TRUST POLICY

LEAVE

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FOR USE BY:

This document is to be followed by all staff of Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Trust and
Gloucestershire Managed Services

FAST FIND:

 Section 6 - for annual leave entitlements

 Section 9 - contains information on Bank Holiday entitlements
 Section 10 - for information on carrying leave over
 Section 14 - for details other types of leave which employees may be entitled to in certain
circumstances

 AC1 Annual Leave - Buying and Selling

 AC2 Parental Leave

 Time off for Trade Union Leave – Please see the Facilities Agreement

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ISSUE DATE: JUNE 2020 REVIEW DATE: JUNE 2023
1. INTRODUCTION / RATIONALE

Leave from work is an important element of work-life balance and the health and wellbeing of
employees; it can span a number of different circumstances. This policy establishes a clear
framework for the management of annual leave and other types of leave within the Trust.

2. DEFINITIONS

Word/Term Descriptor
Bereavement leave Previously known as compassionate leave.
Designated days 24-hour period, usually a Monday or Tuesday allocated as Bank Holiday time when a Bank
Holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday.

3. POLICY STATEMENT

This document lays out the basic conditions for leave entitlements. It must be read in conjunction
with any departmental procedures for booking and agreeing leave, and also the annual leave
resources on the HR Intranet site.

4. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Post/Group Details
Managers  Ensuring maximum efficiency of service delivery when organising leave
 Ensuring that employees take leave appropriately and at reasonable intervals
 Considering all leave requests in a fair and consistent manner (including
religious/cultural considerations)
 Considering short-notice requests for annual leave
Employees  Ensuring leave is requested with reasonable notice and in accordance with any
departmental procedures
 Ensuring all leave is appropriately authorised in advance
 Working with managers to ensure that own needs for leave are balanced with the needs
of the service

5. ANNUAL LEAVE YEAR

The annual leave year normally runs from 1st of April to 31st March. However, local agreements
may be made to adjust the standard leave year provided that staff are fully consulted with prior to
implementation. Options include:

 Uniform leave year for all, but starting on a different date (e.g. 1st January – 31st December)
 Individual leave year starting from date of appointment or from an individual’s birthday

Managers are encouraged to consider flexible adjustments to the standard annual leave year where
it eases bulk requests at the end of the financial year.

6. ANNUAL LEAVE ENTITLEMENT

Annual leave is normally calculated according to a standard entitlement. Certain exceptions are
detailed below. Contact a Human Resources advisor for guidance on implementing term-time and
annualised/seasonal contracts, or making any variations to these. This policy does not cover these
aspects.

6.1 Standard Entitlement

The table on the next page details entitlement for a standard working pattern for full/part time staff
who work regular shift patterns/hours over a five-day week. Leave entitlements also increase with
long service to the NHS.

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ISSUE DATE: JUNE 2020 REVIEW DATE: JUNE 2023
 Where an employee works a variety of shift patterns, or work different hours on different days,
annual leave entitlement should be calculated on the basis of hours worked to ensure consistency
when deducting leave.

Length of Service Inclusive leave entitlement*

On appointment to NHS 35 days† (27 days + 8 Bank Holidays)
After 5 years’ service 37 days (29 days + 8 Bank Holidays)
After 10 years’ service 41 days (33 days + 8 Bank Holidays)

*N.B. Pro-rata for part time staff. For further information on calculating leave entitlements, please refer to the HR
Intranet site
†Annual leave may also be calculated in hours for some staff.

6.2 Entitlement on Joining/Leaving the Service

Annual leave in the first year of employment will be pro-rata based on the number of complete
months worked after the date of joining and before the end of the annual leave year, e.g. an
employee joining the service on 1st October would receive half of the annual entitlement.

Employees whose employment contract is terminated part way through the annual leave year will
be entitled to a proportion of annual leave for each complete month worked in the current leave
year.

Payment will be made for any outstanding annual leave, as detailed and authorised by the
responsible manager on the employee’s Leavers Form. Where an employee has exceeded their
entitlement at the point of termination, an appropriate deduction will be made from the employee’s
final salary payment.

6.3 Term-time Contracts

Where an employee has a term-time contract, it is normally expected that all their leave will be
taken during school holiday periods. Term-time contracts are worked out individually and the timing
and duration of holiday periods form part of the contract of employment. Term time contracts will
also be reviewed at reasonable intervals to ensure fairness and consistency to other members of
staff in the area with childcare needs.

Salary is paid in equal instalments so that the leave component of the pay is equally divided across
the year.

6.4 Annualised Hours

Where an employee’s hours are calculated on an annual or seasonal basis, there may be a large
variation on the weekly/monthly/quarterly hours worked.

