LEAVE POLICY Version: 1.1

Transcription

1 LEAVE POLICY Version: 1.1 Approval Committee: Date of Approval: Ratification Committee: Strategic Workforce Group Date of Ratification: December 2012 Signature of ratifying Committee Chair: Lead Job Title of originator/author: Name of responsible individual: Policy Ratification and Monitoring Group (PRAMG) Chair of PRAMG Date issued: January 2013 Review date: January 2016 Target audience: Key words: Main areas affected: Summary of most recent changes: Consultation: HR Manager (Equality and Policy Development) Director of Human Resources All staff groups (excluding medical staff for certain sections) Annual Leave, Special Leave, Carer Leave, time off. Trust wide Equality Impact Assessments completed: August 2012 Number of pages: 28 Type of document: Level 1 New policy that incorporates and replaces the Special Leave Policy March 2013 changes to legislation relating to parental leave entitlement. Addition of paragraph on page 17 relating to employment breaks following maternity leave. Staff Partnership Policy Group April 2012 and August 2012 Local Consultation and Negotiating Committee (LCNC) November 2012 Operational Managers August 2012 The Trust strives to ensure equality of opportunity for all, both as a major employer and as a provider of health care. This policy has therefore been equality impact assessed to ensure fairness and consistency for all those covered by it, regardless of their individual differences, and the results can be obtained on request. Issued: Page 1 of 28 this document.

2 Contents Page Executive Summary Introduction Scope Purpose Related Trust Policies Roles and Responsibilities Policy and Procedures Relating to Annual Leave Contractual Entitlement General Public Holidays Public Holidays with Moveable Dates Additional Public Holidays Annual Leave Year Booking Annual Leave Cancellation of Leave by the Trust Carrying Forward Annual Leave Annual Leave and Maternity Leave Annual Leave and Sickness Absence New Starters Entitlement on Changing Contracted Hours Entitlement on Leaving Entitlement When Changing Department Policy and Procedures Relating to Special Leave / Other Types of Leave Carer / Special Leave Short-Term Unpaid Leave Parental Leave Employment Break Scheme Leave to Undertake Public Duties Leave for Jury Service Leave for Professional Activities or Overseas Working Leave for Training and Mobilisation of Reserve Forces Maternity, Maternity Support and Adoption Leave Study Leave Time off for Interviews Time off for Doctors, Dentists and Hospital Appointments Time off for IVF Treatment Time off for Cosmetic Surgery Implementation Process for Monitoring Compliance / Effectiveness of this Policy Arrangements for Review References 24 Appendices Appendix A Jury Service Frequently Asked Questions 25 Appendix B Application form for overseas working via IRG 27 Issued: Page 2 of 28 this document.

3 University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust (UHS) is committed to ensuring that patients receive an excellent service when they choose our hospital for their consultation and treatment. It recognises that good people and workforce management practices are vital to ensuring this aim. The Trust recognises the importance of supporting its employees to achieve a work life balance and this policy recognises the fact that from time to time employees will need to take time away from work to attend to domestic, personal and family matters of an urgent or unforeseen nature. This policy sets out staff entitlements to annual leave and addresses best practice guidance for requesting and authorising annual leave. It also covers all other types of leave for special purposes as follows: Carer / Special Leave Short-Term Unpaid Leave Parental Leave Employment Break Scheme Leave to Undertake Public Duties Leave for Jury Service Leave for Professional Activities or Overseas Working Leave for Training and Mobilisation of Reserve Forces Maternity, Maternity Support and Adoption Leave Study Leave Time off for Interviews Time off for Doctors, Dentists and Hospital Appointments Time off for IVF Treatment Time off for Cosmetic Surgery This policy aims to maximise the opportunity for leave to be taken when requested or required without compromising service needs. 1.0 Introduction Inherent within all of its practices the Trust is committed to the principles of diversity, equality of treatment and equality of opportunity. This policy aims to ensure that no employee receives less favourable treatment because of any of the following 9 protected characteristics: age disability gender marriage and civil partnership pregnancy and maternity race, ethnic or national origin, colour and nationality religion/belief or lack of any religion/belief, sexual orientation gender re-assignment Issued: Page 3 of 28

4 or on the basis of flexible working arrangements; or by virtue of being a member of a Trade Union. The principles underlying this policy are to: Support a positive and healthy work-life balance for staff Promote consistency and equity across the organisation To ensure that service needs are balanced with individual needs. This policy is divided into two sections, the first section (section 4) sets out staff entitlements to annual leave and addresses best practice guidance for requesting and authorising annual leave. The second section (section 5) covers the following other types of leave for special purposes: Carer / Special Leave Short-Term Unpaid Leave Parental Leave Employment Break Scheme Leave to Undertake Public Duties Leave for Jury Service Leave for Professional Activities or Overseas Working Leave for Training and Mobilisation of Reserve Forces Maternity, Maternity Support and Adoption Leave Study Leave Time off for Interviews Time off for Doctors, Dentists and Hospital Appointments Time off for IVF Treatment Time off for Cosmetic Surgery 1.2 Scope The annual leave section of this policy (section 4) applies to all employees (except for Bank & Medical Staff) who are employed on NHS Terms and Conditions of Service. Employees on Trust contracts should refer to the Trust Terms and Conditions Handbook. Consultants and Career Grade Medical Staff should refer to the Annual Leave for Consultants and Career Grade Doctors Policy (available on Staffnet). Doctors in training should refer to the appropriate Deanery policies with additional information regarding annual leave entitlement being available on Staffnet. The special leave section (section 5) of this policy applies to all employees of the Trust unless otherwise specified. 1.3 Purpose The aim of this policy is to set out employee entitlements to annual leave and other forms of leave for special purposes, recognising that there needs to be consistent service cover in order to be able to deliver an effective and safe service to our patients. Issued: Page 4 of 28

