Guidance on Staff Holiday
Entitlements
Annual Leave, Public Holidays and Discretionary Days
Human Resources Department
Issue date: 17/9/10
To be Reviewed: 2012/13
Keele University – Guidance on Staff Holiday Entitlements
ANNUAL LEAVE, PUBLIC HOLIDAYS AND
DISCRETIONARY DAYS GUIDANCE
1.
PURPOSE AND SCOPE
1.1
The following guidance has been provided to provide information on leave
entitlements for staff in the following groups 1 :
Administrative and Technical
Managerial and Specialist
Teaching and Research (Academic)
Teaching and Research (Professorial)
Teaching and Scholarship (Teaching Fellows)
Research
1.2
Further support can be obtained from the Human Resources Department. There is
also a leave calculator to help with calculating holiday entitlement available on the
HR website.
1.3
This Guidance is not contractual and is not intended to be incorporated into
individual terms and conditions of employment. It may be subject to review,
amendment or withdrawal.
2.
ANNUAL LEAVE
2.1
Annual leave year
The annual leave year for University staff is 1st October to 30th September.
2.2
Leave entitlements
Contract Type
(i) Administrative &
Technical
(ii) Managerial &
Specialist
(i) Teaching & Research
(Academic)
(ii) Teaching & Research
(Professorial)
(iii) Teaching &
Scholarship
(iv) Research
Annual Leave Entitlement
Public
Holidays
Discretionary
Days
28 days
(203 hours)
8 days
(58 hours)
5 days
(36.25 hours)
N/A
8 days
(56 hours)
N/A
Less than 5
years service
More than 5
years service
24 days
(174 hours)
30 days
(210 hours)
The above entitlements are pro rated for part-time staff; see section 5 for further specific
guidance on calculating holiday entitlements for part-time staff.
1
Guidance for staff employed within the Commercial Facilities Directorate is available from CFM.
Page 2 of 11
September 2011
Keele University – Guidance on Staff Holiday Entitlements
2.3
Converting leave entitlement from days to hours
Where staff work variable hours/shifts it is suggested that annual leave entitlements
are calculated and managed in hours rather than days. To convert an entitlement
from days to hours the number of days should be multiplied by the number of hours
worked per day.
For example, a full-time Administrative & Technical staff are contracted to work 36.25
hours per week. Each day is 7.25 hours. 24 days basic annual leave entilement
therefore equates to 174 hours (24 x 7.25). A similar calculation can be performed in
relation to the percentage FTE of the member of staff (the online holiday calculator
available on the HR website can be used to help calculate entitlements).
2.4
Long service
After 5 years’ service, Administrative & Technical staff and Managerial & Specialist
staff will receive an additional 4 days’ annual leave bringing the total annual leave
entitlement to 28 days (or 203 hours).
Where staff attain 5 years’ service part-way through the annual leave year the
additional 4 days will be allocated on a pro-rata basis where 1 day is awarded for
each complete three month period during the remainder of that leave year.
1st October – 31st December
1st January – 31st March
1st April – 30th June
1st July – 30th September
2.5
1 additional day awarded
1 additional day awarded
1 additional day awarded
1 additional day awarded
Booking and taking annual leave
Annual leave can only be taken with prior approval from the member of staff’s line
manager. Requests to take leave should be made giving a reasonable period of
notice (normally at least twice the length of the proposed period of leave).
There is an expectation that staff will fully utilise their annual leave entitlement during
the leave year in which it is accrued.
Ordinarily annual leave will be taken in periods of either half or full days.
A period of annual leave exceeding three working week’s duration will not normally
be authorised unless there are exceptional circumstances.
Line managers should determine local protocols for the management of annual leave
to meet the service needs of their area of responsibility (e.g. limits on the amount of
annual leave that can be taken in one block, specific times when annual leave
cannot be booked, number of people in team that can be on leave at any one time,
etc).
2.6
Carrying over leave
While it is expected that staff will take their annual leave within the leave year, there
may be certain circumstances in which up to 5 days (1 working week) may be carried
forward to the new leave year. Annual leave can only be carried forward with the
prior agreement of the individual’s line manager.