Annual leave entitlements for employees on this type of contract are usually calculated in hours.

6.5 Recording

Managers are responsible for ensuring that leave is appropriately recorded. Many areas will have
their own annual leave forms, such as the one used by Nursing: Nursing Leave Form.

6.6 Death in Service

Where an employee dies in service, the balance of annual leave remaining at the time of death will
be paid to the employee’s next of kin or person taking charge of the deceased employee’s estate.
Please refer to the B0617 Death in Service Action Card.

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ISSUE DATE: JUNE 2020 REVIEW DATE: JUNE 2023
7. MANAGEMENT OF ANNUAL LEAVE

All line managers must ensure the following:

 That all staff take the statutory annual leave allowance (i.e. 20 days, not counting bank
holidays)
 That their staff manage their own annual leave appropriately, e.g. spacing it throughout the
leave year
 That when planning staff leave for their own area, they take into account that any member of
staff will be absent for 17% of the time (annual leave + bank holidays – this does not account for
any sick leave)

8. CALCULATION OF NHS SERVICE

8.1 Previous Service

All previous NHS service (with NHS Trusts or Health Authorities) will be taken into account when
calculating entitlements to annual leave and some other types of leave (see section 13 below).

It does not normally include working within the NHS for another employer, such as GP practice or
contractor.

8.2 Verifying Service

The Trust will verify previous NHS service if possible, by contacting pervious employers or using the
NHS Pensions database. In circumstances where it is not possible for the Trust to confirm all NHS
service, the employee will be required to provide evidence, which could include:

 Pay slips or P60 from previous NHS employer(s)

 NHS Pensions membership statement

Nurse training and bank work does not count as previous service unless the employee was directly
employed by an NHS employer for the duration of their training.

9. BANK HOLIDAYS

9.1 Designated Days

 The total leave entitlement includes eight Bank holidays. Where a Bank Holiday falls on a
Saturday or Sunday, the following Monday or Tuesday is designated as a Bank Holiday. Where
more than eight Bank Holidays fall in one leave year, departmental managers will make a
decision as to whether the extra day(s) will be added to the entitlement, or whether employees
will need to borrow leave from the next leave year.
 Requirement to work Bank Holidays is determined by contractual arrangements and service
need. Employees required to work a Bank Holiday as part of their normal working week will take
an annual leave day at another time, which will be deducted from the total entitlement.
 If all contractual hours are worked during the week of a bank holiday (i.e. the bank holiday falls
on a rest day), it will not be deducted and may be taken at another time.
 Employees who wish to work a Bank Holiday when not required to should approach their
manager, who may authorise this subject to service requirements.

9.2 Part Time Employees

Employees contracted to work on a part-time basis are entitled to a pro-rata Bank Holiday
entitlement based on the standard eight days.

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ISSUE DATE: JUNE 2020 REVIEW DATE: JUNE 2023
10. CARRYING LEAVE OVER

 Employees are responsible for ensuring that they take their annual leave during the designated
leave year. Up to three working days (maximum 22.5 hours) for full-time employees (pro-rata for
part-time employees) may be carried over to the following year by agreement with line manager.
Carried over leave should normally be taken within the first three months of the start of the new
leave year. Managers must consider employees’ requests sensitively and not place
blanket bans on carry-over of leave unless there is a genuine risk to service provision.
 In accordance with the Trust’s Flexible Working Policy, it may be appropriate to allow leave
carry-over on an occasional basis for individuals with a particular request, such as an extended
holiday.
 It is important to ensure that any authorisation of extended carry over of leave is compliant with
the Working Time Directive minimum of 5.6 weeks per working year.
 Carry over provisions may change in light of exceptional circumstances e.g. Pandemics.
 New temporary statutory rules introduced by the government to deal with COVID-19 pressures
mean that employees who are unable to take their annual leave entitlement due to COVID-19,
can carry over up to 20 days (pro-rated for part-time staff) of annual leave over a two year
period. However:

o if employees cannot take bank holidays off due to COVID-19, they should use the annual
leave at a later date in their leave year
o if this is not possible, bank holidays can be included in the 20 days’ annual leave that
can be carried over. This holiday can be taken at any time over a two-year period.

11. SICKNESS DURING ANNUAL LEAVE

Annual leave will be re-added to the employee’s entitlement if an employee is sick whilst on annual
leave and a medical certificate is provided. This does not apply to sickness during Bank Holidays.