5 The objectives of this policy are to: Ensure staff and Managers have an understanding of their entitlement to annual leave and leave for special purposes. Outline best practice for requesting and authorising all types of leave from the workplace. Ensure that staff are able to request and receive leave on a fair and equitable basis. 2.0 Related Trust Policies This policy replaces the Trust Special Leave Policy (2005). It links closely with, and should be read in conjunction with, the following Trust policies: Annual Leave Policy for Consultant s and Career Grade Doctors E-Rostering Policy Disciplinary Policy Flexible Working Policy Grievance Procedure Managing Attendance Policy Maternity, Maternity Support and Adoption Policy Financial Standing Orders Education and Learning Policy Professional / Study Leave for Consultants and Career Grade Doctors Policy Supporting Staff Through Difficult Times Policy 3.0 Roles and Responsibilities Corporate Responsibility The Chief Executive and Trust Board hold corporate responsibility for ensuring compliance with statutory obligations relating to annual leave and other forms of leave. Responsibility for ensuring the Trust has robust policies and operational procedures in place for managing employee leave from the workplace, is delegated by the Chief Executive to the Director of Human Resources. Human Resources Team The Human Resources Practice Unit are responsible for advising all parties on The application of this policy and for providing specific management and staff guidance as required. Line Managers Line managers are responsible for the following: Managing leave of all kinds in a fair, equitable and effective manner, whilst exercising Manager s discretion as to what is reasonable in individual circumstances; Maintaining appropriate staffing levels when authorising leave to ensure that service needs continue to be safely met within budgetary constraints; Issued: Page 5 of 28

6 Employees Ensuring all staff are aware of the Trust/Departmental procedure and the requirements of this policy for requesting and booking leave; Responding to requests for annual leave within 7 working days; Locally monitoring annual leave entitlement on a quarterly basis and reminding staff to take leave as appropriate; Ensuring staff take all their annual leave allocation in the relevant leave year; Ensuring staff are given opportunities to take leave; Ensuring leave is proactively and expediently recorded on the Trust preferred recording system. Keeping accurate records (on the Trusts preferred recording system) to monitor the total leave being taken by each employee. Providing written justification for refusing a request for special leave. Identifying, and acting on, any abuse of this policy e.g. taking disciplinary action if relevant, after appropriate investigation. Keeping in touch with staff during extended periods of leave e.g. work breaks, to ensure they are appropriately updated and informed. Notifying Payroll and HR of any unpaid leave they are authorising in a timely manner so that overpayments do not occur. Employees are responsible for the following: Using their annual leave allocation within each relevant leave year; Spreading annual leave evenly across the annual leave year as far as possible e.g. taking 25% of leave in each quarter; Following Trust practice and procedure when requesting and booking annual leave and giving the required 6 weeks notice; Co-operating with other team members when requesting leave for critical holiday periods; Not booking holidays or taking annual leave until it has been agreed with the line manager; Giving appropriate notice should they need to cancel annual leave already booked. Informing their manager as soon as is practicable of their request/requirement to take a period of special leave; Providing relevant documentation where appropriate to prove that the leave is required; Informing their line manager s manager, Human Resources Adviser or Trade Union or staff side representative if they believe their request for leave has been unreasonably refused. Keep in touch with their Manager during extended periods of leave e.g. when on a work break scheme. Issued: Page 6 of 28

7 4.0 Policy and Best Practice Procedures Relating to Annual Leave (Non- Medical Staff). N.B This section of the policy covers annual leave procedures for all staff other than medical staff. Leave arrangements for medical staff can be found in the Annual Leave Policy for Consultants and Career Grade Doctors which can be found on Staffnet. Information relating to leave entitlement of junior doctors can be found on Staffnet via the following link: uniordoctorleaveentitlement.aspx 4.1 Contractual entitlement Entitlements to annual leave are set out in the employee s statement of written employment particulars, as determined by either the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service (for staff on AfC contracts) or the Trust Terms and Conditions of Employment (for staff on local Trust contracts). Annual leave is calculated on reckonable service which comprises: Trust service plus aggregate service. Aggregate service is defined as all NHS service prior to joining the Trust which can be continuous or broken. It should be noted that Bank and As and When contracts do not count as reckonable service for annual leave entitlement. Annual leave is accrued by assignment, (each job that gets its own payslip), pro rata to contracted hours and is rounded to the nearest quarter of an hour. For staff on Agenda for Change contracts, the Trust determines and states annual leave entitlement in hours not days. (For staff on Trust contracts annual leave entitlement is stated in days but is recorded in hours) regardless of whether the employee is full time or part time. Calculating entitlement in hours provides equity for all by ensuring that staff who work variable hours/shifts do not receive either more or less leave than colleagues who work a standard pattern. Annual leave should be requested in hours. For the calculation of actual entitlements, annual leave calculators are available on Staffnet via the following link: spx Staff on term time only contracts will have no entitlement to additional annual leave. All leave entitlement for these staff is calculated as an integral part of the employment contract and will be included in the agreed annual working hours. It should be noted that leave entitlement is fixed and staff on term time contracts should not take additional days leave when schools have extra days of closure e.g. for staff training purposes. Issued: Page 7 of 28

8 4.2 General Public Holidays (Bank Holidays) In addition to annual leave entitlement, employees are entitled to 8 days, (60 hours equivalent), paid General Public Holiday (Bank Holidays). A General Public Holiday shall be defined as a period of normal duty that starts within the period of 24 hours from midnight to midnight. In the case of all part time staff this entitlement is pro rata to the full time allowance and again expressed in hours. The calculation of Bank Holiday entitlement is done in the same way as for annual leave above, pro-rata based on contracted hours. For ease of calculation and understanding the Trust adds together both annual leave and general public holiday entitlement into a single figure for each leave year. The 8 Bank Holidays in the year are: Christmas Day Boxing Day New Year s Day Good Friday Easter Monday May Day Spring Bank Holiday August Bank Holiday Where a member of staff would ordinarily work on the day of the week that is a bank holiday, but they are not required to work, then the number of hours recorded against the leave episode for that day must be equal to the number of hours the employee would have been rostered to work on that day. Example Employee A is not required to work on May Bank Holiday (which falls on a Monday). Their normal contracted hours of work are 18 per week. They would normally work 6 hours on a Monday. 6 hours will be deducted from their total entitlement. If a Bank Holiday falls on a day of the week that a part-time employee would not ordinarily work, then there should be no corresponding episode/deduction of annual leave. Example Employee B works 30 hours per week and normally works 10 hours per day on a Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. They are not required to work on Fridays and therefore on Good Friday no deduction will be made from their total leave entitlement. Where operational needs require it and subject to mutual agreement, employee s working days may be changed during a Bank Holiday week. If they work the Bank Holiday when ordinarily they would not have done, they would therefore retain their leave entitlement in respect of the Bank Holiday. This leave can then be taken off at another time. Example Employee C works 15 hours per week and normally works 5 hours per day on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. They would not usually be required to work on Good Friday but with the agreement of their manager and due to service needs will in Issued: Page 8 of 28

