ANNUAL LEAVE POLICY. APPROVED BY: South Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group Quality and Governance Committee

Transcription

1 ANNUAL LEAVE POLICY APPROVED BY: South Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group Quality and Governance Committee DATE Date of Issue: Version No: 1 Date of Review: Author:- North Bristol Trust and Joanne Rowse, Head of Governance and Risk, CCG 1

2 Document status: Current Version Date Comments Draft JBR comments Draft Reviewed by Policy Review Group Version For approval by Quality and Governance Committee 2

3 CONTENTS Section Summary of Section Page Cont Contents 3 1 What is annual leave? 4 2 Who is entitled to annual leave? 4 3 When should I use my annual leave? 4 4 How much annual leave am I entitled to? 4 5 When is the annual leave year? 5 6 How is my annual leave calculated? 5 7 Am I entitled to any statutory leave days? 5 8 Religious Leave/Leave for other Religious Festivals 6 9 What happens to my annual leave if I am sick whilst 6 on annual leave? 10 What happens to my annual leave if I am on 7 maternity leave? 11 What happens to my annual leave if I leave one 7 NHS Organisation to start work at the CCG? 12 How much annual leave can I take at one time? 8 13 How much notice of my intention to take annual 8 leave should I give? 14 How do I apply for annual leave? 8 15 What can I do if my annual leave request is refused? 8 16 I have started part way through a leave year, how do 8 I work out my annual leave 17 How do I work out my annual leave if I change my 9 hours part way through the leave year? 18 Equal Opportunities/Equalities Impact Assessment 9 19 Review 9 Appendix Appendix 1 Agenda for Change: Annual leave entitlement for 10 complete years exclusive of bank holidays Appendix 2 Agenda for Change: Calculation of Bank Holiday 12 entitlement Appendix 3 Annual Leave Record/Request Card 14 3

4 This document should be read in conjunction with the Annual Leave provisions which can be found in Section 13 of the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook 1. WHAT IS ANNUAL LEAVE? 1.1. Annual leave is your right to paid leave when you are not expected to attend work or engage in any work related activity for the CCG. 2. WHO IS ENTITLED TO ANNUAL LEAVE? 2.1 You are entitled to annual leave if you are employed by the CCG and have a contract of employment with the CCG. 2.2 Who does this policy apply to? This policy applies to all staff employed by the CCG with the exception of: Bank staff Staff not covered by Agenda for Change and who choose to stay on local contracts will be entitled to annual leave as shown in Section 4 below Medical staff 3. WHEN SHOULD I USE MY ANNUAL LEAVE? 3.1. The CCG actively encourages staff to take annual leave in blocks throughout the year in line with Improving Working Lives principles to ensure that there is a sufficient break away from work. 3.2 Annual leave should not be substituted for sick leave, maternity leave, compassionate leave, special leave, paternity leave, adoption leave, parental leave or domestic/carer leave. See your line manager, the Work Life Balance Policy or ask the HR department for further information on these policies. 4 HOW MUCH ANNUAL LEAVE AM I ENTITLED TO? 4.1 Your annual leave entitlement, including leave for bank holidays is incorporated into your contractual terms and conditions of employment. See Appendix 1 for annual leave entitlements. 4.2 Your entitlement to annual leave will increase with your aggregated length of reckonable service. Reckonable service for the purpose of annual leave entitlement is set out within the Reckonable Service Policy. 4.3 All full time staff will receive the following entitlement to annual leave: On appointment: After 5 yrs aggregated service: After 10 yrs aggregated service: 27 days + 8 days statutory holiday 29 days + 8 days statutory holiday 33 days + 8 days statutory holiday 4

