How to Use the Annual Leave Tracker

Overview

What Does the Annual Leave Tracker Do?

The WorkersPool Annual Leave Tracker helps you track your vacation days, sick leave and public holidays for any year from 2024 to 2027. You set your annual leave entitlement, sick day allowance and carry-over days, then log individual leave entries (with date range, type and description) as you take them. The tool shows your remaining balance, days used and a visual usage chart at a glance.

A standout feature is the public holidays system — select your country and the tool algorithmically calculates the correct public holiday dates for the selected year using a built-in JavaScript algorithm. This means the tool works offline and stays accurate for future years without needing database updates for most holidays. An Add Custom button lets you manually add any regional, provincial or company-specific holidays not in the pre-loaded list.

Countries Supported

Public Holiday Countries

Country	Holiday Coverage
🇨🇦 Canada	Federal national holidays + region selector for provincial holidays
🇺🇸 United States	Federal holidays (state holidays vary — add manually)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom	England/Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (region selector)
🇦🇺 Australia	National holidays + state selector for state-specific holidays
🇳🇿 New Zealand	National holidays
🇮🇳 India	National public holidays
🇿🇦 South Africa	National public holidays
🇸🇬 Singapore	National public holidays
🇮🇪 Ireland	National public holidays
🇵🇭 Philippines	National public holidays
🌍 Other	Use Add Custom to enter your country's holidays manually

Instructions

Step-by-Step Instructions

Enter your name and select your leave yearYour name appears on the printed report. Select 2024, 2025, 2026 or 2027 — this sets the year for public holiday calculations.
Set your leave entitlementsEnter your annual vacation entitlement in days, your sick days allowance, and any carry-over days from the previous year. These set your starting balances.
Select your country for public holidaysChoose your country from the dropdown. Holidays are calculated automatically and appear in the Public Holidays section. If your country is not listed, select Other and use Add Custom to enter your holidays manually.
Review and add any missing holidaysPre-loaded holidays cover national/federal days. If you have regional or provincial holidays (e.g. BC Family Day, Ontario Civic Holiday, Australian state-specific holidays), use Add Custom to add them. If any pre-loaded date appears incorrect for your specific region or year, add the correct date as a custom entry.
Log your leave entriesClick Add Entry to log each period of leave. Select the type (Vacation, Sick Day or Public Holiday), enter the from and to dates, the number of days (the tool may suggest this), and an optional description. The entry appears in the Leave Log and your balance updates immediately.
Review your balancesThe summary cards show your vacation balance remaining, vacation days used, sick days used and total public holidays. The usage bars show your progress through the year visually.
Print before closingThis tool does not save data between sessions. Use Print Report to generate a formatted printable timesheet, or Copy Summary to capture the key figures. For ongoing tracking, open the tool fresh each session and re-enter your used days — or keep the printed report updated manually.

How Holidays Are Calculated

Understanding the Holiday Algorithm

Public holidays are calculated in JavaScript using three methods:

Fixed-date holidays — Holidays that always fall on the same calendar date (Christmas Day, New Year's Day, Canada Day) are trivial — the date is hardcoded for the selected year.

Rule-based holidays — Holidays defined as "the nth weekday of a given month" (e.g. Labour Day = first Monday in September, US Thanksgiving = fourth Thursday in November) are computed using a standard date formula that produces the correct date for any year.

Easter and derived holidays — Easter Sunday moves each year and is computed using the Anonymous Gregorian algorithm — a standard formula used in calendaring systems worldwide. Good Friday (2 days before Easter) and Easter Monday (1 day after) are derived from this calculation.

What this cannot predict: Substitute days declared by government when a holiday falls on a weekend, one-off holidays announced by royal proclamation or legislation, and new holidays added after the tool's last update. Always verify with the Official Source link shown after selecting your country.

