressed differently. The leave entitlement is converted to hours based on your contracted hours: Formula: Annual leave days × (contracted hours ÷ 37.5) = leave days at your hours Example — 22.5 hours/week (0.6 WTE), under 5 years' service: • Full-time entitlement: 35 days (27 + 8 BH) • Part-time: 35 × (22.5 ÷ 37.5) = 21 days • In hours: 35 × 7.5 hours × 0.6 = 157.5 hours of leave Bank holidays are included in the total — if you don't work on a bank holiday, you still "use" a leave day from your allocation.

The 8 bank holidays in England and Wales are: 1. New Year's Day 2. Good Friday 3. Easter Monday 4. Early May Bank Holiday 5. Spring Bank Holiday 6. Summer Bank Holiday 7. Christmas Day 8. Boxing Day If you work on a bank holiday, you receive time-and-a-half pay PLUS a day off in lieu (or double time with no lieu day, depending on your trust's policy). If you're on a rotating shift pattern, bank holidays are included in your total leave allocation and you may work some of them as part of your normal rota.

Standard AfC terms allow limited carry-over of annual leave: • You should normally take all leave within the leave year (April–March for most trusts) • Most trusts allow 5 days to be carried forward to the next year • Some trusts allow more carry-over by local agreement • Leave not taken and not carried over is lost ("use it or lose it") Exception: Leave that couldn't be taken due to sickness, maternity, or service needs may be carried forward beyond the normal limit. Following the Pimlico Plumbers/TSG v Harper ruling, employers cannot force staff to lose leave they were unable to take due to circumstances beyond their control.

Some NHS trusts offer schemes where you can: • Buy extra leave: Sacrifice salary to "purchase" additional days off. Typically up to 5 extra days. • Sell leave back: Give up some leave days in exchange for extra pay. Typically up to 5 days. Buying leave is done via salary sacrifice — which means it reduces your gross pay, lowering your tax, NI, and pension contributions. Selling leave adds to your gross pay and is taxed normally. Example — Buying 5 days at Band 5 entry: • Daily rate: £32,073 ÷ 261 = £123/day • 5 days cost: £615/year gross (£51/month) • Actual cost after tax relief: ~£393/year (at 20% tax + 8% NI)

Staff on rotating shift patterns (common in nursing, A&E, mental health) manage leave differently: • Leave is typically allocated in hours rather than days • A "day" of leave uses however many hours your shift would have been (7.5, 11.5, or 12.5 hours) • Taking a long day (12.5 hours) as leave costs more of your allocation than a standard day • Night shifts that span midnight may count as one or two leave days depending on trust policy This means a nurse working 3 × 12.5-hour shifts per week may have fewer "shift days" of leave than a 9-5 worker, even though the total hours are equivalent. Plan carefully.

Annual leave has a tangible financial value:

Most trusts use electronic rostering systems (Allocate/Patchwork/Healthroster) for leave management. Tips: • Request leave as early as possible — popular periods fill quickly • School holiday periods have high demand in many departments • Christmas and New Year leave is typically managed on a fair rotation • You cannot normally be forced to take leave on specific dates (except in redundancy situations) • If your leave request is refused, your manager must give a reason and offer alternative dates If you consistently cannot take your leave due to staffing pressures, document this — you may have a legitimate grievance under working time regulations.