9 fact work on this day and therefore their leave entitlement will remain intact and can be taken off at another time. Where a member of staff will never be required to work on a Bank Holiday, all eight episodes should be recorded, based on the hours ordinarily worked on that day of the week, at the beginning of each leave year. 4.3 Public Holidays with moveable dates Easter is a holiday which traditionally moves dates, and can occur in anytime during the March to April period of a year. Where an Easter Bank Holiday moves into another leave year then the number of bank holidays included in entitlements for that year and the subsequent year will change. For example, if Easter is early in one year and the result is that there are two Good Friday in the same leave year, then the number of public days of entitlement will be increased to 9 (pro-rata to contracted hours). Similarly if both Good Friday and Easter Monday are early, then the number of public holidays increases to 10 and the following year reduces to 6 This means that therefore that the following year will be reduced by 1 public day, pro rata to contracted hours 4.4 Additional Public Holidays Periodically the Government announces an additional day of public holiday for special celebratory purposes. On the basis that the NHS agrees that this holiday should be extended to its staff the Trust will support this. It is important to note that there is no entitlement to enhanced payments for staff working on an additional public holiday. The additional public holiday day will be added as an additional 7.5 hours (pro rata for part-time staff) to the leave entitlement for that year only. Staff will not be necessarily obliged to take the additional leave on that date, as The Trust may continue to offer normal service to its patients. Depending upon the service requirements, staff may be asked and agree with their manager to work on that day and take the leave at another time. 4.5 Annual leave year The annual leave year runs from 1st April to 31 March. As far as is reasonably practicable, staff should be able to take their annual leave when they wish to do so, however, this may not always be achievable and will be dependent upon service needs. The Trust is committed to providing the consistent and highest standard of service for our patients and customers. This can only be achieved by maintaining adequate staffing levels. In order to facilitate this, each ward or department will have a Departmental Annual Leave plan, stating both the minimum and maximum numbers of staff who will be able to be absent on leave at any given time. This plan should Issued: Page 9 of 28

10 incorporate study leave, annual leave and any other planned absences. 4.6 Booking annual leave In line with this policy, the Trust Annual Leave booking procedure should be notified to each existing member of staff at the beginning of each leave year, and to all new staff as part of their local induction. All requests for annual leave should be submitted 6 weeks in advance in accordance with the relevant Trust procedure ( e.g. via the Healthroster system) and must be approved, in advance of the leave being taken, by the relevant line manager. N.B Other Trust policies may require annual leave to be booked at short notice for specific purposes, in which case it will not be possible to request 6 weeks in advance. All leave must be authorised by the appropriate manager prior to making a holiday booking, to ensure that the leave can be granted. Leave may be refused if appropriate authorisation has not been sought. Employees are permitted to take a maximum of two weeks annual leave (contractual hours in a 2 week period) in any one continuous period. Any requests for leave over a two week period must be authorised by the Matron, Head of Department or equivalent Manager. If Managers do agree to authorise periods of extended leave, then this opportunity should be extended to all staff equally. Staff are expected to plan and take their leave across their 12 months leave year, taking approximately 25% of annual leave within each quarter. Managers should review annual leave entitlement for their staff on a quarterly basis. If managers notice that individuals have not booked enough annual leave, then they must inform the individual of the need to book it. If the individual does not do so, the manager can designate periods of annual leave to ensure that the full entitlement is used by the end of the leave year. In the event that managers need to designate annual leave, they must give staff notice which is double the length of the period of annual leave that is being designated to them e.g. 2 weeks notice should be given if designating 1 weeks leave. This, in association with the Departmental Annual Leave Plan, will allow ample opportunity for all staff to take their full annual leave allocation. In an attempt to make the booking of leave process fair and equitable, it is expected that leave may only be booked up to a year in advance. Special consideration will apply to high demand periods, such as Christmas, Easter and other school or public holidays. The Trust recognises that there will be peaks and troughs in demand for leave and during high demand periods all staff must have equal access to leave and it should be agreed in a fair and equitable way. Once leave has been booked, it is expected that it will be taken at the agreed time. If it is necessary for a member of staff to cancel booked leave, this should be done as soon as possible giving enough notice to allow other team members to book leave at that time if required. Cancellation of leave must be agreed with the relevant Manager and amended on the Trust approved system where appropriate. If a member of staff wishes to book leave for religious holidays in addition to the English public holidays, then annual leave should be used. The Trust will consider any requests for unpaid leave or for exchanging English public holidays for other Issued: Page 10 of 28