5 4.4 This entitlement will be pro-rata d for part time staff and will be calculated in hours. Staff who are employed on a Local Contract, for example Senior Managers, who did not opt to move to Agenda for Change terms and conditions will retain their Annual Leave entitlement as detailed in the Annual Leave Policy in force on 30 September WHEN IS THE ANNUAL LEAVE YEAR? 5.1 The CCG s annual leave year runs from 1 April to 31 March. 5.2 What if I start part way in to the annual leave year? New entrants to the organisation shall be entitled in the leave year of entry to annual leave proportionate to the completed service during that year. 5.3 Can I carry any annual leave days into the next annual leave year? You should endeavour to take all your annual leave allowance between 1st April and 31st March. If you cannot take all your annual leave during this time it may be possible for you to carry up to five days (pro rata for part-time staff) annual leave into the next leave year. If you wish to carry annual leave days into the following year this should be mutually agreed with your line manager. The request should be made in writing to your line manager, at least six weeks before the end of the current leave year. If you are unhappy with your line manager s decision you have the right to appeal. See the Grievance Policy and Procedure. 6 HOW IS MY ANNUAL LEAVE CALCULATED? 6.1 If you are a member of staff working full time over 5 days your annual leave may be calculated in days, however in order to allow flexibility it may be calculated in hours. This would need to be in agreement with your head of department or line manager. If you are working a flexible working week your annual leave will be calculated in hours. 6.2 In accordance with the Part-time Workers (prevention of less favourable treatment) Regulations if you work part time your annual leave will be calculated in hours on a pro-rata basis. See Appendix 1 for further details. 6.3 If you have a full time non-standard working pattern e.g. 9 day fortnight, condensed days you must calculate your leave in hours. 7 AM I ENTITLED TO ANY STATUTORY LEAVE DAYS? 7.1 You are entitled to extra statutory days in the form of bank holidays. There are normally 8 statutory holiday days in a year. These are as follows: New Year s Day Good Friday Easter Monday May Day Spring Bank Holiday Monday 5

6 Late Summer Bank Holiday Monday Christmas Day Boxing Day 7.2 If you work part time your bank holiday entitlement should be added to your annual leave entitlement and then total rounded up to the nearest half-day. Notes: If you work full time over less than five days per week you must calculate your allowance in hours but no rounding up is possible, as this would lead to you having more than a full time allowance. The amount of leave taken is the normal working hours for the particular day leave is taken. If you join or leave the CCG part way through a leave year you will be entitled to the number of statutory holidays that fall within the period that you actually worked e.g. joining in September you be entitled to 3 statutory holidays as Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year s Day fall within the period. The number of hours entitlement will be calculated as eighths of the entitlement identified in Appendix 2. In this example therefore the calculation would be 3 eighths. 7.3 What happens if I am a Part time member of staff and my department closes on a Bank Holiday? When a bank holiday occurs on a day you would normally work, you should deduct the number of hours that you would have worked on that day from your total leave entitlement (annual leave entitlement + bank holiday entitlement). 7.4 What happens to my statutory days if I have to work on a bank holiday? If you are required to work on a statutory or public holiday you are entitled to another day off with pay in lieu. In other words you do not need to deduct any hours from your combined Annual Leave and Bank Holiday allowance as RELIGIOUS LEAVE/LEAVE FOR OTHER RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS 8.1 Managers should be sympathetic to staff requests for annual leave to celebrate a religious festival whilst also ensuring service requirements are met. Managers can contact Human Resources for further guidance if necessary. 9 WHAT HAPPENS TO MY ANNUAL LEAVE IF I AM SICK WHILST ON ANNUAL LEAVE? 9.1 If you fall sick during your annual leave you should follow the reporting and certification procedure as set out in the Sickness Absence Policy. You will be regarded as being on sick leave from the date of your certificate. You may then rearrange the affected annual leave with your line manager. Likewise, 6

7 previously arranged annual leave, which occurs during a period of sickness, can be recovered and taken at a later date. 9.2 If you are sick on a statutory holiday you will not be able to rearrange this leave. 9.3 Am I entitled to accrue annual leave if I am on long-term sick leave? Yes, during your paid and unpaid sick leave you continue to accrue Annual Leave. You will not however accrue Bank Holiday entitlement for any BH that fall within the period of your sick absence. Refer to the Sickness Absence Policy for guidance on the carry-over of untaken annual leave as a result of long term sick leave. 10 WHAT HAPPENS TO MY ANNUAL LEAVE IF I AM ON MATERNITY LEAVE? 10.1 You must discuss your annual leave entitlement fully with your line manager before your maternity leave commences If you are intending to return to work, you will continue to accrue Annual Leave and Bank Holidays throughout your maternity leave. If you are returning to work, the carry over rules apply as per Maternity Leave policy. 11 WHAT HAPPENS TO MY ANNUAL LEAVE IF I LEAVE ONE NHS ORGANISATION TO START WORK AT THE CCG 11.1 Annual Leave is calculated according to aggregated, all previous, NHS service as opposed to continuous service What happens to my annual leave if I leave the CCG to start work at another NHS organisation? You will be entitled to annual leave proportionate to the completed service during that year In normal circumstances any outstanding annual leave will be paid in to your final salary packet. If you have taken more leave than you are entitled to at your leaving date, this will be deducted from your final salary What happens to my annual leave if I retire from the CCG? If you are retiring from the CCG you will be entitled in the leave year of your retirement date to annual leave proportionate to the number of completed months of service during that year. Every effort should be made to take your entitlement before you leave but if for some reason this allowance is not taken you will be entitled to payment in lieu of annual leave in your final salary. Please note that this may extend your period of employment for pension purposes and should be discussed with the pension officer. 7

