Leaving a job: your untaken holiday must be paid

Many people leaving a job forget about the holiday they never took. By law, you are owed money for it.

What the law requires

Under the Working Time Regulations 1998 (regulation 14), if by your leaving date you have taken less leave than you had accrued for the part of the year worked, your employer must make a payment in lieu of leave. The amount is set either by your contract or by the Regulations' formula — based on your yearly entitlement, the proportion of the year worked, and the leave already taken.

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What it means in practice

For each day of statutory holiday accrued but not taken by your leaving date, you should be paid in your final settlement. Leave carried over from last year and still unused is also paid. Check your final payslip: untaken holiday should appear as a separate line.

If the payment is «forgotten» or understated, that is an underpayment of wages — you can claim it, up to an employment tribunal.