Carry-Over Leave
Last reviewed:
Also known as: carryover leave, rollover, leave carry forward
Carry-over leave is leave left unused at the end of a leave year that an employee is allowed to roll into the next year, often subject to a cap and expiry.
Carry-over leave (also called rollover or carry forward) is unused leave that an employee moves from one leave year into the next instead of losing it. Policies usually cap the number of carried days and set an expiry date by which the carried leave must be used.
Carry-over rules balance flexibility for employees against the employer's need to limit liability and encourage people to take rest. Getting them right requires tracking which days are carried over (and may expire sooner) versus the current year's fresh entitlement.
Three types of carry-over policy
Use it or lose it: nothing carries over, and any leave not taken by the end of the leave year is forfeited. Some jurisdictions restrict or ban this for earned leave, so check the rules where your people work.
Capped carry-over: up to a set number of days rolls over, often with an expiry date in the new year. This is the most common model, because it gives people slack without letting balances pile up.
Full carry-over: every unused day rolls over with no cap. It's simple, but balances grow year after year, and so does the cost of paying them out when someone leaves.
Carry-over caps and expiry
A typical rule might allow up to 5 days to carry over, expiring on 31 March of the new leave year. Some statutory leave can be carried in special cases (such as long-term sickness), while purely contractual leave above the minimum is more often 'use it or lose it'.
Because each office can start its leave year in a different month, year-end doesn't arrive on the same date everywhere. A company whose Berlin office runs its leave year from April and its London office from January carries leave over twice a year: in London in January, in Berlin in April.
Example
Greta Vogel is entitled to 25 days and has 7 left at the end of the leave year. Her policy carries over up to 5 days, which expire on 31 March. 5 days move into the new year next to her fresh 25, and 2 days are lost. If she hasn't used the 5 carried days by 31 March, they expire too.
See it in Absenca
Absenca carries unused leave into each office's new leave year automatically, with a cap per leave type and an expiry date per office. Carried days are shown apart from the new year's entitlement.
Go deeper
Frequently asked questions
- Is unused holiday lost at the end of the year?
- It depends on the policy. Many employers allow a limited number of days to carry over (with an expiry date), while leave above that cap is forfeited unless the contract or local law says otherwise.
- What is the difference between carry-over and carry forward?
- None. Carry-over, carryover, rollover and carry forward all mean unused leave moving into the next leave year.
Related terms
Stop calculating this by hand
Absenca handles accrual, carry-over, pro-rata, and public holidays automatically — so every balance is right without a spreadsheet. Free for up to 10 people.