How to get up to 16 days off over Christmas with as little as seven annual leave days

At this point in the year, you'll need a pretty flexible boss - but it is still technically possible to secure a disproportionately long summer break with minimal leave.

Running low on annual leave and wondering how you can stretch it to get the biggest bang for your buck?

Here are some tips to help you get the most time off this Christmas and New Year's while taking the least amount of annual leave.

READ MORE: School holiday dates in each state and territory for 2023 and 2024

Which days to take off

Christmas Day this year falls on a Monday, which is actually great news.

It means that - with Boxing Day on Tuesday - you only need to take three annual leave days to get you through to the next weekend. As an added bonus, there is the public holiday for New Year's Day on the Monday.

All up, taking December 27-29 off will set you up with a sweet 10 consecutive days away from work.

If that's not enough, taking an extra four days annual leave - so seven in total - will stretch out your holiday to 16 days in a row.

Here's your plan:

• Saturday December 23: Weekend

• Sunday December 24: Weekend

• Monday December 25: Christmas Day public holiday

• Tuesday December 26: Boxing Day public holiday

• Wednesday December 27: Take annual leave

• Thursday December 28: Take annual leave

• Friday December 29: Take annual leave

• Saturday December 30: Weekend

• Sunday December 31: Weekend (New Year's Eve)

• Monday January 1 2024: New Year's Day public holiday

Then take Tuesday, January 2, to Friday, January 5 as annual leave, returning to work on January 8.

READ MORE: What are Australia's public holidays for 2023 and 2024?

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