Still at a loss as to when you should book your annual leave this year? You might want to take note of some handy advice from the Citizens Advice, who have a nifty trick for “maximising” your time off.
Whilst the majority of full time working Brits tend to be entitled to around five weeks (25 days) of annual leave, Citizens Advice boasts that you can use as little as 23 of those to create a staggering 52 days off – if booked correctly.
Taking to TikTok the charity began with a recommendation for April – when the UK enjoys two bank holidays – Good Friday (18th) and Easter Sunday (21st). Now here’s where you need to be clever as Citizens Advice explains: “Book eight days off – 14th to 17th and 22nd to 25th April.”
With the two bank holidays and two weekends surrounding these periods, you’ll enjoy 16 consecutive days off. Next up is May, which also contains two bank holidays – Early May bank holiday (5th) and Spring bank holiday (26th).
Citizens Advice goes on to point out that there is a way to get two lots of nine consecutive days off this month. “Request 6th to 9th (four days) and you’ll have time off from 3rd to 11th,” they point out. And similarly: “Request 27th to 30th (four days) and you will be off from 24th to June 1st.”
Moving on to August, the UK celebrates Summer bank holiday on the 25th. As with the dates in May, however, you can make the most of this date to hand yourself another nine days off in the sun.
Citizens Advice shares: “Request 26th to 29th (four days) to generate time off from 23rd to 31st.” That brings us on to December – a time many of us would prefer as many days off as possible.
Of course, the two bank holidays this month are Christmas Day (25th) and Boxing Day (26th). Again, Citizens Advice says there’s a way of getting nine consecutive days over the festive season, taking advantage of weekends too. “Request 22nd to 24th (three days) and you’ll benefit from being off from 20th to 28th.”
Citizens Advice also advises: “If you work regular hours all year round, your employer has to give you 5.6 weeks’ holiday each year. This is known as your ‘statutory entitlement’. Your employer might give you more than this but it’s up to them – check your contract. If your contract gives you more than 5.6 weeks’ holiday, the first 5.6 weeks are your statutory entitlement, anything more is called ‘contractual’ holiday.
“Bank holidays aren’t extra to your statutory entitlement – your employer can ask you to take bank holidays off using your paid holiday. Check your contract or employer’s leave policy to see if you get your bank holidays extra to your holiday entitlement.”
