A team holiday calendar is a shared view of all approved leave and public holidays for a team or organisation. It answers the single most important question in absence management: who is off and when? Without a holiday calendar, managers guess at coverage, employees do not know who to coordinate with, and leave decisions are made in the dark. A properly configured holiday calendar gives everyone visibility at a glance.

This guide covers how to create and maintain a holiday calendar, including setup, configuration, and best practices for visibility.

Key Takeaways

  • A holiday calendar is the single source of truth for team availability.
  • It should display all approved leave, public holidays, and blackout periods.
  • The calendar must be accessible to everyone on the team, not just managers.
  • For multi-country teams, the calendar should reflect the public holidays for each location.
  • The calendar should be automatically updated when leave is approved or cancelled.

Step 1: Choose the calendar platform

Option A: Leave management system calendar

Most leave management systems include a team calendar that displays all approved leave. This is the best option because:

  • It is automatically updated when leave is approved or cancelled.
  • It displays leave types by colour.
  • It integrates with the request and approval workflow.
  • It can be shared via a link or embedded in a team channel.

Option B: Google Calendar

  • Create a shared calendar (e.g., “Team Leave”).
  • Add public holidays as all-day events.
  • Add approved leave as all-day events.
  • Share the calendar with the team.

Option C: Outlook Calendar

  • Create a shared calendar in Outlook.
  • Add public holidays and approved leave.
  • Share the calendar with the team.
  • Sync with the leave management system if possible.

Option D: Slack or Teams channel

  • A dedicated channel (e.g., #team-holidays) displays approved leave as posts.
  • Automated posts are added when leave is approved.
  • This is supplementary, not a replacement for a proper calendar.

Step 2: Add public holidays

Public holidays are the foundation of the calendar:

For single-country teams

  1. Find the public holiday dates for your country for the current and next year.
  2. Add them as all-day events on the calendar.
  3. Label them clearly (e.g., “Bank Holiday — Christmas Day”).

For multi-country teams

  1. Add public holidays for every country where you have employees.
  2. Use separate calendars or labels for each country.
  3. Consider that the same holiday may fall on different dates in different countries (e.g., Australia Day vs UK bank holidays).

Sources for public holiday dates

  • UK: GOV.UK bank holidays
  • Australia: Fair Work public holidays
  • US: Federal holidays via OPM
  • EU: Varies by country — check the relevant government website.

Step 3: Add approved leave

For every approved leave request, add an event to the holiday calendar:

  • Employee name
  • Leave type (annual leave, sick leave, parental leave)
  • Dates (start and end)
  • Colour code by leave type (if the calendar supports it)

If using a leave management system, this should happen automatically when leave is approved. If using Google Calendar or Outlook, the manager or HR adds the event.

Step 4: Add blackout periods

Blackout periods are dates when leave is restricted or prohibited:

  • Product launches
  • Year-end close
  • Peak business periods
  • Company events

Add these as all-day events with a distinct colour or label (e.g., “BLACKOUT — Year-End Close”). This prevents employees from requesting leave during these periods and gives managers a visual reference.

Step 5: Configure visibility

Who can see the calendar

  • The entire team should have read access.
  • Managers should have read/write access.
  • HR should have admin access.

Where the calendar lives

  • Intranet or employee portal — accessible to all employees.
  • Slack or Teams — pin the calendar link or embed the calendar in a channel.
  • Email — send a monthly summary of upcoming leave to the team.

Mobile access

Ensure the calendar is accessible on mobile — employees and managers should be able to check availability from their phone.

Step 6: Maintain the calendar

The calendar is only useful if it is current:

  1. Automatic updates — use a leave management system that updates the calendar when leave is approved or cancelled.
  2. Public holiday updates — add the next year’s public holidays in December.
  3. Blackout period updates — add blackout periods as soon as they are confirmed.
  4. Annual review — at the start of each leave year, reset the calendar and confirm all entitlements.

Common holiday calendar mistakes

1. Not having one

The most common mistake. Without a holiday calendar, managers have no visibility on team availability.

2. Not sharing it with the team

A calendar that only HR can see is useless. The team needs access to coordinate coverage.

3. Outdated public holidays

If the calendar does not reflect the correct public holidays, leave calculations will be wrong.

4. Manual updates that fall behind

If the calendar is manually maintained, it will fall behind. Use a leave management system to automate updates.

5. Not colour-coding leave types

A calendar that shows “John — Off” without indicating whether it is annual leave, sick leave, or parental leave is less useful than one that distinguishes between them.

Putting it into practice

Five checks cover most holiday calendar needs:

  1. Choose a platform — leave management system, Google Calendar, or Outlook — and make it the single source of truth.
  2. Add public holidays for every country where you have employees.
  3. Configure automatic updates so the calendar reflects approved leave in real time.
  4. Share the calendar with the entire team and pin it in your collaboration platform.
  5. Update public holidays and blackout periods annually.
You can take advantage of the free 14 days trial and explore Leave Balance.

A leave management system with a built-in team holiday calendar gives everyone visibility on who is off and when — making coverage planning and leave coordination effortless.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should a team holiday calendar include?

All approved leave, public holidays, and blackout periods. Each entry should show the employee name, leave type, and dates.

Who should have access to the holiday calendar?

The entire team should have read access. Managers should have read/write access. HR should have admin access.

How do I handle public holidays for multi-country teams?

Add public holidays for every country where you have employees. Use separate labels or calendars for each country. Ensure the leave management system reflects the correct holidays for each location.

How often should the calendar be updated?

Automatically — every time leave is approved or cancelled. If manually maintained, update at least weekly and whenever leave is approved.

Can I share the holiday calendar in Slack or Teams?

Yes. Pin the calendar link in a dedicated channel, or use an integration that displays approved leave automatically.

This article is general information, not legal advice.

Last updated: 26 July 2026.