Hanging out for a break? Already eyeing up when to take a holiday in 2026? You are going to want to read this one – because there’s a handy annual leave hack that will literally DOUBLE your annual leave around Easter. Yip, for just eight days leave, you’ll get 16 days off!
Capsule friends: RUN, do not walk, right now and apply for leave for next year, because Easter is a fab time to get more bang for your buck, with insane SIXTEEN days off in a row, for only eight days annual leave taken.
The prime leave period is Monday 30 March to Friday 10 April 2026. Those eight annual leave days, when combined with Good Friday on Friday 3 April and Easter Monday on Monday 6 April, deliver a full sixteen days off in a row.
NZ job seeker platform ZEIL alerted us today to the fact that the rare calendar alignment around Easter 2026 means that if you do want to really take a very decent whack of time off – April is the time to do it.
So, Anzac Day falls on a Saturday this year, which means the public holiday will be observed on Monday 27 April. If you have some leave banked up, you could take off Monday 30 March though to April 27. You’ll get THIRTY ONE days of holiday, but will only need to take 18 days of annual leave. Yes, 18 is a lot of days, but 31 is… magical?! It’s particularly fab if you have kids, because Term 1 school holidays are April 3 – 19.
“This is a golden window that does not come around often,” says ZEIL Marketing Manager, Caitlin Langlands. “If you want this break, get in early because plenty of other New Zealanders will be eyeing it up too. Strategic leave planning is not just about holiday hacks, it is about protecting wellbeing.
“With cost pressures and work stress still high, being intentional about rest and recovery really matters. Taking time out helps people return to work sharper, more resilient, and better able to contribute.”
If Easter doesn’t work for you, now is the time to be eyeing up future breaks – there’s Waitangi day on Friday 6 February. Take the Monday off too, or the Thursday – or both! – and you can stretch out that leave (and avoid that holiday traffic too?). Same goes for King’s Birthday on Monday 1 June, Matariki on Friday 10 July, Labour Day on Monday 26 October – and, of course, the Christmas and Boxing Day period.