Leave year

In plain English

The leave year is the 12-month window over which holiday entitlement is calculated, accrued, taken, and reset. UK law lets employers set whatever 12-month period they like — there's no statutory leave year.

Common choices

• Calendar year (1 January – 31 December) — most popular for office-based businesses.
• Tax year (6 April – 5 April) — common in payroll-heavy or regulated industries.
• Anniversary year (each employee's start date for 12 months) — common in smaller firms or where staff turnover is staggered.

Why it matters

The leave year governs:

• when accrual resets to zero
• when carry-over rules apply
• the reference period for "this year's" entitlement
• the cut-off for use-it-or-lose-it rules

If your contract is silent on the leave year, the default under the Working Time Regulations is the worker's start-date anniversary year.

Switching leave years

Changing the leave year for existing employees is a contractual change — you need consent or a contractual right to vary. Mid-year switches usually involve a one-off pro-rata calculation to bridge the old year-end with the new.