11 religious holidays where service requirements allow. 4.7 Cancellation of annual leave by the Trust The Trust will endeavour to honour all leave that has been booked and agreed, however in exceptional circumstances, such as major incidents or a flu pandemic, this may not always be possible and some booked annual leave may need to be cancelled at short notice. This will be managed sensitively with the view to minimising disruption to individual s holiday / travel plans. Annual leave that has been requested, booked and agreed using the correct procedures outlined in this policy should not generally be cancelled because of staffing shortages unless by mutual agreement with the individual. 4.8 Carrying annual leave forward The Trust operates zero carry over of annual leave. Only in circumstances of maternity leave or long term sickness, can annual leave be carried over. Leave not taken by the end of the leave year will be lost. 4.9 Annual leave and maternity leave Employees taking maternity leave should ensure that, as far as possible, their annual leave (entitlement up to the point of commencement of maternity leave) is taken prior to commencing maternity leave. This is particularly relevant if the maternity leave period will span two leave years. Any annual leave accrued during maternity leave should be taken prior to returning to work wherever possible and the date of commencement of accrued annual leave following maternity leave must be agreed with the line manager and recorded on the approved Trust system in accordance with the Trust Maternity Policy. The staffnet annual leave calculator can be used for establishing the amounts in both cases. For further details, please see the Trust s Maternity, Maternity Support and Adoption Policy Annual leave and sickness absence Employees are entitled to accrue contractual annual leave during any period of sickness absence (paid and unpaid). There is no entitlement to accrue annual leave for sickness absence occurring on a statutory Bank Holiday. Employees are entitled to carry forward contractual annual leave (excluding statutory bank holidays) accrued during periods of sickness absence. In situations where the employee does not undertake a phased return to work programme, managers should make provision for accrued annual leave entitlement to be taken in the same leave year in which it was accrued, wherever possible. For further details of the procedure to be followed if you are sick during annual leave, please see the Trust Managing Attendance Policy which can be found on Staffnet New starters Entitlement to annual leave for new starters will be confirmed within their statement of employment particulars. The procedure for booking annual leave should be Issued: Page 11 of 28

12 explained to new employees during local departmental induction. Managers will need to plan annual leave accordingly, particularly at times when there may be an influx of new starters i.e. newly qualified nurses Entitlement on changing contracted hours Where staff change their contracted hours, this will result in a re-calculation of their annual leave entitlement based on completed months on the new and the old contracted hours to give the full year entitlement. The Trust s policy is that where staff change their contracted hours part way through a month they should not lose entitlement. The staffnet annual leave calculator can be used for establishing entitlement when there has been a change in contractual hours Entitlement on leaving Where leave is owed to the employee it should be used prior to the last working day wherever possible. In the event that exceptionally it cannot be taken, a payment will be made in lieu of annual leave. This is calculated pro rata according to the proportion of the leave year which has already expired and will only include any Public Holidays which have occurred up to the point of leaving. Where a leaver has taken more annual leave than their entitlement on leaving, all monies owing to the organisation will be deducted from their final salary. If the final salary is not enough to cover monies owing, the employee will be required to repay these monies Entitlement when changing departments When an employee changes departments and service and contractual terms remain continuous, their leave record and entitlement should carry over with them. Managers should review an employee s annual leave entitlement during their notice period to ensure they are on track for the year. If there has been a change to contractual terms i.e. a change in hours, a recalculation will be required, see paragraph Policy and Procedures Relating to Special Leave / Other Types of Leave As an equal opportunities employer, the Trust wishes to help employees balance the demands of both their work and their personal responsibilities. To this end, the Trust has a range of additional leave options, both paid and unpaid, which are available to provide employees with a flexible response should they be faced with an unexpected domestic, family or personal emergency or have to arrange time to attend for public duties. It is important that employees do not see the leave outlined in this policy as an addition to their annual leave allocation. Each case should be considered on an individual basis, with appropriate documentation produced. 5.1 Carer leave / Special leave / Compassionate Leave (paid or unpaid at manager s discretion) Carer Leave / Special Leave may be granted to an employee to balance the Issued: Page 12 of 28

13 demands of domestic and work responsibility in an emergency situation or in response to urgent and unforeseen circumstances, i.e. not planned, for example: the illness or accident of a close family member or dependent (defined as someone who lives as part of the employee s family, or is someone who relies on the employee as a carer in a particular emergency). the breakdown of normal carer arrangements, and the need to make arrangements for coping with the care problem. following a bereavement to make arrangements for or attend the funeral of a close family member. a domestic emergency or crisis. There is an expectation that emergency/unplanned carer leave will initially be granted for one day and that the individual will, during that one day, make alternative care arrangements wherever possible. In the case of a bereavement, compassionate leave may need to be granted for more than one day initially. This should be at the discretion of the individual manager. Managers also need to apply discretion when defining what constitutes a close family member as this will be different in all cases. Please see the Supporting Staff Through Difficult Times Policy which can be found on Staffnet. The Manager may, at their discretion, grant to an employee: up to 6 days (45 hours for staff working 37.5hrs/week or 48hrs for medical staff working 40hrs per week) Carer / Special Leave (pro rata for part time employees) with pay in a rolling 12 month period, and in addition a period of annual leave (which will count against the employee s annual leave entitlement), and in addition a period of unpaid Carer / Special Leave. Approved Carer / Special Leave (paid and unpaid) and approved annual leave may be taken as a continuous period or in discontinuous periods (e.g. odd days or half days) with the Manager s agreement. Alternatively the Manager can agree a temporary change to the pattern of working hours if this is more appropriate. Due to the unplanned nature of carer/domestic emergencies, the Manager or designated person will need to grant Carer/Special Leave verbally, over the telephone. The Manager must confirm the decision on whether this is paid or unpaid to the employee, as soon as is reasonably practicable. The Manager must inform Payroll Services in writing (by ), with a copy to HR, whenever a period of unpaid leave is authorised. This must be done in a timely manner, within 48hours of the unpaid leave being agreed, to avoid overpayments being made. It is important that staff are not forced into taking sick leave as an alternative to carer/special leave. Managers are therefore urged to use their discretion based on the particular circumstances and urgency of the need of the individual whilst maintaining the consistency of decisions. A rule of thumb would be to say that if the occasion is pre planned then Carer / Special Leave would not apply. Issued: Page 13 of 28

