Annual leave and general public holidays

13.3 Annual leave and General Public Holiday entitlement will be broken down into hours but will be recorded separately either as A/L or BH hours.

Example

A full time staff member working 37½ hours a week with standard shifts of 7.5 hours a day on appointment will be entitled to:

• 7½ (hours) x 27 (days) = 202½ hours annual leave entitlement
• 7½ (hours) x 10 (days) = 75 hours GPH entitlement

Giving a total of 277½ hours leave to be taken over the year.

Part-time workers will be entitled to paid bank holidays no less than pro-rata to the number of bank holidays for a full-time worker, rounded up to the nearest half hour.

Example

A staff member employed on 30 hours a week (ie. 0.8 Whole Time Equivalent) on appointment will receive:

• 7½ (hrs) x 27 (days) = 202½ x 0.8 = 162 hrs annual leave entitlement
• 7½ (hrs) x 10 (days) = 75 x 0.8 = 60 hrs GPH entitlement

Giving a total of 222 hours leave to be taken over the year.

13.5 On occasion the annual leave year may contain a greater or lesser number of GPH than the 10 stated. It is recognised that staff may either have a positive carry over (greater than that stated in paragraph 13.12) or a negative carry over equivalent to the number of GPHs extra in that year (and no greater).

Example

On occasions Easter may fall in April and March of the same annual leave year. An example of this occurring is the annual leave year 2007/8 which contains 2 Good Friday bank holidays and 2 Easter Monday bank holidays, it therefore contains 12 GPHs. It is accepted that a staff member may carry over minus fifteen hours (2x 7½ hours standard day) to 2008/9 which contains no Good Friday or Easter Monday therefore has only 8 GPHs.

13.6 Carry over of a negative balance is only permissible in the situation described above.

13.7 Staff who are not required to work on a GPH due to the department’s working hours will be required to have the time they would have worked on the GPH deducted from the annual entitlement as if they had taken annual leave that day (at plain time). It is the staff member’s responsibility to ensure that sufficient leave is available for GPHs as and when they fall.

Staff who are not at work on a GPH due to other leave arrangements (e.g. sick leave, special leave) will not be entitled to claim the GPH as part of their leave entitlement and this must also be deducted from any leave entitlement as if had been taken on the day.

13.8 For any staff member who is employed on shifts providing 365/6 days a year cover may apply to take time for these days at any time during the year. The granting of time off for GPHs will be subject to management agreement, taking into account the needs of the service and time off requested by other staff. In general the same principle will be applied in considering requests for time off on the GPHs as are applied in considering requests for annual leave. Staff who work on a GPH will receive payment for the hours worked as per the local agreements for unsocial hours payments as referred to in Section 2 of the Handbook.

13.9 Staff required to be on call on a GPH should not take the day as leave. This will then erase the need for time owing in lieu to be given and mean that the time can be taken back at any point in the year. In addition they will receive the appropriate payment for any on call hours worked.

Example

A member of staff is on call from 8am to 8pm on a GPH. Their leave entitlement will not reduce due to the day being a GPH and they will receive appropriate payment for hours worked as outlined in Section 2.

13.10 Part time staff will be required to deduct the hours they would have worked in the GPH from their annual entitlement.

Example

A staff member who works 20 hours per week over 5 days with standard shifts of 4 hours a day will be required to deduct 4 hours from their entitlement for every GPH they do not work.

13.11 If however the staff member works non standard shifts ie. 8 hours for 2 days and 4 hours for 1 day a week, and the GPH falls on a day they would usually work 8 hours, they would be required to either:

• Take the required leave hours for that day (8 hours)
• Take the standard shift hours and work the excess hours on another day mutually agreed that week ie. 4 hours leave and 4 hours worked extra over the week which could be the day they are due to work 4 hours they work 8 hours
• Take any time owing that is outstanding under the TOIL guidelines ie. 4 hours leave 4 hours TOIL.

13.12 Staff are normally entitled to carry over a maximum of 5 days annual leave per year. There will be no stipulations as to when in the following year these 5 days are to be taken. In the exceptional circumstance that staff are specifically prevented from taking leave by management due to service requirements, the manager may apply in writing to the relevant senior manager eg: Hospital Manager, General Manager Primary Care, Director of Estates, Assistant Director of Mental Health, Director of Human Resources, for staff to have their surplus carry over of leave authorised.

13.13 An existing worker who, prior to April 2006, was in receipt of a bank holiday entitlement in excess of pro-rata to a full-time worker, shall have their excess entitlement protected for a period of five years from the date of assimilation into the new system.

13.14 Pay during annual leave will include regularly paid supplements (regularly paid supplements means any enhancements you attract from working your contracted hours) including any recruitment and retention premia (if it exists at the time). Pay is calculated on the basis of what the individual would have received had he/she been at work.

13.15 Annual leave and any general public holiday entitlement which is incorporated into staffs annual leave entitlement will be calculated pro rata for staff joining the service part way through a financial year.

13.16 When the annual leave anniversary falls part way through a leave year any increases will be calculated pro rata for the remainder of that year and rolled up with the entire leave for that year.

Example

A staff member with a contractual continuity of service date of 1 October, who has 4 years service at the start of the leave year, will receive 27 days. On the 1 October they will have 5 years service and therefore receive 29 days leave for the remainder of the year.

Thus the leave calculation for that year will be:

• 6 mths @ 27 days (202½ hours) = 27 (202½)/12 x 6 = 13 ½ (101¼)
• Plus 6 mths @ 29 days (217½) = 29 (217½)/12 x 6 = 14½ (108¾)

So the staff member would be entitled to 28 days (210 hours) for the leave year.