How do I calculate annual leave entitlement for an employee working 9am - 5.30pm Monday to Friday with a 30-minute lunch break and 9am to 1pm on Saturday with no break? I realise the Working Time Regulations recognise a maximum 5 day week, but in this instance, the working days are not all the same length, therefore the leave must be calculated in hours, so do I include Saturday hours?

In the first instance, you should check the employee’s contract of employment. The contract of employment should stipulate either the amount of leave an employee is to receive or whether or not leave is to be calculated by hours or days worked per week.

If an employee works, for example, 41.5 hours per week and their contract stipulates leave should be calculated by hours worked per week, they will be entitled to 232 hours and 24 minutes holiday for the leave year.

Alternatively, if an employee’s contract states leave is to be calculated by days worked per week, in this case 5.5, the employee will only be entitled to the statutory entitlement of 28 days annual leave despite working more