14 5.2 Short-term Unpaid Leave There may be circumstances in which a member of staff requests to take a period of unpaid leave for a purposes other than those outlined above. Where appropriate, unpaid leave may be granted at the discretion of the Manager. A discussion should take place regarding the employee s outstanding annual leave entitlement. Wherever possible the break should be made up of a combination of annual leave and unpaid leave to ensure that the employee is not left with a disproportionate amount of annual leave at the end of the leave year. The Manager must inform Payroll Services in writing (with a copy to HR) whenever a period of unpaid leave is authorised. This must be done in a timely manner to avoid overpayments being made. Unpaid leave of greater than 3 months should be treated as an employment break. See section 5.4 regarding the Employment Break Scheme. It is important to note that: annual leave entitlement is not accrued during unpaid leave if it extends for more than 2 calendar weeks. NHS pension contributions will be affected during periods of unpaid leave and employees are advised to contact SBS Pensions Department to confirm how their pension will be affected and the options available to them for mitigating this. 5.3 Parental Leave (unpaid) An employee has an entitlement to unpaid Parental Leave if they satisfy the Following conditions: has 12 months continuous NHS service is the natural or adoptive parent or step parent (defined as the current partner of the natural parent if unmarried) to a child aged under 14 years, (or under 18 if the child is disabled), has legal parental responsibility for a child under 14 years (under 18 if the child is disabled) Each parent can take a total of up to 18 weeks' unpaid parental leave for each child up to the child s 14th birthday. In the case of a child who is adopted, each parent can take a total of up to 18 weeks' unpaid parental leave. This can be until the fifth anniversary of the child s placement or until the child s 18th birthday, whichever comes first. In the case of a child who is disabled (that is, receiving disability allowance) each parent has the right to take up to 18 weeks' unpaid parental leave until the child s 18 th birthday. Where both parents are employees of the Trust both parents are entitled to this leave for the same child. However the rights to parental leave are not transferable. One parent may not allow the other to take their allocation and neither parent may exceed Issued: Page 14 of 28

15 their individual allocation. Managers may request sight of the child's birth certificate, papers confirming the child's adoption or the date of placement in adoption cases or the award of disability living allowance for the child. A request should be made in writing to the Manager giving 21 days notice of the start date of the parental leave. As long as the employee qualifies for parental leave and gives the employer the correct notice the employee should be able to take parental leave at any time. In exceptional circumstances, requests for Parental Leave may be refused due to the operational requirements of the service but may not be delayed longer than six months from the date originally requested. The employee maintains continuity of employment during Parental Leave and this will not affect rights to annual increments or any other terms and conditions of service dependant on length of service. Annual Leave will be accrued during periods of Parental Leave. Unpaid parental leave may be used flexibly to meet the needs of the child. It may be taken as one continuous period, in blocks of weeks or as single days. Parental Leave will be recorded on the personal file and the amount taken should be aggregated and carried forward to the next year. 5.4 Employment Break Scheme / Sabbatical (unpaid) The Trust Employment Break Scheme is intended to provide the opportunity for staff to take a longer break away from work than is provided by parental or other leave arrangements without losing continuity of employment, or in some circumstances, the right to return to the same or similar job. The aim is to retain employees who may otherwise choose to leave the workforce permanently. The Employment Break Scheme may be used to look after dependants, to travel or in exceptional circumstances work abroad or to meet other commitments such as further education (sabbatical). Other reasons will be considered on their merits. Eligibility The scheme is open to all employees who have a minimum of 12 months continuous service in the Trust. Applications must be made in writing to the Line Manager giving at least 3 months notice of the requested commencement date. Conditions of the Employment Break Scheme Employment breaks of any duration are unpaid although a participant will remain an employee of the Trust and will not be required to terminate their contract during the break. However, there will be changes to the contract of employment and those changes are set out in this policy. Individuals need to be clear on how it will affect them, such as how the break will affect the calculation of their length of service, pension and employment and statutory rights. All annual leave accrued up until the start of an employment break should be used Issued: Page 15 of 28

16 before the break commences. No annual leave will be accrued during the full period of the employment break. The maximum length of break is 5 years, which may be taken as a single period or as more than one period. The minimum length of break will be 3 months. The length of the break will balance the needs of the applicant with the needs of the service. People on employment breaks will not normally be allowed to take up paid employment with another employer, except where, for example, work overseas or charitable work could broaden experience. In such circumstances prior written authority from the Manager would be necessary before taking up any such position. Breach of this condition, after appropriate investigation could potentially result in dismissal. Employees who return to work within 1 calendar year will be guaranteed a return to their former post within their own Department / Directorate as far as reasonably practicable. Employees who take an Employment Break of longer than a calendar year cannot be guaranteed their old post back but will be offered as similar a job as possible on an equivalent salary level within the Trust on their return, reflecting any cost of living increases awarded during the break. Breaks of 1 year or less will count towards continuous employment for deciding length of service for annual leave entitlement for long service, maternity leave and pay, occupational sick pay, pay protection, statutory and redundancy payments. Employment Breaks of any length will count towards continuity of employment for statutory purposes i.e. the right to additional unpaid maternity leave, to claim unfair dismissal or statutory redundancy payments or in the event of a transfer of undertakings under TUPE Regulations Employment Breaks of longer than 1 calendar year will not be counted in computing length of service for assessing annual leave entitlement for long service, determining incremental points, eligibility for Trust maternity pay, occupational sick pay, pay protection or contractual redundancy pay. Periods of service before and after the break will be aggregated to determine the appropriate length of service to be used for these purposes. Breaks may be extended or shortened within the 5 year maximum by agreement in writing between the Manager and the employee. 2 months notice of this should be given for breaks of 1 year or less and 6 months notice if the break is longer than a year. Consideration will be given to requests from employees returning from an Employment Break for different hours or job share arrangements although there is no guarantee that such requests will be met. Employees must maintain any professional registration required as a condition of their employment throughout the duration of the break and comply with any Continuing Professional Development requirements pertaining to this. It is the employee s responsibility to keep up to date with developments in their area of work by the most appropriate means and the arrangements for doing this should be agreed with the line manager prior to commencement of the employment break. Issued: Page 16 of 28

