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When a part-time job is advertised as "£35,000 pro rata", the £35,000 is what you would earn working full time. You get a share of it that matches the hours you work. Here is how the sum works, and why your take-home pay usually ends up better than the same share.
Pro rata pay = full-time salary × your hours ÷ full-time hours. A £35,000 job at 37.5 hours a week, worked for 22.5 hours, is 60% of full time and pays £21,000.
What different hours pay
Using a £35,000 full-time salary on a 37.5-hour week, with a 5% pension and no student loan:
| Hours a week | Share of full time | Pro rata salary | Take-home a month |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | 40% | £14,000 | £1,086.63 |
| 22.5 | 60% | £21,000 | £1,483.30 |
| 30 | 80% | £28,000 | £1,879.97 |
| 37.5 | 100% | £35,000 | £2,276.63 |
The hourly rate stays the same at every level, £17.95 an hour, which is well above the National Living Wage of £12.71 for workers aged 21 and over from 1 April 2026.
Why take-home is more than the same share
At 60% of full time, you take home 65% of the full-time take-home. At 40%, you take home almost 48%. That is because the £12,570 Personal Allowance is the same whatever hours you work, so a smaller part of a part-time salary is taxed. National Insurance works the same way, starting at £12,570.
Holiday is pro rata too
Almost all workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year. For a part-time worker that means 5.6 weeks of their own working pattern.
- Working 3 days a week, you get at least 3 × 5.6 = 16.8 days.
- Working 22.5 hours a week, you get 22.5 × 5.6 = 126 hours.
- Statutory holiday is capped at 28 days, so someone working 6 days a week still gets 28.
Bank holidays do not have to be given as paid leave, but an employer can count them as part of the statutory entitlement.
Your rights as a part-time worker
The law protects part-time workers from being treated less favourably than comparable full-time staff. Pay and leave are given pro rata, and so are many benefits. For example, a £1,000 bonus for full-time staff would be £500 for someone on half the hours. If you think you are being treated less favourably, you can ask your employer for a written statement of the reasons, and they must reply within 21 days.
Pension auto-enrolment applies once you earn over £10,000 a year with one employer, so at low hours you may fall below it. You can still ask to join the scheme.
Work out your own pay
The pro rata salary calculator scales a full-time salary to your hours and shows the take-home pay. For pay quoted by the hour, use the hourly rate calculator.
Sources: GOV.UK, Holiday entitlement, Part-time workers' rights, National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates and Income Tax rates; Acas, Part-time workers. Take-home pay uses 2026/27 rates for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Checked 1 November 2026.
This is general information, not financial or tax advice.
It explains published rules and figures. Your own position depends on your full circumstances,
so speak to a qualified adviser before acting on it.