Aussies flock to the beach to soak up the holiday break. ·AAPIMAGE
The end-of-year holidays are looming and many Aussie workers who slogged it out this year to keep up with the rising cost of living will be pondering a break from work. If you’re looking to maximise your time off, some clever planning could help you more than double your time off into 2025.
Aussies have a huge amount of annual leave banked up waiting to be used. A survey of more than 1,000 Aussie workers found that employees had a whopping 160 million days of annual leave collected between them.
More than one in five workers (22 per cent) have racked up more than four weeks, with older workers having higher annual leave balances than younger ones.
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So if you need a well-deserved break, Yahoo Finance has put together a guide to help you stretch your time off with as few leave days as possible.
Australia has seven national public holidays in Australia that fall on work days, including Christmas Day, New Year’s Day and Easter.
Each state and territory also has their own separate public holidays, like the King’s Birthday and Labour Day, which you can utilise to get in even more rest and relaxation.
If you follow this guide, you can turn 20 days of annual leave into nearly 50 days off in 2025. Time off work includes weekends before and after your leave dates.
Book the days in bold off to enjoy a longer stretch.
Christmas falls in the middle of the week this year, so there could be an opportunity to score more than a week off if you book a few days off before and after the holiday.
You can get 16 days off (Saturday, December 21 to Sunday, January 5) by using seven annual leave days.
Saturday, December 21: Weekend
Sunday, December 22: Weekend
Monday, December 23: Annual leave
Tuesday: December 24: Annual leave
Wednesday, December 25: Christmas Day
Thursday, December 26, Boxing Day
Friday: December 27: Annual leave
Saturday, December 28: Weekend
Sunday, December 29: Weekend
Monday, December 30: Annual leave
Tuesday, December 31: Annual leave
Wednesday, January 1: New Year’s Day
Thursday, January 2: Annual leave
Friday, January 3: Annual leave
Saturday, January 4: Weekend
Sunday, January 5: Weekend
The Australia Day public holiday is on a Monday in 2025, so you could plan time off around this date.
You can get nine days off (Saturday, January 25 to Sunday, February 2) by taking four days leave.
Saturday, January 25: Weekend
Sunday: January 26: Weekend
Monday, January 27: Australia Day public holiday
Tuesday, January 28: Annual leave
Wednesday, January 29: Annual leave
Thursday, January 30: Annual leave
Friday, January 31: Annual leave
Saturday, February 1: Weekend
Sunday, February 2: Weekend
Easter will fall in April next year, so you can extend your holiday break by wrapping it in with the Anzac day public holiday.
You can get 10 days off (Friday, April 18 to Sunday, April 27) by taking three days off.
Friday, April 18: Good Friday
Saturday, April 19: Easter Saturday
Sunday, April 20: Easter Sunday
Monday, April 21: Easter Monday
Tuesday, April 22: Annual leave
Wednesday, April 23: Annual leave
Thursday, April 24: Annual leave
Friday, April 25: Anzac Day
Saturday, April 26: Weekend
Sunday, April 27: Weekend
The King’s Birthday will fall on Monday, June 9 for most Aussie states and territories, except for Queensland and Western Australia.
For these residents, you could instead plan a few days off around Monday, October 6 for Queensland and Monday, September 29 for Western Australia.
For everyone else, you can get 9 days off (Saturday, June 7 to Sunday, June 15) by booking in four days of leave.
Saturday, June 7: Weekend
Sunday: June 8: Weekend
Monday, June 9: King’s Birthday
Tuesday, June 10: Annual leave
Wednesday, June 11: Annual leave
Thursday, June 12: Annual leave
Friday, June 13: Annual leave
Saturday, June 14: Weekend
Sunday, June 15: Weekend
Labour Day varies depending on your state but will fall on a Monday next year. In NSW, ACT and SA, for example it’ll fall on October 6.
By taking off the Friday beforehand, you can get four days off using up one day of leave.
Friday, October 3: Annual leave
Saturday, October 4: Weekend
Sunday: October 5: Weekend
Monday, October 6: Labour Day (NSW, ACT, SA)
Back to Christmas and New Year’s again. Christmas Day will fall on a Thursday next year and you could use a similar technique to maximise your time off.
You can get 16 days off (Saturday, December 20 to Sunday, January 4) by using seven annual leave days.
Saturday, December 20: Weekend
Sunday, December 21: Weekend
Monday, December 22: Annual leave
Tuesday: December 23: Annual leave
Wednesday, December 24: Annual leave
Thursday, December 25: Christmas Day
Friday, December 26, Boxing Day
Saturday, December 27: Weekend
Sunday, December 28: Weekend
Monday, December 29: Annual leave
Tuesday December 30: Annual leave
Wednesday, December 31: Annual leave
Thursday, January 1: New Year’s Day
Friday, January 2: Annual leave
Saturday, January 3: Weekend
Sunday, January 4: Weekend
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