17 During the break, Employees may be asked to return to paid work for short periods of time in their own or other departments to maintain skills and professional competence and stay in touch with changes in procedures in their area of work. This may be to enable specific professional updating to take place or to provide holiday or sickness cover. Any periods of work will be mutually agreed between the employee and the Manager. Periods of paid employment in the Trust will be counted in calculating continuous service for the purposes outlined above. Employment Breaks Immediately Following Maternity Leave Employment breaks cannot be started immediately following a period of maternity leave without the employee having to pay back their Occupational Maternity Pay (OMP). The allocation of OMP is dependant upon the employee returning to work for a period of 3 months following maternity leave. OMP will need to be repaid through payroll if the employee does not return to work for the required 3 month period prior to starting a career break. Responsibilities Managers must write to the individual prior to the start of the Employment Break to ensure that all parties are clear of what has been authorised and agreed and what will happen at the end of the break. Managers will stay in touch with individuals on Employment Breaks by providing regular updates and sending relevant information. The method and extent of contact will be discussed and agreed between the Manager and the employee before the work break commences. Employees will undertake to keep the Manager informed of any change of address during the break and to keep a list of any professional updating, work related courses or conferences attended during the work break. Written notice must be given of return to work - 2 months notice should be given for breaks of 1 year or less and 6 months notice if the break is longer than a year. In conjunction with the individual employee, managers are responsible for assessing the individual and their role to establish if a structured refresher course / professional updating is required prior to return to work. Managers are responsible for facilitating any communicating the details of any refresher training required for purposes of re induction to work following a work break. General Conditions In the case of an Employment Break following Maternity Leave, the break will commence no later than when paid or unpaid Maternity Leave ends. The NHS Pension Scheme Regulations allow a member who has commenced an Employment Break to choose to remain pensionable for a period of up to 24 months. For the first 6 months the Employee contributions are paid by the Employee and the Employers contributions are paid by the Employer. Then, the Employee can choose for up to another 18 months to pay both the Employee and the Employer contributions. These payments must be made during the Employment Break and cannot be made retrospectively. An employee must make the Payroll Department Issued: Page 17 of 28

18 aware of this intention as soon as possible so that the Pensions Departments can be informed. If the Employee does not wish to pay pension contributions for part or all of the 24 months, pension contributions will cease during the period of the Employment Break. Employees who are members of the NHS Pension Scheme and have 2 or more year s service will have that service automatically preserved for Pension purposes. Employees with less than 2 years service may if they wish have a refund of pension contributions (please see Pension Booklet - Leaving the Scheme.) Employees who are party to lease car arrangements may retain the leasing arrangements provided that they continue to meet the agreed payments during their absence. Employees will be entitled to a written reason for the refusal of any application for an Employment break. Employees may use the Trust Grievance Procedure if they feel a request for an Employment Break has been unreasonably refused. Employees on a Employment Break shall have access to the Trust s normal Grievance / Appeals procedures. Record Keeping Records of all absences authorised in this section will be kept on the employee s personal record. Managers are required to notify authorised unpaid absences to HR, (see staffnet process) in good time to ensure that overpayment does not occur. 5.5 Leave to undertake public duties (paid or unpaid at Managers discretion) Under section 50 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, employees are entitled to reasonable time off to go to meetings or to carry out the following public duties: a magistrate, sometimes known as a justice of the peace a local councilor a school governor a member of a policy authority a member of any statutory tribunal (e.g. an Employment Tribunal) a member of the managing or governing body of an educational establishment a member of a school council or board in Scotland a member of the General Teaching Councils for England and Wales a member of the Environment Agency or the Scottish Environment Protection agency in England and Wales, a member of the prison independent monitoring boards or in Scotland, a member of the prison visiting committees a member of Scottish Water or a Water Customer Consultation Panel The Manager must approve the time off beforehand and can refuse a request if it is unreasonable. Whether the time off is classed as 'reasonable' will depend on: what the duties are the time needed to carry them out Issued: Page 18 of 28

19 the impact on the service how much time off has already been granted for public duties There is no right to paid time off in these circumstances. When considering whether the time off should be with pay, the Manager should take account of the relevance of the duty to the Trust s activities and the employee s job. Should an employee be considering taking on public duties, they should advise their line manager before first entering into such commitments and discuss the extent of the commitment and the implications for their work. Where an employee is already undertaking such duties prior to commencing employment with the Trust, they should make this clear to their manager prior to taking up post in order to discuss the implications. 5.6 Leave for Jury Service (paid leave) This leave will be paid leave. Pay during leave will include regularly paid supplements, including any recruitment and retention premia. An employee who receives notification that they are required for Jury service must inform their manager immediately. Managers do not have the right to refuse employees attendance at jury service as this is a civic duty. Each individual employee must agree, in advance, with their line manager the arrangement for approval of leave for Jury Service prior to completion of the Reply to Jury Summons form. If an employee is released from Jury Service for either a half or full day, they will be expected to contact their manager and arrange appropriate return to work. Employees will not suffer any financial detriment as a result of attending jury service. Any costs incurred to the individual due to travel expenses or subsistence allowances can be claimed from the Court using the form provided by HMCS. It is the employees responsibility at the end of Jury service to complete the claim. Expenses claimed will be paid directly into the employee s bank account by HMCS. Please see the Frequently Asked Questions sheet attached to this policy at Appendix A for further details regarding jury service. 5.7 Leave for Professional Activities / Working Overseas (paid) By individual agreement between the Manager and an employee, paid leave up to a Maximum of full time hours (37.5 hours or 40hrs for medical staff), in addition to the normal annual leave entitlement may be given for overseas activities beneficial to the NHS, to the Trust as a centre of excellence, or to the professional standing of the employee. Professional activities may include: being a member of a Tribunal or Enquiry; acting as an assessor for appointments for other NHS employers; speaking at relevant conferences; participating in the work of a specialist professional organisation; Issued: Page 19 of 28

