You’ll need to make sure you’re maximising your annual leave allowance if you have big plans for 2024.
For those who want to get out from underneath their desks as much as possible next year, we advise getting your holiday requests in now.
Excitingly, it’s been revealed that you can actually cheat the system and get more time off than you’re probably bargaining for.
Advert
However, to take advantage of some extra days off work, you’ll need to have 29 holiday days available from the offset.
You’ll also need to have all weekends and bank holidays off.
So, you’ll want to book off 2 - 5 January 2024 to get started. This time passage is sandwiched between the bank holiday of New Year’s Day and the weekend.
By avoiding the first week of January, you should be able to have the perfect post-festive period reset, and maybe even tick off your first travel week of the year.
You’ll then want to avoid taking any time off in February to maximise your Easter holidays.
By taking annual leave from 25 - 28 March, you’ll be able to turn four days off into eight. If you want to push the boat out and make it two weeks away from your desk, then book off 2 - 5 April, too.
Then, you’ll need to make yourself unavailable during two separate slots in May: 7th - 10th and 28th - 31st.
The former will allow you to bolster the first bank holiday of the month, while the latter will allow you to fly further a field during the second.
Unfortunately, you’ll have to put your gallivanting on pause for the rest of the summer because the next advised holiday dates to take are 27 - 30 August.
These four days will help pad out the summer bank holiday and perhaps allow you to bask in the sunshine. Or, if you’re planning on going to a festival, then this timeframe should help ease your recovery.
The final few days you should take off are in December 2024. The first being the 23rd and the second being Christmas Eve on the 24th.
After the Big Day and Boxing Day, you’ll then want to tell work that you’re unavailable for the 27th, 30th and 31st.
That way, you can enjoy the weird, hazy period between Christmas and New Year, and not have to return to work until 2025!
So, booking 29 days off of work in 2024 will give you 56 days off in total - genius, right?
Of course, enjoying all of the above relies on you being able to book off the days outlined in full.
According to PeopleHR, the average annual leave allocation in England is 34 days. But we know that isn’t the case for everyone.
Those employed in the hospitality and retail spaces, or those who work for themselves, don’t always have the luxury of every weekend or bank holiday off.
However, it’s always handy to know when you or your pals are going to be able to hit up the airport together, right?
Ella Scott