Phased returns to work may involve use of carried over leave as part of the rehabilitation plan. This
will be agreed on a case-by-case basis with the manager and HR. Please refer to the Sickness
Management Policy for full details of this arrangement

12. EXTENDED ANNUAL LEAVE

 Line managers are responsible for agreeing periods of extended leave with employees, which
may be a combination of paid and unpaid leave depending on the amount of leave remaining for
that year.
 Requests should not be unreasonably refused by the manager and will be dependent upon
service requirements. Consideration must be given to ensuring that the employee has adequate
rest periods for the rest of that leave year.
 Longer periods of leave (more than three months) can be considered under the Trust’s Career
Break Policy.

13. ANNUAL LEAVE BUYING AND SELLING

Employees may buy or sell annual leave, subject to management approval in line with the
parameters outlined in the scheme guidelines. See AC1 for details of the process.

All requests to sell annual leave must meet all the criteria as set out in action card LEA1 and must
be submitted on the relevant form (See RD3) for approval by an Executive Director.

All requests to purchase annual leave must be made on the appropriate form (See RD2).

To deal with operational pressures, a manager may request that an individual sell up to one week of
their annual leave (subject to having taken the minimum statutory leave). However, an individual
may reasonably refuse this request.

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ISSUE DATE: JUNE 2020 REVIEW DATE: JUNE 2023
14. OTHER TYPES OF LEAVE

14.1 Types of Leave Available

 A range of other types of leave are available to Trust employees in certain circumstances.
These are:

o Time off for interviews – see 14.2 below

o Time off for Jury Service/court attendance as a witness – see 14.3 below
o Time off for civic and public duties – see 14.4 below
o Time off for reservists – see 14.5 below and the Armed Forces Reservists procedure
o Time off for a Special Constable – see 14.6 below
o Time off for medical/dental appointments – see 14.7 below
o Time off for emergencies (including domestic/carer needs) – see 14.8 below
o Time off for bereavement – see 14.9 below
o Time off during adverse weather conditions – see 14.10 below
o Time off for trade union activities – see the Facilities Agreement

 In all cases, if line managers feel that they will have problems accommodating any request for
another type of leave, or the employee’s absence will cause service delivery problems, contact
the HR department in the first instance.
 Long term leave can be requested in the form of a sabbatical or career break. See the Career
Break procedure for details.

14.2 Time Off for Interviews

 Managers are entitled to ask for evidence of the interview before granting any request for time
off
 Employees are allowed reasonable paid time off to attend NHS interviews, taking into account
any travelling time needed and other time off given for interviews in the last 12 months
 Employees wishing to attend an interview for a non-NHS post must take annual leave or attend
outside their working hours
 Any employee who has worked at the Trust for more than two years and has been placed at risk
of redundancy is legally entitled to time off to look for another job, or arrange training for future
employment.

14.3 Time Off for Jury Service/Attendance at Court as a Witness

 Employees must give their line manager a copy of the request from the court as soon as they
receive it, so that arrangements can be made to cover their work
 Reasonable paid time off will be paid by the Trust for jury service. Employees are expected to
contact their line manager if they are released early whilst on jury service in case they are
needed at work, or if they are allocated to a lengthy case which will take them over the
“standard” period of service, which is usually two weeks. Requests for carry over of leave will
also be looked at sympathetically where an employee is on a lengthy period of jury service
which runs across the end of the annual leave year
 Employees on jury service cannot claim their pay back from the court, but are entitled to claim
other reasonable expenses
 Reasonable time off with pay will be made for attendance at court as a witness if it relates to
Trust business – see the Medical Staff Handbook for those who have to attend court in medico-
legal cases
 Employees are usually expected to take annual leave to attend court if it is not related to Trust
business – contact the HR department for advice.

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ISSUE DATE: JUNE 2020 REVIEW DATE: JUNE 2023
14.4 Time Off for Civic or Public Duties

Civic or public duties include service to local or national government, as service as a magistrate or
prison visitor.

 Employees are allowed reasonable time off to undertake civic or public duties. A maximum of
18 days per year may be taken in negotiation with the line manager, of which 5 days will be
paid.
 The Trust will reclaim the cost of the employee’s time back from the organisation (e.g. County
Court, Prison Service) where this is possible – employees may not be paid twice and must
declare to the Trust if they receive payment from the organisation
 Line managers are entitled to ask for evidence from the employee before considering the
request
 Line managers must consider the request in the context of their own service and the effects that
the employee’s absence would have upon it on a regular basis.

14.5 Time Off as an Armed Forces Reserve

See the Armed Forces Reserves Procedure.

Trust employee who are reserves and are mobilised across the end of an annual leave year may
carry over any outstanding statutory leave into the next annual leave year.