20 participating as a member of the Trust International Relations Group, or other linked group/partnership recognised by IRG, to undertake health related work overseas. It is important to note that for medical staff this type of leave would be an integral part of their Professional Leave entitlement (as detailed in their terms and conditions of employment) and not an addition to this. Please also see the Trust Professional and Study Leave Policy for Consultants and Career Grade Doctors which can be found on Staffnet. It is also important to note that, depending upon your role and the locations visited during overseas work, staff may require additional Occupational Health screening prior to returning to work. Staff should contact the Occupational Health Department for individual specific advice. 5.8 Leave for Training and Mobilisation of the Reserve Forces (part paid, part unpaid leave) An employee who is a member of the Reserve Forces (Territorial Army, Royal Naval Reserves, Royal Marines Reserves or Royal Auxiliary Air Force) will be entitled to reasonable leave. Section 5.5, which apply to Time off for Public Duties, shall also apply to the granting of leave for duties with the Reserve Forces. There are two main pieces of legislation relating to employers and the Volunteer Reserve Forces: The Reserve Forces Act 1996 (RFA 96) which provides the powers under which Reservists can be mobilised for full-time military service. The Reserve Forces (Safeguard of Employment) Act 1985 (SOE 85) which provides protection of employment for those to be mobilised and reinstatement to employment for those returning from mobilised service. Employees must inform the Trust of their status as a Reservist and must provide as much notice as possible of their requirement for leave to attend training activities as a reservist (e.g. annual camp) to allow their manager to appropriately plan for their absence. Reservist status must be declared and will be recorded in ESR. Managers should facilitate and support attendance at training sessions and annual camps for any members of their team who are Reservists. Should an employee reservist wish to apply for voluntary mobilisation, prior agreement must be sought from the manager before making such an application. Managers are responsible for assessing applications for voluntary mobilisation and allowing them wherever possible and informing HR of the commencement and completion of any periods of mobilisation. Employees must inform the Trust as soon as practicably possible after receiving a call out order, providing details of the date and potential duration of their mobilisation. Managers must support any members of their team returning from periods of mobilisation in an empathetic manner, offering training and a local re-induction where appropriate and raising awareness of services available to them via the Occupational Health Department. Issued: Page 20 of 28

21 Practical Support for Training Training for the Volunteer Reserve Forces is made up of: Weekly training; Occasional training days; An annual continuous training period of 15 days (annual camp). The Trust is committed to providing support to enable attendance at these events and the following leave will be granted to allow this: Mobilisation One week s additional paid leave in each leave year, for attendance at annual camp; Additional time required will be taken as unpaid or annual leave. Mobilisation is the process of calling reservist employees into full-time service with the Regular Forces, in order to make them available for military operations. All volunteer reservists are liable to be mobilised at any time, if required. In most cases, this will be voluntary; however compulsory mobilisation will be used when required. There is no statutory requirement for the Services to give notice of mobilisation, but in practice they aim to give both employers and employees 28 days notice of call out. The Ministry of Defence will issue the Reservist with a mobilisation pack, containing details of the date and anticipated duration of mobilisation. A copy of the mobilisation pack will also be provided to the Trust as the Reservist s employer. Once a mobilisation has been agreed, the manager should write to the employee confirming acceptance of the mobilisation. Mobilisation will normally last for between three and 12 months. During the time of the mobilisation, the employee will be placed on unpaid authorised leave. They will receive pay in lieu of their usual monthly salary from the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and the MOD will also pay the employer pension contribution; however the employee will be required to make payments towards their NHS Pension during any time away on mobilisation. On their return, they will be contacted by Payroll Services to pay the arrears of their personal contributions to the scheme. Where the mobilisation of an employee results in additional costs, such as having to pay overtime to use other employees to cover the work, or advertising for a temporary replacement, then the Trust may be able to claim financial assistance from the Ministry of Defence. Details of how to make any such claim, along with a form for this purpose will be contained within the mobilisation pack. Any claim must be lodged with the MOD no later than four weeks from the date of demobilisation. All such forms must be completed in conjunction with Human Resources. In the event of a compulsory mobilisation of any employee, the Trust may consider applying for an exemption or deferral. However the grounds for seeking exemption or deferral are extremely limited and the Trust would have to demonstrate serious harm to the ability to provide patient care if the employee were to be mobilised at that time. Therefore such an application will only be made in exceptional circumstances. During any period of mobilisation, the employee s post will be held open for their Issued: Page 21 of 28

22 return. Their role may be filled with a temporary replacement for the duration of the mobilisation period only. Managers should ensure that the HR Operations Team are notified of the commencement of the absence and return to ensure the individuals pay is suspended and restarted appropriately. For spouses of reserve forces personnel, leave for family purposes during periods of Mobilisation, should be managed within the overall Trust allocation of carer leave / annual leave entitlement. Returning to Work Following Demobilisation Following any period of mobilisation, reservists will be entitled to a period of leave from the MOD (and funded by the MOD) of up to one month. During this time any employee who has been mobilised will be required to contact their manager to arrange a date for returning to work. Demobilisation can be a difficult time, with a Reservist returning to work after a potentially challenging period in deployment. It is therefore important to ensure a smooth reintegration into the team, including the provision of a local re-induction, including an update on changes and developments within both their immediate team and the wider organisation; this can help to prevent any feeling of dislocation. Any essential training should also be planned to take place as soon as possible after the employee returns from active duty in order to ensure a timely update or refresher training as necessary. Where the job role or duties have changed since mobilisation a period of skills training may be required in order to assist them with any new or amended aspects of their role. There should also be the offer of support from the Occupational Health Department. 5.9 Maternity / Maternity Support and Adoption Leave Please see the Trust Maternity, Maternity Support and Adoption Policy on Staffnet Study Leave For details of Study Leave entitlements, please see the Trust Education and Learning Policy which can be found on Staffnet. For study leave entitlements for Consultants and Career Grade Doctors please see the Trust Professional and Study Leave for Consultants Policy which can be found on Staffnet. Guidance on release time for learning opportunities must be developed and agreed by staff and managers locally but safe service delivery must be maintained and the allocation of time must be equitable. No staff group or individual can be unfairly disadvantaged in accessing learning opportunities. Issued: Page 22 of 28

