The Smart Leave Planner has been specially designed keeping Central Government Employees in mind.
However, anyone can use it by entering their own leave balances (EL, CL, RH or equivalent) to plan smarter vacations.
It helps you enjoy longer breaks while saving your precious leave by smartly combining weekends, Gazetted Holidays (GH), and Restricted Holidays (RH).
Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you make the most out of it 👇
1️⃣ Open the Smart Leave Planner
Visit our Smart Leave Planner tool (available on IndiaHolidayCalendar.com).
You’ll see a form with multiple options like balances, rules, and filters.
At the bottom, there’s a 🔎 Find Smart Suggestions button that generates the optimized leave plan for you.
2️⃣ Planning Options
📅 Include Next Year
By default, the planner works for the current year until from tomorrow to December 31st.
If you want to extend your horizon into the next year, enable “Include Next Year”.
This will also unlock balances input for the next year (EL, CL, RH).
🗓️ Preferred Month
You can restrict planning to a single month.
Example: If you’re only interested in planning vacation in November, enable this and select November.
For the current month, the planner will consider from tomorrow till the month end.
If you select a future month, it will consider that entire month.
💡 Tip: The Preferred Month option is great if you’re planning around a festival which are already GH/RH.
3️⃣ Leave Balances
Enter your available leave balances for this year (and optionally next year if included).
- 🏖️ Earned Leave (EL): Your main pool of leave, best used for bridging holidays and weekends.
- ⏰ Casual Leave (CL): Short leave, limited (usually 8 days per year). Cannot exceed 5 consecutive days.
- ✨ Restricted Holidays (RH): Optional holidays. You get only 2 in a year, so use them wisely.
The planner will never suggest more leave than what you’ve entered in balances.
4️⃣ Rules & Preferences
This section is the real power of the planner ⚡
⚖️ Minimum Off-days
Sets the minimum size of vacation (total days off, including holidays).
Example: If you put 5, the planner won’t suggest plans smaller than 5 days.
⏳ Minimum Gap (days)
Ensures there’s at least this much gap between two suggested vacations.
Example: Setting 30 days ensures you don’t get back-to-back vacations too close to each other.
📏 Max Vacation Length (days)
Defines the maximum span of vacation the planner should consider.
Default is 10 days.
If you set it too low, some long festival breaks may not appear.
If you set it too high, the planner may skip smaller but practical plans.
💡 Smart Tip: If you’re not seeing any plans, try reducing this number. Smaller windows are easier to fit within your balances and policy rules.
🥪 Sandwich Policy (EL)
If enabled, weekends and Gazetted Holidays inside an EL block will also count as EL (as per government rules).
Example: If you take leave on Friday and Monday, the weekend in between may also count as EL.
By default, this is enabled because it matches most government offices’ rules.
5️⃣ Generate Suggestions
Once you’ve entered your balances and preferences:
- Click 🔎 Find Smart Suggestions.
- The planner will calculate all possible options and show you a Recommended Plan (or multiple plans).
- Each plan includes:
- 📅 Total off-days you’ll get.
- ⚖️ Leverage (×N.NN) → how many days off per leave day.
- 📝 Exact dates to take leave.
- 📖 Narrative (e.g., “By availing 2 days of CL from 14–15 August, you will have 5 days off.”).
- 📊 Visual strip showing holidays, weekends, and your leave days.
6️⃣ Understanding the Results
- 📅 Off-days: Total vacation days (leave + weekends + holidays).
- ⚖️ Leverage (×N.NN): The efficiency of your leave. Higher is better.
- ✨ Free Days: Weekends and holidays that are counted in your break but cost you no leave.
- ❌ Penalty: Days that get converted into EL due to sandwich rules.
- 🏷️ Chips: Small tips like “Take 2 CL on 12–13 August”.
You also get a legend at the bottom explaining each metric clearly.
7️⃣ Example Scenario
Suppose you want a break around Independence Day 2025 🇮🇳:
- Enter EL = 30, CL = 8, RH = 2.
- Set Preferred Month = August.
- Click Find Suggestions.
The planner may show: “Take 1 CL on 14 August (Thursday), enjoy 4 days off (14–17 Aug). Leverage ×4.00.”
That means you’re converting just 1 CL into a 4-day vacation — super-efficient! 🎉
8️⃣ If You Don’t See Plans
Sometimes no plans appear. Don’t worry — here’s what to try:
- ⬇️ Lower the Min off-days requirement.
- 📏 Reduce the Max vacation length (days).
- ✔️ Check if you entered realistic leave balances.
- ➕ Try enabling Include Next Year if you’re planning long-term.
✅ Final Thoughts
The Smart Leave Planner is designed to save your leave while maximizing your time off.
Whether it’s a quick weekend getaway or a long festival vacation, this tool helps you plan smartly — just like a personal leave advisor.
So go ahead, try it out, and start planning smarter breaks around your work calendar ✨