Construction employees with 25 days of annual leave available in addition to bank holidays can turn that allowance into six extended breaks totalling 58 calendar days away from work in 2027, if the dates are booked around weekends and public holidays. The calculation applies to a standard Monday-to-Friday working pattern in England and Wales. It is particularly useful for construction staff planning overseas trips, where a four-day leave booking can create nine consecutive days away without using a full working week and a half of annual leave.
ILUNION Palmanova Mallorca in July 2026. Mallorca is one of the short-haul destinations that can work particularly well with the nine-day breaks created by booking four days of annual leave around a UK bank holiday. Image: London Construction Magazine.
First check whether your 25 days exclude bank holidays
The important contractual point is that 25 days plus bank holidays is not a universal construction-industry entitlement. GOV.UK states that most five-day workers are legally entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid annual leave, equivalent to 28 days, but an employer is allowed to include bank holidays within that statutory entitlement. Some construction employers provide 25 contractual annual-leave days with bank holidays on top. Others include some or all bank holidays within the total allowance, while site operatives, shift workers, agency workers and people working irregular patterns may have different arrangements. The plan below therefore assumes that an employee has 25 bookable annual-leave days and receives England and Wales bank holidays separately. Anyone whose contract works differently will need to adjust the calculation.
The 25-day plan that creates 58 calendar days off
The official GOV.UK calendar confirms eight bank holidays in England and Wales during 2027. The most useful dates for extending annual leave are Easter, the two May bank holidays, the August bank holiday and the unusual Christmas arrangement, where Christmas Day and Boxing Day fall at the weekend and substitute holidays are taken on Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 December.
| Break | Annual leave to book | Consecutive time off | Leave used |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Year | 4–5 January | 1–5 January: 5 days | 2 |
| Easter | 22–25 March and 30 March–2 April | 20 March–4 April: 16 days | 8 |
| Early May | 4–7 May | 1–9 May: 9 days | 4 |
| Spring bank holiday | 1–4 June | 29 May–6 June: 9 days | 4 |
| Summer bank holiday | 31 August–3 September | 28 August–5 September: 9 days | 4 |
| Christmas and New Year | 29–31 December | 25 December–3 January 2028: 10 days | 3 |
| Total | Six extended breaks | 58 calendar days off | 25 days |
The Christmas calculation extends into 2028 because Monday 3 January 2028 is the substitute bank holiday for New Year's Day in England and Wales. All three annual-leave days used in that particular break remain in December 2027.
Easter gives the best long overseas holiday
For anyone wanting a substantial trip abroad, Easter is the strongest single opportunity in the 2027 calendar. Good Friday falls on 26 March and Easter Monday on 29 March. Booking four working days before Easter and four afterwards produces 16 consecutive days away from work while using eight days of annual leave. That is long enough for a two-week overseas trip without consuming ten working days of annual leave. The three nine-day breaks around May and August are more suitable for shorter European or Mediterranean holidays, using only four leave days each.
Christmas is even more efficient in pure calendar terms. Booking only 29, 30 and 31 December creates a ten-day break from Christmas Day through to Monday 3 January 2028, assuming bank holidays are additional to the employee's annual-leave allowance. Workers travelling overseas should still consider whether using every possible day is sensible. Returning to the UK late on the final evening before a project restart leaves little margin for cancelled flights, rail disruption or other travel problems. LCM previously examined how cross-Channel disruption during the Christmas shutdown can affect specialist construction staff returning to site.
Construction shutdowns can change the calculation
Construction staff should check their employer's holiday rules before booking flights or accommodation. Christmas shutdowns are common on projects, but whether shutdown days are taken from an employee's annual-leave allowance depends on the employment arrangements. Acas confirms that employers can require workers to take holiday during periods such as a Christmas closure, subject to the relevant notice and contractual arrangements. An employer can also restrict when leave is taken during busy periods.
That matters on construction programmes where commissioning, handover, possession, shutdown works or critical concrete, structural and MEP activities may restrict how many members of the same team can be absent simultaneously. Holiday approval should therefore come before non-refundable overseas bookings. GOV.UK sets out the general rules for requesting annual leave, while individual employment contracts and company policies can specify different notice arrangements.
The plan is different in Scotland and Northern Ireland
The 58-day plan above is specifically based on the England and Wales bank-holiday calendar. Scotland and Northern Ireland have different public holidays in 2027, including 2 January and St Andrew's Day arrangements in Scotland and St Patrick's Day and the Battle of the Boyne holiday in Northern Ireland. The same principle still applies: identify bank holidays adjoining weekends, place annual leave immediately before or after them and check whether those public holidays are additional to the contractual allowance. For construction employees planning international travel in 2027, the practical next step is simple: check the contractual leave year and any compulsory shutdown dates, identify which of the six breaks fits the project programme, secure approval early and only then book travel.
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Expert Verification & Authorship: Mihai Chelmus Founder & Editor, London Construction Magazine | Construction Testing & Investigation Specialist |