BD 2/2009/94 SPECIAL LEAVE POLICY. Revised June Page 1 of 6

Transcription

1 BD 2/2009/94 Revised June 2009 Page 1 of 6

2 Contents 1 Introduction page 3 2 Types of special leave page Compassionate leave page Bereavement Leave page Leave for urgent domestic problems page Time off for dependants page Religious/cultural observance page Jury Service page Sabbatical / Career Break Page 6 3. Manager s right to invoke special leave page 6 4. Failure to follow procedure page 6 5. Reasonable discretion page 6 6. Appeals procedure page 6 Page 2 of 6

3 1. Introduction Special Leave Policy This Special Leave Policy has been produced by the NTA in recognition of the fact that employees are often faced with domestic, personal and family matters that all outside of the usual leave policy and require immediate attention. This necessitates a degree of flexibility by the NTA in providing additional paid and/or unpaid leave in order for employees to be able to deal with such problems or situations. The leave described in this policy is consistent with statutory requirements under the Employment Relations Act 1999, the Maternity and Parental Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2001 and the Employment Act 2002 and the NTA obligations under Family Friendly Practice and Law This policy gives clear guidance in defining, managing and applying for special leave in the following areas: a) Compassionate leave, which includes leave for bereavement and urgent domestic problems. b) Time off for to care for dependants. c) Religious and cultural observance leave. d) Manager s right to invoke special leave. Employees and managers are required to contact the Human Resources department should there be clarification required in the practice of this policy. The application and operation of this policy is monitored by the HR department. Where line managers have agreed any special leave this must be recorded on the Special Leave Request Form (attached as Appendix A) and submitted to HR who will record the details. Please note that Parental, Paternity and Adoption leave are covered under the NTA Maternity, Paternity and Adoption Leave Policy. 2. Types of special leave For the purposes of this policy the definition of a week is the working week of an individual member of staff e.g. if the member of staff normally works three days per week, this is equivalent to one week. There may be occasions when more than one type of special leave may apply. In these circumstances the manager should grant the most beneficial leave arrangements for the employee. For example, if an employee s partner is having a baby, the paternity leave arrangements are more generous than the time off to care for dependants. Page 3 of 6

4 2.1 Compassionate leave A manager shall grant compassionate leave where a degree of understanding and sympathy for the employee is required. This may include: 2.2 Bereavement Leave For employees who need time off as a result of death of a close relative (defined as] a spouse, partner, parent, son, daughter, brother or sister), managers have the discretion to grant up to 5 days leave. Managers have the discretion to grant this leave as paid leave. Up to an additional 5 days paid special leave may be granted at the manager s discretion, if requested by the member of staff. In the event of a death of a near relative/close friend a manager may grant up to 2 days leave. This leave is usually taken as unpaid leave but managers have the discretion to grant this leave as paid leave. An additional 1 or 2 days unpaid leave may be granted at the manager s discretion, at the request of the member of staff. 2.3 Leave for urgent domestic problems Employees can request leave in order to deal with urgent domestic problems such as burglary, fire or flooding. Managers would normally grant 1 day s leave (up to a maximum of 5 days per annum) for this purpose. This leave is usually taken as unpaid leave, however managers have the discretion to grant this leave as paid leave. This can be extended under exceptional circumstances at the manager s discretion. Advice on this must be sought from HR prior to any additional leave being agreed by managers. 2.4 Time off for dependants All employees are entitled to reasonable unpaid time off to care for dependants. A dependant is the spouse, partner, child or parent of the employee. It also includes someone who lives in the same household as the employee who reasonably relies on an employee for assistance, for example a relative. It does not include tenants or boarders living in the family home, or someone who lives in the household as an employee. Time off will be given to enable an employee to take action which is necessary to deal with an unexpected or sudden problem concerning a dependant and make necessary longer term arrangements. This may include situations such as: a) If a dependant falls ill, or has been injured or assaulted. b) To make longer-term care arrangements for a dependant who is ill or injured. c) To deal with a death of a dependant d) To deal with an unexpected disruption or breakdown of care arrangements for a dependant. e) To deal with an unexpected incident involving the employee s child during school hours. Employees may be granted up to a maximum of 5 days leave in any year. This leave is usually taken as unpaid leave but managers have the discretion to grant this leave as paid leave. Additional unpaid leave may be granted at the manager s discretion, if requested by the member of staff. Advice on this is available from HR Page 4 of 6

5 Employees with caring responsibilities may have to leave work at short notice in order to attend to the crisis and, as such, advance notice may not be possible. In such cases the employee should follow the normal absence reporting procedures. This involves contacting the manager as soon as possible, informing them of the situation and requesting special leave and/or authorisation to leave work. 2.5 Religious/cultural observance There may be employees who request time off or a temporary change to their working hours for a particular religious or cultural occasion. Where this is applicable, employees must supply HR with a calendar of all such occasions annually in advance. On each occasion, the employee must give as much notice as possible, inform their manager of their intended leave. At a minimum, 5 days notice prior to the religious occasion must be given. All employees who need time off for religious or cultural observance will be entitled to request the following, subject to the needs of the service: a) General flexibility in arrangement of working hours, and/or b) Annual leave, time off in lieu or unpaid leave. All managers should be sympathetic to requests and should accommodate them wherever it is reasonably practicable to do so. This leave is usually taken as unpaid leave, however managers have the discretion to grant this as paid leave. If reasonable notice for such requests is not given, the manager may refuse time off. Advice on this must be sought from HR prior to any additional leave being agreed by managers. 2.6 Jury service and other public duties For employees who have received an order to attend jury service or other public duty, this leave shall be granted as necessary but evidence of the request must be provided such as the original Court paperwork. Staff must request payment for the duties from the public body and must give this information to HR. The amount will be deducted from the employee s salary so that there is no gain or loss of payment to the employee. Should the NTA discover that a public body has made such a payment to an employee and that information not passed to the NTA, the total payment will be deducted from the employees next available salary and the employee may be suspended in these circumstances pending a full investigation that may result in formal disciplinary action being taken Sabbaticals Sabbaticals are a form of career break, the NTA would normally only allow sabbaticals or career breaks for staff who have completed 12 months service. Applications should be submitted in writing. The NTA follows the guidelines set out within the Employment Break Scheme within section 36 of the Agenda for Change Page 5 of 6

6 staff handbook. Staff must contact the HR department who will provide any advice prior to submission of any application. 4. Manager s right to invoke special leave In such circumstances as deemed appropriate, for example in the best interests of the employee, other employees and/or the service, managers, with advice from Human Resources, can insist on staff taking special paid leave. This may include an occasion where the manager considers the employee unfit to perform duties due to particular circumstances although the employee may consider themselves fit. Where appropriate, managers should also refer the individual to the occupational health service for advice and support. 5. Failure to follow procedure Any leave taken without following the stated procedure and not authorised by the manager will be considered as unauthorised absence. Pay may be suspended in these circumstances pending a full investigation that may result in formal disciplinary action being taken. 6. Reasonable discretion. The NTA reserves the right to withdraw the enhancements of basic legal entitlements within this policy as and when statutory legal entitlements are reviewed. Disciplinary action may be taken if there is seen to be misrepresentation under the principles of this policy. 7. Appeals procedure Managers should ensure that decisions regarding special leave should be applied as consistently as possible. Any employee who believes that this policy is not being fairly applied may seek redress through the grievance procedure. Review date: June 2009 Issue Date: Stephen Hodges Page 6 of 6