Holiday Entitlement Scotland 2026

Employment law is one of the policy areas reserved to the UK Parliament under Schedule 5 of the Scotland Act 1998. The Scottish Parliament cannot legislate on the core terms of holiday entitlement, working time, or paid annual leave. The Working Time Regulations 1998 apply identically in Scotland, England, and Wales.

That means a Scottish worker on a 5-day full-time contract is entitled to 28 days of paid leave per year (5.6 × 5). A Scottish part-time worker on 3 days per week is entitled to 16.8 days (5.6 × 3). The April 2024 reform that introduced the irregular-hours and part-year worker categories with 12.07% accrual applies in Scotland. The 52-week reference period for variable-pay holiday pay applies in Scotland. The carry-over rules in regulation 13A apply in Scotland.

What Scotland has separately is a distinct bank holiday calendar set by the Scottish Government (in some cases) and by the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 as amended (in other cases). And it has a long-standing tradition of local public holidays set by individual councils, which feed into how some contracts handle annual leave entitlement even though they have no statutory force as bank holidays.

Three differences are worth knowing. First, Scotland has 2 January as an additional public holiday at the start of the year. The reason is historical: New Year (Hogmanay) is the dominant Scottish festive holiday, and the day after 1 January was traditionally a recovery day. The Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 codified this.

Second, the Summer Bank Holiday in Scotland falls on the first Monday in August, not the last Monday. So in 2026 the Scottish summer bank holiday is 3 August, while in England and Wales it is 31 August. Workers whose employer operates a mixed UK calendar need to know which they observe.

Third, St Andrew's Day on 30 November is a Scottish bank holiday under the St Andrew's Day Bank Holiday (Scotland) Act 2007, with the substitute taken on the following Monday if 30 November falls at the weekend. In 2026 it is on a Monday so the day itself is the holiday. Observance varies: the Scottish Government, most local authorities, banks, and some major employers close; many private sector employers do not.

Scotland does not observe Easter Monday as a bank holiday, although in practice many Scottish employers give the day as contractual leave. Good Friday is observed in Scotland (as it is in England and Wales). This is the inverse of what many people assume: Scotland has fewer Easter bank holidays than England, not more.

Scottish local authorities have a long tradition of designating additional local public holidays for council services, schools, and historically for local trade. These include Glasgow Fair (third Monday in July in Glasgow), Edinburgh Spring Holiday (mid-April in Edinburgh), Aberdeen Holiday in August, and various Highland and island holidays at different points in the year.

These local holidays are not bank holidays in the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 sense. Banks may or may not close, and the day does not carry the statutory bank-holiday designation. They are local authority holidays, with whatever observance the council and its contractors choose. Many councils publish their list on their official website each November for the year ahead.

For private sector employers, the question is purely contractual. A contract that says "you will receive 28 days of paid leave per year including all bank holidays and local public holidays observed at your principal place of work" ties the calculation to whatever the local council recognises. A contract that says simply "28 days including bank holidays" does not include local public holidays.

Workers should check their employment contract specifically. If it is silent on local public holidays, the default is that the worker has no contractual right to those days off, and the employer can require attendance unless custom and practice over many years has established otherwise.