Leave HackerGuidesPlan my yearWhen does my leave year start?
Check your contract
Your leave year is the 12 months you take your holiday in. Your employer should tell you its dates when you start, often 1 January or 1 April. If your contract doesn't set one, it starts on the day you started the job (or 1 October, if you started on or before 1 October 1998).
Why it matters for planning
- It decides what's left to book. Leave you don't use by the end of the leave year is usually lost, apart from what your contract lets you carry over. Carrying over leave.
- January leave years split Christmas: December's days come from this year's allowance, the January ones from next year's. That's why our Christmas guides stop at the first working day in January.
- April leave years keep Christmas and New Year in one allowance, but Easter can land in either year, and the number of bank holidays in a leave year can change with it.
- Your own start date (if you have no set leave year) means your “January” is your work anniversary.
Plan it when it starts
The start of your leave year is the moment to book the big ones, before colleagues do: Easter, the summer week you want and Christmas. When to ask for each 2027 break.
The Leave Hacker planner works from any leave year start: January, April, September or any date you choose. Plan your leave year.
Sources
- gov.uk: Calculate leave entitlement (leave years, starting a job, irregular hours, carrying over)
- Acas: Asking for and taking holiday
- Acas: Bank holidays and Christmas
Checked on 26 October 2026. This is general information about the legal minimum in the UK, not legal advice: your contract can give you more, and can set its own rules for notice and carrying over. For help with your own situation, call the Acas helpline on 0300 123 1100 (England, Scotland and Wales) or the Labour Relations Agency on 03300 555 300 (Northern Ireland).
More questions
Is the leave year the same as the tax year?
Only if your employer sets it that way. Some use 1 April to 31 March, close to the tax year, but it's whatever your contract says.
Can my employer change my leave year?
Changing it usually means changing your contract, which needs the right process. Talk to HR, and check how the change affects leave you've already built up.