Annual Leave Policy MECCG Policy Reference: MECCG082
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Annual Leave Policy MECCG Policy Reference: MECCG082 Brief Description (max 50 It is the policy of the organisation to encourage all staff to take words) their periods of annual leave in blocks throughout the year to ensure the welfare of its employees and that individuals’ receive the full benefit of a rest and break away from work. Target Audience All CCG employees Action Required To be approved by the CCG Board then disseminated to all staff Document Information Version Number 1.1 Accountable Director Director of Corporate Services Responsible Officer/ Head of Human Resources Policy Owner Date Approved by 26 September 2018 Quality, Finance & Governance Committee Approved By Board 27 September 2018 (extended by 12 months at Board 26 March 2020) Review Date September 2021 Stakeholders engaged Finance Quality & Governance Committee in development or Joint Staff Forum review Equality Impact EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT Assessment This document has been assessed for equality impact on the protected groups, as set out in the Equality Act 2010. This Policy is applicable to the Board, every member of staff within the CCG irrespective of their age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, pregnancy, maternity, race (which includes colour, nationality and ethnic or national origins), sexual orientation, religion or belief, marriage or civil partnership, and those who work on behalf of the CCG Amendment History Version Date Reviewer Name(s) Comments 1.1 July 18 Counter Fraud – Charlie Updates in relation to Counter Roberts in conjunction Fraud. with HR Policy Ref: MECCG082 Version: 1.1 Approved: 27 September 2018 Review date: September 2021 1 Associated Policy Documents Reference Title MECCG085 Disciplinary Policy & Procedure MECCG008 Anti-Fraud and Corruption Policy MECCG105 Absence Management Policy MECCG088 Grievance Policy CONTENTS PAGE NO 1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................ 3 2 SCOPE ............................................................................................................................... 3 3 Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) ...................................................................................... 3 4 POLICY STATEMENT ........................................................................................................ 3 5 Entitlements and Application ............................................................................................... 3 THE ANNUAL LEAVE YEAR .............................................................................................. 4 ENTITLEMENTS ................................................................................................................. 4 Length of Service ....................................................................................................................... 4 Holidays (days) .......................................................................................................................... 4 Holidays (hours) ......................................................................................................................... 4 SICKNESS AND ANNUAL LEAVE ..................................................................................... 5 PROCEDURE FOR BOOKING ANNUAL LEAVE ............................................................... 5 BANK HOLIDAYS ............................................................................................................... 6 Calculating annual leave and bank holiday entitlements ..................................................... 6 6. WORKING eXAMPLES ....................................................................................................... 7 Annualised Hours ................................................................................................................ 7 non standard Hours............................................................................................................. 7 Term Time Hours ................................................................................................................ 8 7. nEW jOINERS, lEAVERS AND cHANGES TO HOURS ..................................................... 9 Calculation of annual leave entitlement for NEW JOINERS ................................................ 9 Calculation of Bank Holiday entitlement for NEW JOINERS ............................................... 9 leaving Employment ............................................................................................................ 9 changes in contracted hours ............................................................................................. 10 8. Long service ...................................................................................................................... 10 Policy Ref: MECCG082 Version: 1.1 Approved: 27 September 2018 Review date: September 2021 2 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 All employees’ of Mid Essex CCG (hereafter referred to as the organisation) have a contractual entitlement to paid Annual Leave and Bank holidays. The statutory minimum holiday entitlement under the Working Time Regulations 1998 is currently 5.6 weeks (pro- rata for part time staff). As an NHS employer the organisation offers contractual Annual Leave in line with Agenda for Change, therefore an individual’s entitlement is dependent upon the employees’ length of service and working hours. 2 SCOPE 2.1 This policy will apply to all staff directly employed by the organisation, irrespective of hours worked, length of service, or whether employed permanently. 3 EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT (EIA) 3.1 This policy is applicable to every member of staff within the organisation and in applying this policy, the organisation will have due regard for the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, promote equality of opportunity, and provide for good relations between people of diverse groups, in particular on the grounds of the following characteristics protected by the Equality Act (2010); age, disability, gender, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, and sexual orientation, in addition to offending background, trade union membership, or any other personal characteristic. 4 POLICY STATEMENT 4.1 It is the policy of the organisation to encourage all staff to take their periods of annual leave in blocks throughout the year to ensure the welfare of its employees and that individuals’ receive the full benefit of a rest and break away from work. Employees must ensure they manage their annual leave effectively and should aim to take their full entitlement each year. Managers should endeavour to ensure that the workloads of employees do not prevent any employee from taking their entitlement of annual leave. 4.2 The organisation is committed to promoting health and wellbeing in the workplace and as such does not expect any staff to fulfil working commitments during periods of annual leave. Annual leave should enable a member of staff to take time away from work to relax and enjoy a break. 5 ENTITLEMENTS AND APPLICATION Policy Ref: MECCG082 Version: 1.1 Approved: 27 September 2018 Review date: September 2021 3 THE ANNUAL LEAVE YEAR 5.1 The annual leave year runs from 1st April to 31st March each year. Employees should ensure that they take their full entitlement to annual leave each year in consultation and agreement with their line manager. 5.2 In exceptional circumstances, with prior agreement by line managers, annual leave may be carried over into the following leave year, subject to a maximum of an employee’s normal working week (i.e. 37.5 hours for a full time employee). Any agreement to carry over leave is at the discretion of the line manager, who should make a note of their agreement on the staff member’s annual leave record for the new leave year. Any leave that is carried over must be used up by the end of the new leave year, and cannot be carried over again into a subsequent year. ENTITLEMENTS 5.3 An employee’s annual leave entitlement is determined by the length of aggregated NHS service as shown below in Table 1 (i.e. any period of time that has been worked in the NHS regardless of whether or not there has been a break in service, will count as reckonable service for annual leave). All previous NHS service must be supported by proof of employment which is normally supplied at the start of employment with the organisation. Please refer any questions or queries in respect of this to the HR department. 5.4 Table 1 – Entitlements Due to increasing numbers of employees working non-standard hours (e.g. hours different to working 7.5 hours, 5 days per week) the organisation has a policy of calculating all annual leave entitlement in hours as shown in the table below based on number of days of annual leave entitlement (27, 29 or 33) multiplied by the standard daily working hours of 7.5 LENGTH OF SERVICE HOLIDAYS (DAYS) HOLIDAYS (HOURS) On appointment to the NHS 27 days + (usually) 8 27 x 7.5 = 202.5 hours A/L days bank holidays 8 x 7.5 = 60 hours BH After 5 years NHS service 29 days + (usually) 8 29 x 7.5 = 217.5 hours A/L days bank holidays 8 x 7.5 = 60 hours BH After 10 years NHS service 33 days + (usually) 8 33 x 7.5 = 247.5 hours A/L days bank holidays 8 x 7.5 = 60 hours BH EXTENDED PERIODS OF ANNUAL LEAVE 5.5 Employees who wish to take more than two weeks’ leave in any one block should put their request in writing to their line manager at least three months’ in advance to ensure that cover arrangements