23 Enquiries about study leave should be made to the Trust Training and Development Directorate Time off for Interviews (paid) Reasonable time off with pay will be granted for employees to attend interviews for other positions within the Trust. Time off for interviews with other employers should be taken as annual leave or unpaid leave. An employee who is under notice of redundancy has a statutory entitlement to a reasonable amount of paid time off to look for another job, to prepare for and attend interviews or to arrange training Time off for doctors, dentists and hospital appointments Wherever possible, doctors, dentists and hospital appointments should be made outside, at the beginning or end of the working day. There is no right to paid time off to attend pre-planned doctors, dentists or hospital appointments. Employees may at the discretion of the Manager be allowed to make up the time at a later date, use flexi time or annual leave to cover the absence. Employees undergoing a procedure such as day surgery or inpatient treatment should be recorded as sick Time off for IVF (In Vitro Fertilisation) Treatment Employees requiring time off to undergo IVF treatment may be granted up to 1 week full time hours e.g. 37.5hrs or 40hrs for medical staff (pro-rata for part time employees) paid special leave in a rolling 12 month period. If treatment is required in excess of 1 weeks full time hours, the employee should use either annual or unpaid leave. Proof of treatment should be provided to the manager at the time of making the request. Should an employee subsequently become sick as a result of undergoing IVF treatment, then it will be recorded as sickness absence on their absence record Time off for Cosmetic Surgery Time off and the period of recovery for voluntary cosmetic surgery will not be treated as sickness absence and employees should utilise either annual leave or unpaid leave. Should an employee subsequently become sick as a result of voluntary cosmetic surgery, i.e. complication, this will be recorded as sickness on their absence record. Planned cosmetic surgery should be booked in conjunction with the manager, taking into account other leave within the department. Where cosmetic surgery is as a result of medical advice or religious belief, it should be recorded as sickness and the level of sickness absence managed appropriately in accordance with the Managing Attendance Policy. Issued: Page 23 of 28

24 6.0 Implementation This policy will be available on Staffnet for all staff to access and will be cascaded to staff via their line management structures and professional networks. Managers are responsible for ensuring that all staff understand their entitlement to leave as outlined in this policy and are responsible for appropriate application and implementation of the procedures outlined within it. The content and application of this policy will be discussed as an integral part of all management training programmes. 7.0 Process for Monitoring Compliance/Effectiveness The purpose of monitoring is to provide assurance that the agreed approach is being followed this ensures we get things right for patients, use resources well and protect our reputation. Our monitoring will therefore be proportionate, achievable and deal with specifics that can be assessed or measured. Any identified areas of non-adherence or gaps in assurance arising from the monitoring of this policy will result in recommendations and proposals for change to address areas of non compliance and/or embed learning. Monitoring of these plans will be coordinated by the group/committee identified in the monitoring table. What aspects of compliance with the document will be monitored Consistent, fair and equitable application of leave entitlement by managers What will be reviewed to evidence this Complaints received via the grievance process relating to the refusal of leave How and how often will this be done Audit of formal grievances submitted and outcomes subsequent investigations of Detail sample size (if applicable) All formal grievance cases relating to refusal of leave which occur in the year HR Business Partners and Advisors will audit their Divisional grievance cases on an annual basis (in quarter 4) Which group or report will receive findings Who will coordinate and report findings (1) Noncompliance and areas of concern to be reported to the HR Governance Group 8.0 Arrangements for Review of the Policy This policy will be reviewed and updated in light of any legislation changes prior to a formal review no later than 30th November References SaBRE information on Reservists Issued: Page 24 of 28

25 APPENDIX A JURY SERVICE Frequently Asked Questions Can my manager refuse to allow me to go on Jury service? No, Jury service is a civic duty and the Trust could be found to be in contempt of court if we refuse to allow you to attend. Can I change the date of Jury Service? You can ask for your jury service to be deferred. You can only do this once and for no more than 12 months from the original date. Can I be excluded from Jury Service? If you want to be excluded from jury service altogether you need to write to the Jury Central Summoning Bureau setting out your reasons why. However, unless you have already served as a juror within the previous two years, your call-up is likely to be deferred. Will I receive enhanced pay for work I would have undertaken out of hours whilst on Jury Service? No, salary whilst on Jury Service includes basic pay plus any recruitment and retention premia and does not include out of hours enhancements. What happens if I am released from Jury Service early? If an employee is released from Jury Service for either a half or full day, they will be expected to contact their manager and arrange appropriate return to work. What happens if I am on a term-time contract or part-time? As staff on term-time contracts are paid the same amount each week irrespective of when the work is done, pay will be calculated on a weekly basis. This also applies to part-time staff. I am part-time but my Jury Service is for a full day for two weeks will I receive more pay? No, staff will be paid their basic pay only whether full-time or part-time. Can my manager still roster me on to an on-call shift whilst I am on Jury Service? No, whilst on Jury Service no additional work should be allocated including overtime. Your manager will arrange suitable cover. Issued: Page 25 of 28

26 What happens if I incur additional childcare costs or have a caring commitment? You can claim for child minding costs from the court if: you don't normally have a child minder but need one because of jury service (it's not part of your usual childcare arrangements) you do normally have a child minder but need them for more hours than usual because of jury service The same applies if you need to employ a carer to look after someone you normally care for. Issued: Page 26 of 28

27 APPENDIX B Application Form for Overseas Working Through an International Relations Group (IRG) Recognised Programme Name Current Post Department / Specialty Division Line Manager Please outline the project / visit you wish to undertake. Please outline the main objectives of the visit and what you and / or your project team aim to achieve. Please outline your individual aims and objectives in participating in this visit. Issued: Page 27 of 28

28 Please outline the potential benefits to the Trust in your undertaking this visit / project Please outline what support you will need in order to undertake the visit such as Request for annual leave Request for study leave Request for professional leave Financial support Please be aware that you will be responsible for providing your own appropriate overseas travel insurance for this trip but may request that this is reimbursed. Is the project supported by the Trust International Relations Group (IRG)? YES / NO Line manager support I support the above application to undertake the visit Signature: because: Date: Divisional support I agree to release the applicant to undertake the visit Signature: Date: Issued: Page 28 of 28