There is an entitlement to 35 working days paid leave in each
holiday year. This is in addition to the statutory Public Holidays,
and to those times when an institution is closed in the interest of
efficiency (for example in the period between Christmas and the New
Year.)
As the Institution recognises the mutual obligations that are
placed on the employer as a result of the new contract conditions,
it will not unreasonably insist that lecturers must confine annual
leave to periods outside term times. However, because of the need
to ensure that operational requirements can be met during the 38
week teaching year, annual leave will be subject to mutual prior
agreement between the individual lecturer and the appropriate
manager. Staff may request that up to 6 weeks of their normal
holiday entitlement be taken in one continuous period, and such a
request will not unreasonably be refused. Annual leave requested
and taken will be recorded on personal leave cards (now called
Record Cards), which can be seen by the Dean on request, and
should be endorsed with the Dean's signature to indicate approval.
Leave cards may be retained by the member of staff. Records of
leave taken will be required for example when staff leave part way
through the year.
The leave year runs from 1 October to 30 September. Staff
starting or leaving employment part way through any of the year
will be entitled to a pro-rata entitlement, rounded up to the
nearest whole day. Up to five days of any outstanding (ie untaken)
leave entitlement may be carried forward with the permission of the
appropriate manager; any amount beyond that will be lost.
Additional Notes
Situations may arise where it is not possible for individual
days of leave to be notified in advance, particularly if they occur
during the period of self-managed scholarly activity. These should
be notified retrospectively, duly entered on the leave card and
submitted to the Dean of School for endorsement. Academic
staff should make every effort to report significant blocks of time
for the leave in advance.
The period of self-managed scholarly activity does not form
part of the agreement on leave and should not be linked with it. It
may be, however, that some staff wish to combine leave and
scholarly activity. They should estimate in advance the proportion
of that time that should be counted as leave and fill in the leave
card as appropriate in advance. If it turns out that this estimate
was too high or too low, then the staff member should notify
the Dean as soon as convenient and submit the amended leave
card for signature.
Sickness During Annual Leave
Members of staff who are unable
to take annual leave because of sickness may apply to have the
period of leave in question reinstated to their entitlement for the
current leave year, provided that the leave in question had been
formally approved in advance using the record and that the medical
certificate or self certification form covering the full period of
sickness is sent to the Dean of School with the request for
reinstatement immediately the period of sickness ends. This
provision does not override the regulation contained in Sick
Leave/Pay section of the Staff Handbook.
Teaching Related Administration Weeks
The record card now includes the
2 weeks teaching related administration which academic staff
undertake in addition to the 36 week teaching year, so that it is
clear when staff are available for this. These should be at times
to be arranged by agreement with the Dean, having due regard to the
operational needs of the school and the wishes of the member of
staff. They may fall during the Christmas, Easter or Summer
vacation periods.
Staff should normally agree the
dates in the preceding May/June when agreeing their planned
timetable.