If there's one thing employees want more of, it's time away from the daily grind.

But while most of us have little control over how much annual leave we are entitled to, what we can control is how to make the most of it — and that is by using public holidays.

In fact, opening the calendar and planning ahead just a little can deliver you over 50 days off in 2020, using as little leave as possible.

How to get five days off

Starting with the New Year's Day public holiday on January 1, if you ask for January 2 and 3 off work you will get five days off in a row, thanks to the weekend.

How to get nine days off

Fast forward to Australia Day, and taking four days of leave after the Monday January 27 public holiday will buy you a full nine days off — Saturday January 25 until you're back at work on Monday February 3.

Then, the Victorians among us can rejoice: Regardless of whether you attend the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday November 3, you get a public holiday. Taking leave on Monday the 2nd, Wednesday the 4th, Thursday the 5th and Friday the 6th will give you a nine-day holiday, bookended by two weekends.

When organising when to take holidays, it pays to be organised. ( Flickr: Jo Christian Oterhals )

How to get 16 days off

In the period over Easter, you can negotiate an impressive 16 days off, using just eight days of leave.

Beginning on the Saturday of April 4 (the weekend before Easter on April 12), all you need to do is add four days of annual leave before Good Friday, and four days of annual leave after Easter Monday, and you'll be back at work beautifully rested for Monday April 20.

Then, while Christmas 2020 sounds like a lifetime away, using seven days of leave over this time will buy you 16 consecutive days off (unless of course you work in a job that observes the standard shutdown period — lucky you).

The first lot of leave will start Monday December 21, through to Thursday 24th. Then, thanks to Boxing Day falling on a Saturday, you'll get Monday the 28th off, so your next leave block will be Tuesday 29th to Thursday 31st, before having New Year's Day off on January 1st. Once you take into account weekends, you won't have to return to work until January 4!

Make the most of Monday public holidays

If you plan your holiday well, you could take just seven days leave but go on a break for 16 days. ( stock.xchng: dynamix )

The Labour Day and Queen's Birthday public holidays fall on various Mondays throughout the year for each state or territory.

There's also an assortment of Monday public holidays across the country for various reasons — for example, Tasmania gets Eight Hours Day in March; Western Australia celebrate Western Australia Day in June; in the ACT there's Reconciliation Day in June; the NT have Picnic Day in August; in South Australia there's Proclamation Day in December.

Then, because Anzac Day falls on Saturday April 25, the ACT and Western Australia get Monday April 27 off as a public holiday.

So why not consider taking the four days following a Monday public holiday as annual leave, and score yourself nine days off, once you factor in the weekend?

What else can you do?

"Another thing that employees can do is look at the way employers use their leave arrangements," Emma Walsh from Parents At Work said.

"Some employers allow salary sacrificing, some allow employees to purchase more leave, which then allows them to bank that leave and use it during school holiday time, which is incredibly valuable.

"The benefit to that, is that if it's working for both employee and employer … then we know that increases retention, a sense of loyalty, and people want to make that work."

Another thing you can do is negotiate more leave.

Kevin Werksman did just that several years ago, when he was looking to sign a contract for a new job.

"My current role requires me to be travelling about four days a week," Mr Werksman, who works for engineering advisory company Aurecon, said.

"But I also believe it's important to have some work-life balance, to be a dad, to have a happy family. So, when I was faced with the opportunity to take on a global role, I needed to look at how that would work.

"[One of the things] I asked for was eight weeks of leave a year to spend more time with my family."

Mr Werksman's request was granted, and he now enjoys eight weeks of leave per year.

Kevin Werksman negotiated eight weeks of leave per year, to maximise the time he can spend with his young family. ( Supplied )

When it comes to asking for things like this, Mr Werksman said it was really important to be upfront about your expectations.

"Share your circumstances and where you're at, seek to have the honest conversation, understand all the possible outcomes, and explore how together you could make that work," he said.

"I think we're faced increasingly at the moment with people [who] are invested in wellbeing. Even more broadly, there's a change in focus from the hours working at the desk versus the outcomes we're achieving … and the fact that if employees are happier they work better."

And in case you were feeling guilty…

The research on why holidays are good for your health is substantial, especially if you're a bit of a workaholic.

"That freedom from stress is extremely good for your wellbeing," psychologist Christine Bagley-Jones said.

"Imagine your brain is like a computer and you never log off or do a virus check or clean it up — eventually it's going to get glitches and it's not going to perform so well.

"Holidays are literally a time to reboot."

Now all that's left to do is log your leave quickly, before your colleagues beat you to it.