When Should Your Holiday Year Start?
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Most businesses reset their annual leave on January 1st. It’s the simplest way to track holidays. But is it the best way?

At TimeOff.Management, we know businesses have different needs. That’s why we now let you start your holiday year on any date, not just January 1st.

So, when should your holiday year begin? Let’s explore the options and the impact it can have on your business.

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The Most Popular Holiday Year – But Is It Right for You?

According to industry data, around 75% of businesses set their annual leave year from January to December. This makes sense-it aligns with the calendar year, making it easy for everyone to understand.

However, there’s a big downside: the end-of-year holiday rush.

• Employees scramble to use up remaining leave in December.
• Some departments could be understaffed during critical business periods.
• It’s harder to plan workloads if too many people are off at once.

For businesses in retail, hospitality, or customer service, where December is the busiest season, a January start might not be ideal.

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Alternatives to the Calendar Holiday Year

1. The Fiscal Year (April – March)

More businesses are switching to a fiscal-year holiday system to match financial reporting cycles.
✔ Easier to manage holiday pay in balance sheets.
✔ Smoother for budgeting leave costs.
❌ Potential downside? If Easter falls early, you might get a wave of leave requests when you're already dealing with bank holiday absences.

2. Employee Start Date

Some businesses give each employee a personal holiday year based on their start date.
✔ Staggers leave requests throughout the year.
✔ Avoids a last-minute rush in December.
❌ Downside? Tracking multiple holiday years can be complicated, especially for larger teams.

3. A Custom Business Year

Some businesses create their own holiday year based on operational needs.

• Retail & E-commerce: Start the holiday year in February after the peak sales season.
• Education & Training: Align with the academic year (e.g., September – August).
• Construction & Seasonal Work: Start leave cycles when workloads naturally slow down.

What Happens If You Don’t Set a Holiday Year?

If you don’t specify a holiday year in contracts, default rules apply:

• Each employee’s leave year starts on their first day of work.
• OR, by legal default in some regions, in UK it starts on October 1st (the anniversary of the regulations becoming law, as set out by ACAS).

This can lead to confusion and inconsistent leave tracking. Setting a clear holiday year removes uncertainty and makes leave management smoother.

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How to Make Leave Management Easy

Whichever system you choose, managing time off should be stress-free.

That’s why TimeOff.Management now lets you:
✅ Set your own holiday year—January, April, or any other date that suits your business.
✅ Automatically track leave balances based on your custom year.
✅ Prevent scheduling conflicts by managing requests in one place.

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