14.6 Time Off as a Special Constable

Trust employees who are special constables are entitled to up to two days paid leave per year to
support training. The Trust reserves the right to restrict this to maintain service provision.

14.7 Time Off for Medical/Dental Appointments

 Employees are encouraged to schedule medical/dental appointments outside their normal

working hours or at the beginning or end of the day. The Trust recognises that it is often not
possible to request specific time for appointments. In such cases, employees are required to
work the time back or consider other arrangements such as unpaid leave, use of annual leave or
TOIL.
 Employees should give their line manager as much notice as possible of appointments.
 If an employee is unfit to work before or after the appointment, line managers must record this
time as sick leave.
 Any time off for diagnostic tests requiring admission to hospital will be recorded as sick leave.
 Managers should ensure that appropriate reasonable adjustments are made to duties and
working environment where this is appropriate and practical in line with Trust Guidance –
Guidance for Managers
 Please refer to the Maternity, Adoption and Parental leave policy for information regarding time
off for antenatal or postnatal appointments.

14.8 Time Off for Emergencies

This covers unforeseen domestic emergencies that require the immediate attendance of the
employee, and may include emergencies with dependants (spouse, child or parent), or for domestic
emergencies such as fire or robbery in the employee’s own home.

 Employees can only take one day’s leave for each emergency situation, and emergency leave
may be granted up to twice in any one leave year.
 Leave is granted to enable the employee to attend to the emergency and put in any necessary
ongoing arrangements such as alternative care.
 Emergency leave is separate to annual leave and therefore this time off should not be deducted
from an employee’s annual leave entitlement.

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ISSUE DATE: JUNE 2020 REVIEW DATE: JUNE 2023
 Depending on the circumstances and any frequency of requests for emergency leave managers
may consider other options in addition/instead of granting paid leave, these may include unpaid
leave, use of annual leave or TOIL, change of shift pattern.

14.9 Bereavement Leave

 Managers may grant paid leave up to a maximum of one working week for employees who have
suffered the bereavement of a close family member or in the event of someone who is not a
family member subject to management discretion. Situations like this must be considered on a
case by case basis. In the case of the bereavement of a child or the employee suffers a stillbirth
from 24 weeks of pregnancy, Managers may grant paid leave up to a maximum of two weeks for
employees. This leave must be taken within 56 weeks following the death of a child.
 Employees are encouraged to raise any concerns regarding this leave with their line manager
and seek their guidance if additional leave is required.
 Pay for bereavement leave will be calculated based on the three months prior to the first day of
leave.

14.10 Time off During Adverse Weather Conditions

Line managers must use discretion and knowledge of local circumstances in the event of severe
weather conditions. The following will apply:

 Employees who attend work will be treated as being present for their full working day, whether
or not they have been able to attend for the full period
 Employees may request to work at another NHS hospital/facility, take annual leave, or make
other arrangements with their line manager. They will receive full pay in these circumstances.
 Managers may consider the option of working from home and should seek guidance from the
Trust’s Working from Home Policy

15. LEAVE DISPUTES

Employees have recourse to the Trust’s Grievance Policy if leave is unreasonably turned down.

16. TRAINING

There is no formal training for this policy; information on its use is available from the HR department.

17. MONITORING OF COMPLIANCE

Do the systems or processes in this document have to be monitored in line with national, regional or
NO
Trust requirements?

18. REFERENCES

None

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ISSUE DATE: JUNE 2020 REVIEW DATE: JUNE 2023
 DOCUMENT PROFILE

Reference Number B0286

Title Leave
Category Non-Clinical
Version V5
Issue Date June 2020
Review Date June 2023
Owning Division Corporate
Owning Specialty Human Resources
Associated Specialities N/A
For Use By GHNHST & GMS STAFF
Author Bilal Pandore, HR Manager
Quality Assurance Group Human Resources Policy Group (HRPG)
Other Approving Groups N/A
Local Approval Details HRPG on 3rd June 2020
TPAG Ratification E-Approved 22/06/2020
Consultees HR Policy Group, Joint Negotiation Committee, Divisional Managers, HR team, staff side
Dissemination Details Upload to Policy Site; cascaded via divisions
Keywords Leave, Entitlement, Annual Leave, Other Types of Leave
Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) B0286 EIA
Related Trust Documents AC1 Annual Leave - Buying and Selling
AC2 Parental Leave
Career Break Procedure
Other Relevant Documents Flexible Working Policy;
Maternity, Paternity and Adoption Leave Policy;
Sickness Management Policy;
Grievance Policy
Career Break Procedure
External Compliance Standards N/A
and/or Legislation

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ISSUE DATE: JUNE 2020 REVIEW DATE: JUNE 2023