How to turn 28 days of annual leave into 63 days off in 2022! 🏝

Want to double your annual leave for 2022? Strategically book your annual leave to maximise your time off. You could end up with more than double your allowance.

The UK is slowly but surely going back to normal life, and people can start making up for those missed holidays, but with countries still being the traffic-light travel system, holidays still may be disrupted for this year. However, that may be different for 2022...

Make the most of your annual leave in 2022

In 2022, there will be an extra bank holiday thanks to Her Majesty the Queen. The Government announced on 12th November 2020 that there will be an extra bank holiday in June 2022 to celebrate Her Majesty the Queen’s 70th year on the throne - The Platinum Jubilee Bank Holiday. The Spring Bank Holiday will fall on a Thursday, and HRH platinum jubilee will be celebrated on a Friday, allowing everyone to have a 4-day bank holiday weekend. While it is only one extra bank holiday, you can turn the 4-day bank holiday into a 7-day holiday if you strategically book your time off. On top of that, you can maximise your annual leave around ALL of the public holidays if you strategically book your time off and end up doubling your annual leave.

When are the bank holidays in 2022?

There will be nine public holidays, including four bank holidays, in 2022, which will be on:

• Monday, 3rd January 2022 - New Year’s Day
• Friday, 15th April 2022 - Good Friday
• Monday, 18th April 2022 - Easter Monday
• Monday, 2nd May 2022 - Early May Bank Holiday
• Thursday, 2nd June 2022 - Spring Bank Holiday
• Friday, 3rd June 2022 - Platinum Jubilee Bank Holiday
• Monday, 29th August 2022 - Summer Bank Holiday
• Monday, 26th December 2022 - Boxing Day
• Tuesday, 27th December 2022 - Christmas Day

Start your annual leave in 2022 right by planning ahead

So how can you strategically book your annual leave for 2022?

We got you covered and already planned out on how to book your annual leave to maximise your time off.

In this plan, we worked out the days to take off for someone who works full-time and is entitled to the UK’s statutory holiday of 28 days. But this guide does not strictly apply to full-time employees or only having statutory holidays of 28 days. Anyone can use this to plan out when to book time off but keep in mind it may be less and will depend on whether your manager will approve your requested time off.

You will see in this plan that we have given you the option of using less or the full amount of statutory holiday. In the initial plan, the number of annual leave adds up to 22, and the total number of annual leave plus the public holiday and weekend adds up to 55 days. You can distribute the remaining six days of annual leave however you like, and we have included where you may want to add the remaining days.

For instance, maybe you want an extended summer holiday, so add the six remaining days in August by booking additional days - 19th and 22nd until 26th of August. Alternatively, maybe you want a longer Christmas holiday, and to do that, you could book the 16th and 19th until the 23rd of December off. If you choose to book six remaining days in August or December, you’ll end up using 9-10 days off annual leave and have 17 days off in total, including three weekends.

Subsequently, this plan will use the full 28 days of annual leave, giving you 63 days off in total!

🎉 January 2022

In January 2022, New Year’s Day bank holiday has been substituted to Monday the 3rd of January. Booking the 4th until the 7th of January gives you nine days off in total, including two weekends.

🐣 April 2022

In April 2022, booking the 19th until the 22nd of April gives you ten days off, including two weekends.

🌷 May 2022

In May 2022, booking the 3rd until the 6th of May gives you nine days off, including two weekends.

👑 May/June 2022

In June 2022, booking from the 30th of May until the 1st of June gives you nine days off in total, including two weekends.

🏝 August/September 2022

In August 2022, booking the 26th of August and the 30th of August until the 2nd of September gives you ten days off, including two weekends. Suggestion: Additionally, book the 19th and 22nd until the 26th of August to get 17 days off

🎄 December 2022

In December 2022, booking the 23rd of December and the 28th until the 30th of December gives you ten days off in total, including two weekends. Suggestion: Additionally, book the 16th and 19th until the 23rd of December to get 17 days off

With life slowly going back to normal and those looking for a holiday abroad or even a staycation, planning your annual leave ahead and strategically will allow you the make most out of your well deserved time off. Now let’s hope that your employer will approve!