You might have just gotten back to work after the Christmas holiday period. However, if you’re smart, you’re already planning how to take your annual leave in 2024 to completely maximize the number of consecutive days off.
Below, we break down when each of the public holidays will take place in 2024 across the U.S., England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland so that you can get the most out of your PTO — often turning just four days of leave into nine days of time off.
Even if you can’t take advantage of each public holiday to maximize your time off, you’d still be surprised by how much you can benefit from a few well-timed vacation requests.
What days are public holidays in 2024?
US
- New Year’s Day: Monday, Jan. 1
- Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.: Monday, Jan. 15
- Presidents’ Day: Monday, Feb. 19
- Memorial Day: Monday, May 27
- Juneteenth Independence Day: Wednesday, June 19
- Independence Day: Thursday, July 4
- Labor Day: Monday, Sept. 2
- Indigenous Peoples Day (also observed as Columbus Day): Monday, Oct. 14
- Veterans Day: Monday, Nov. 11
- Thanksgiving: Thursday, Nov. 28
- Christmas: Wednesday, Dec. 25
England and Wales
- Good Friday: March 29
- Easter Monday: April 1
- Early May bank holiday: May 6
- Spring bank holiday: May 27
- Summer bank holiday: Aug. 26
- Christmas: Dec. 25
- Boxing Day: Dec. 26
Scotland
- New Year’s Day: Jan. 1
- January bank holiday: Jan. 2
- Good Friday: March 29
- Early May bank holiday: May 6
- Spring bank holiday: May 27
- Summer bank holiday: Aug. 5
- St. Andrew’s Day (substitute day): Dec. 2
- Christmas: Dec. 25
- Boxing Day: Dec. 26
Northern Ireland
- New Year’s Day: January 1
- St. Patrick’s Day (substitute day): March 18
- Good Friday: March 29
- Easter Monday: April 1
- Early May bank holiday: May 6
- Spring bank holiday: May 27
- Battle of the Boyne (Orangemen’s Day): July 12
- Summer bank holiday: Aug. 26
- Christmas: Dec. 25
- Boxing Day: Dec. 26
Ireland
- New Year’s Day: Jan. 1
- First Monday in February: Feb. 5
- St. Patrick’s Day (substitute day): March 18
- Easter Monday: April 1
- First Monday in May: May 6
- First Monday in June: June 3
- First Monday in August: Aug. 5
- Last Monday in October: Oct. 28
- Christmas: Dec. 25
- St. Stephen’s Day: Dec. 26
How to strategically maximize your days off in 2024
January
US
This year, Martin Luther King Day falls on Monday, Jan. 15. You can maximize your time off and gain a four-day weekend by taking off Jan. 16.
February
US
Take off Feb. 16., the Friday before President’s Day on Feb. 19, to get a four-day weekend. Or you could turn this into nine consecutive days off by instead taking annual leave between Feb. 20 and 23.
Ireland
The first Monday of February is a public holiday in Ireland, so if you take off the Friday before (Feb. 2), you can gain a four-day weekend.
March
England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
You can stretch out the Good Friday public holiday on March 29 and get nine consecutive days off by using only four days of annual leave if you take off March 25-28.
Ireland and Northern Ireland
Irish residents can make the most of St. Patrick’s Day on March 18 and gain nine consecutive days off work with only four annual leave days by taking off March 19 to 22.
April
England, Wales, Ireland and Northern Ireland
This year, Easter Monday falls on April 1. You can use four annual leave days to get nine consecutive days off by taking off April 2 to 5. Combining this with the previously mentioned dates in March will get you 16 consecutive days off for only eight days of annual leave.
May
US
To turn Memorial Day into a four-day weekend, take off May 24, which is the Friday. If you’d prefer to get even more days off, you can turn four days of annual leave into nine consecutive days off by taking your annual leave for May 28-31.
England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland
This year, the early May bank holiday falls on Monday, May 6. You can get nine days off with four days of annual leave by taking off May 7-10.
If you’re really looking to work as little as possible in May, you can repeat the same trick for the spring bank holiday on Monday, May 27, by booking off May 28-31. Doing both of these would grant you a whopping 18 days off for just 8 days of annual leave.
Ireland
Ireland has fewer public holidays, but residents are still off on May 6, for the First Monday in May holiday. You can get nine days off with four days of annual leave by taking off May 7-10.
June
US
By taking off June 17-18 and 20-21, you can sandwich your annual leave around the Juneteenth celebrations to get nine consecutive days off.
Ireland
Residents of Ireland can get nine days off for only four days of annual leave, thanks to the First Monday in June public holiday, if you take off June 4-7.
July
US
You can extend the Fourth of July celebrations into nine consecutive days off with just four days of annual leave. This year July 4 falls on a Thursday, so maximize the time off by sandwiching your annual leave around it and take off July 1-3 and 5.
Northern Ireland
Northern Irish residents receive a public holiday on July 12 for the Battle of the Boyone, also known as Orangemen’s Day. This can be turned into a nine-day break by taking off July 8-11.
August
England, Wales and Northern Ireland
By taking advantage of the August bank holiday on Aug. 26, you could get nine consecutive days off between Aug. 24 and Sept. 1 by taking off the four days between Aug. 27-30.
Scotland and Ireland
The Scottish and Irish bank holidays fall slightly earlier on Monday, Aug. 5. To turn this into nine consecutive days off, you should take off Aug. 6-9.
September
US
Labor Day lands on Sept. 2. By taking off the remainder of the week (Sept. 3-6), you can get nine consecutive days off from four days of annual leave.
October
US
Oct. 14 is a public holiday for Indigenous Peoples Day. By taking off Oct. 15-18 you would get nine consecutive days off from four days of annual leave.
Ireland
The last Monday in October is a public holiday in Ireland; you can extend this break by taking off Oct. 29-31 and Nov. 1. This will give you nine consecutive days off for only four days of annual leave.
November
US
U.S. residents could manage to get 18 days off spread throughout November by taking only eight days of annual leave by booking time off strategically around Veteran’s Day on Nov. 11 and Thanksgiving on Nov. 29.
First, take Nov. 12-15 off, which gives you nine consecutive days off around Veteran’s Day. Then book Nov. 25-28 off to get a nine-day break for Thanksgiving.
December
US
To get the most out of your Christmas break, schedule time off Dec. 23-24, 26-27 and 30-31; this will give you 12 consecutive days off for just six days of leave when you account for the New Year’s Day public holiday.
England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland
You can extend your Christmas break in December with just five days of annual leave taken on Dec. 23-24, 27 and 30-31. This will give you 12 days off in total between Saturday, Dec. 21 to the New Year bank holiday on Jan 1.
Scotland
The St. Andrew’s Day public holiday will fall on Monday, Dec. 2 this year. To stretch this out into nine consecutive days off using only four days of annual leave, you should take off Dec. 3-6.
Bottom line
Even though you may only have a finite amount of annual leave each year, you can significantly increase the number of consecutive days off by strategically booking your time off around public holidays.
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