Worked Example

Example: Sophie Tracks Her 2026 Leave in Ontario

Setup

Annual Entitlement15 vacation days

Sick Days5 days

Carry-Over3 days (unused from 2025)

CountryCanada — Ontario

Year2026

After Logging Leave Entries

Public Holidays (Ontario)11 days (auto-calculated)

Vacation Used9 days (March break + summer week)

Vacation Balance Remaining9 days (15 entitlement + 3 carry-over − 9 used)

Sick Days Used2 of 5

PlanBook Christmas week (4 days) + plan a 5-day fall trip with remaining balance

Sophie notices that Christmas falls on a Friday in 2026 — meaning Christmas Day and Boxing Day are on Friday and Saturday. The tool's pre-loaded Ontario holidays show December 28 as a substitute for Boxing Day (Monday). By booking December 24 (Thursday), she creates a 5-day break using just 1 vacation day. She books it in January to ensure approval before her colleagues request the same days.

Minimum Leave Entitlements

Know Your Legal Minimums

Region	Minimum Vacation	After How Long
Ontario	2 weeks (10 days)	After 1 year; 3 weeks after 5 years
BC	2 weeks (10 days)	After 1 year; 3 weeks after 5 years
Alberta	2 weeks (10 days)	After 1 year; 3 weeks after 5 years
UK	5.6 weeks (28 days)	From day 1 (includes bank holidays)
Australia	4 weeks (20 days)	From day 1 of employment
USA	No federal minimum	Depends entirely on employer policy

Disclaimer

Important Disclaimer

The Annual Leave Tracker is for personal planning and informational purposes only. Public holiday dates are calculated algorithmically and may differ from officially observed dates in some years — governments occasionally declare substitute days when holidays fall on weekends. One-off events such as royal proclamations or new legislation cannot be predicted. Always verify holiday dates with the Official Source link for your country and confirm leave balances with your employer's HR system. Data entered is not saved between sessions. WorkersPool accepts no liability for leave planning decisions based on this tool.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Why might some public holiday dates be wrong?

Governments occasionally move holidays when they fall on weekends — declaring a substitute Monday (or preceding Friday) instead. These substitute days are announced each year and cannot be computed algorithmically in advance. The tool calculates the nominal holiday date — always verify the actual observed date with the official government source for your country before booking leave. The Official Source button shown after selecting your country links to the correct government page.

My provincial holiday is not showing — what do I do?

Use the Add Custom button to add it manually. Provincial and state holidays vary significantly and are not all included in the pre-loaded lists. Common ones to add for Canada: BC Family Day (third Monday in February), Alberta Family Day (third Monday in February), Ontario Civic Holiday (first Monday in August), Nova Scotia Heritage Day (third Monday in February). For Australia: all state-specific holidays should be checked against your state government website and added manually.

Does unused leave carry over at the end of the year?

It depends on your employment agreement. Most Canadian provinces allow employers to require that vacation be taken within a specific period or is paid out. Some employers allow carry-over; others require use-it-or-lose-it within the calendar year. Check your employment contract and your employer's vacation policy. The carry-over field in this tool lets you set whatever your specific agreement allows — it is not a legal calculation.

How do I know my minimum legal vacation entitlement?

See the Minimum Leave Entitlements table above. Your employer cannot provide less than the statutory minimum even if your contract says otherwise. If you believe you are receiving less than the legal minimum, contact your provincial Employment Standards Branch (Canada), the Acas helpline (UK) or the Fair Work Ombudsman (Australia). Your entitlement may increase with years of service — check your specific provincial or national Act for the thresholds.

Can I track leave for multiple people with this tool?

The tool is designed for one person's leave tracking at a time. To track multiple team members, you would need to open a separate session for each person and print individual reports. For team leave management at scale, a dedicated HR system (Humi, BambooHR, Rippling) is more appropriate. This tool is most useful as a personal independent record — particularly valuable for verifying that your employer's system is recording your leave accurately.

Official Sources

Verify Public Holidays

Always verify pre-loaded dates with official government sources:

Annual Leave Tracker — Help Guide