Dreading another year stuck in the office? South Africans, rejoice! Here's how to legally stretch your leave days into an epic 50-day escape.
Turn 15 Days into 50: The Ultimate South African Leave Strategy
To ensure the smooth running of our project, it is crucial that we first identify all of South Africa's public holidays. This will help us plan effectively and avoid any potential delays. Let's take the first step and gather this important information.
With some smart planning, you can make the most of the public holidays in 2024.
Generally, you'll receive 1.25 days of leave every month, except for sick leave. That means you'll have approximately 15 days of paid time off yearly, starting from zero. Depending on your company's structure, you can carry over a few days of leave each year.
If you have 17 days of leave and a few days to spare by the end of 2024, you can plan your time off according to public holidays and get 50 days off.
Step 1
We're starting to plan for Human Rights Day on March 21st. If you take off 5 working days from March 22nd to March 28th, you'll get 12 days of holiday, thanks to Good Friday on March 29th. (21 March - 1 April, 12 Days)
5 Workdays off, leave | 12 Days off
Step 2
You can use 4 of your workdays during the week of Worker's Day on May 1st, a Wednesday this year, to make up for the missed Freedom Day public holiday on the 27th of April. Doing this will give you a full 9 days off. (27 April - 5 May, 9 Days)
4 Workdays off, leave | 9 Days off
Step 3
We have two long weekends: Youth Day, June 16th, a Sunday, which makes Monday the 17th a public holiday (3 days off, including the weekend), and Women’s Day, August 9th (3 days off, including the weekend). These will help us get through the next few months until September. (6 Days, 2 x long weekends)
June - 3 Days off | August - 3 Days off
Step 4
You can take a day off on Monday, September 23, to extend your weekend and celebrate Heritage Day on the 24th (four days off, including the weekend). If you plan on taking a long break, remember that we may not have any other holidays until December 16, which will give you another long weekend. However, if you have enough leave days, you can take a 19-day break from Christmas until the 1st of January.
September - 1 Workday off, leave | 4 Days off
December - 9 Workdays off, leave | 19 Days off
Total
19 Workdays off, leave
50 days off, excluding other weekends, and not part of long weekends.
So, what are you waiting for? Get those dates booked before someone else does.
I hope these recommendations give you a good overview of how to have more downtime in 2024.
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Some helpful links. 👇