8 12 HOW MUCH ANNUAL LEAVE CAN I TAKE AT ONE TIME 12.1 Two to three week s annual leave will normally be granted providing service requirements can be met. Requests over three weeks will only be granted if service requirements will not be adversely affected and you can substantiate your reason for wanting more than 3 weeks annual leave. 13 HOW MUCH NOTICE OF MY INTENTION TO TAKE ANNUAL LEAVE SHOULD I GIVE? 13.1 If you require a week or more annual leave you should aim to give your manager as much notice as possible. In exceptional circumstances requests for annual leave of less than a week can be made at short notice but these will only be agreed if service requirements can be met. In all cases, annual leave must be agreed with your manager in advance of the leave being taken. 14 HOW DO I APPLY FOR ANNUAL LEAVE? 14.1 For annual leave up to three weeks complete your annual leave form (see Appendix 3) and pass it to your line manager for authorisation. Annual leave requests exceeding three weeks requests must be made in writing to your line manager and a copy sent to your line manager s manager. If the request is permitted your line manager will inform you. At this stage complete your annual leave form and pass it to your line manager for approval. 15 WHAT CAN I DO IF MY ANNUAL LEAVE REQUEST IS REFUSED? 15.1 If your annual leave request is refused you are entitled to a full explanation from your line manager as to why it has been refused. If you are unhappy with this explanation you are entitled to appeal using the Grievance procedure. 16 I HAVE STARTED PART WAY THROUGH A LEAVE YEAR, HOW DO I WORK OUT MY ANNUAL LEAVE ENTITLEMENT? 16.1 Appendix 1 highlights what your yearly entitlement would be based on your working hours Divide this by 52 (weeks in the year) this will give you your weekly annual leave entitlement Then multiply this by the number of weeks you will work within the leave year. This will give you a part year annual leave entitlement The bank holiday is calculated differently Bank Holidays are accrued for specific dates only. If you need to calculate a part year you divide the entitlement by the number of Bank Holidays in the year [8] and multiply by the number that actually fall within the period you work. 8

9 17 HOW DO I WORK OUT MY ANNUAL LEAVE IF I CHANGE MY HOURS PART WAY THROUGH THE LEAVE YEAR? 17.1 Follow the method in 16 - complete different calculations for the difference periods for each change in hours - e.g. 20 weeks at 16 hours, 32 weeks at You will also need to recalculate your Bank Holiday entitlement The same applies if you reach 5 or 10 years service part way through the leave year. 18. EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES/EQUALITIES IMPACT ASSESSMENT 18.1 An Equality Impact Assessment has been completed for this policy and procedure and it does not marginalise or discriminate minority groups. 19 REVIEW DATE 19.1 This policy and procedure will be reviewed after 2 years, or earlier at the request of either staff or management side, or in light of any changes to legislation or National Guidance. 9

10 APPENDIX 1 Agenda for Change: Annual leave entitlement for complete years exclusive of bank holidays WEEKLY BASIC CONTRACTED HOURS ON APPOINTMENT AFTER 5 YEARS SERVICE AFTER 10 YEARS SERVICE 27 DAYS 29 DAYS 33 DAYS HOURS EQUIVALENT:

11 Agenda for Change: Annual leave entitlement for complete years exclusive of bank holidays WEEKLY BASIC CONTRACTED HOURS ON APPOINTMENT AFTER 5 YEARS SERVICE AFTER 10 YEARS SERVICE 27 DAYS 29 DAYS 33 DAYS HOURS EQUIVALENT:

12 Agenda for Change: Calculation of Bank Holiday entitlement APPENDIX 2 WEEKLY BASIC CONTRACTED HOURS HOURLY ENTITLEMENT FOR FULL LEAVE YEAR (8 BANK HOLIDAYS)

13 WEEKLY BASIC CONTRACTED HOURS HOURLY ENTITLEMENT FOR FULL LEAVE YEAR (8 BANK HOLIDAYS)

14 Annual Leave Record/Request Card APPENDIX 3 Employee Name Department Annual Leave entitlement (days/hours) Grade Agreed aggregated service Leave Year Leave requested From To No. of days or hours Remaining balance Date of request Leave carried over from previous year (days/hours) Bank Holiday entitlement (days/hours) Total entitlement (days/hours) N.B. rounded up to nearest half day for part-time workers Employee signature Managers signature Date of approval or date and reason for refusal You can apply to carry over a maximum of 5 days pro-rata 14