Page 3 of 11
September 2011
Keele University – Guidance on Staff Holiday Entitlements
2.7
Leave Records
Line managers will be responsible for keeping accurate annual leave records for all
staff within their area of responsibility, approving annual leave requests and
recording booked annual leave.
2.8
Annual leave entitlement when commencing in post part way through an
annual leave year
Page 4 of 11
September 2011
Keele University – Guidance on Staff Holiday Entitlements
Staff will receive a pro-rata entitlement to annual leave based on the proportion of
the leave year for which they are employed. The annual leave calculator available on
the Human Resources website can be used to calculate this entitlement.
2.9
Annual leave on termination of contract
On termination of employment, staff will be expected to take any accrued leave prior
to their last day of employment and the University reserves the right to require staff
to take untaken accrued leave during any notice period. In exceptional
circumstances, where it is not possible to take the leave, payment in lieu of
outstanding annual leave may be made.
If, on termination of employment, staff have taken holidays in excess of their accrued
holiday entitlement, they will be obliged to repay the relevant amount to the
University and this may be deducted from salary.
3.
PUBLIC HOLIDAYS
3.1
(i) Administrative & Technical and (ii) Managerial & Specialist Staff
In addition to annual leave entitlement there is an entitlement to 8 paid public
holidays:
New Year’s Day
Good Friday
Easter Monday
May Day
Spring Bank Holiday
Summer Bank Holiday (August)
Christmas Day
Boxing Day
Staff who are required to work on public holidays will be credited with annual leave
as set out in the relevant Written Statement of the Principal Terms and Conditions of
Employment.
3.2
(i) Teaching & Research (Professorial), (ii) Teaching & Research (Academic),
(iii) Teaching & Scholarship and (iv) Research Staff
The University is closed for teaching on public holidays and therefore the staff
groups listed above will not normally be required to work on the public holidays
below. However, there may be exceptions to this where staff from these groups are
required to work:
New Year’s Day
Good Friday
Easter Monday
May Day
Spring Bank Holiday
Summer Bank Holiday (August)
Christmas Day
Boxing Day
4.
DISCRETIONARY DAYS
4.1
(i) Administrative & Technical and (ii) Managerial & Specialist Staff
In addition to annual leave and public holidays, these staff groups are entitled to 5
discretionary days. These are usually allocated during the period that the University
is closed over Christmas. Any unallocated days are added to staff annual leave
Page 5 of 11
September 2011
Keele University – Guidance on Staff Holiday Entitlements
entitlement for that leave year. Details of the allocation of discretionary days for each
year can be found in the HR website.
4.2
(i) Teaching & Research (Professorial), (ii) Teaching & Research (Academic),
(iii) Teaching & Scholarship and (iv) Research Staff
These staff groups do not receive an entitlement to discretionary days. Staff in these
groups should book annual leave to cover those days designated as discretionary
days unless they intend to undertake work on those days.
5.
PART-TIME STAFF
5.1
Examples of Part-time Working Arrangements
Part-time staff are those individuals who work less than full-time hours. However,
part-time working can take a number of different forms, e.g., working less than 5
days per week, working 5 shorter (but same length) days per week, working days of
variable lengths, working part-year (less than 52 weeks per year), School term-time
only working, etc.
5.2
Annual Leave
In the case of part-time staff, annual leave entitlement is pro-rata to the full-time
allowance. The calculation of this entitlement is based on the individual’s basic
contracted hours.
5.2.1 Administrative and Technical Staff and Managerial and Specialist Staff
Part-time staff with 5 years or more service are entitled to the additional 4 days’ leave
(where applicable) on a pro-rata basis.
5.2.2 Entitlement on changing contracted hours
Where a member of staff changes his/her contracted hours during a leave year the
annual leave entitlement must be re-calculated. In such situations a calculation
should be done for the period of time worked at the ‘old’ Full Time Equivalent (FTE)
and a further calculation for the period worked at the ‘new’ FTE. Adding together the
two entitlements will give the new full year entitlement.
5.3
Public Holidays
In the case of part-time staff who are entitled to paid public holidays, entitlement is
pro-rata to the full time allowance, regardless of whether these holidays fall on days
when the part-time member of staff would normally be expected to work.
5.4
Discretionary Days
In the case of part-time staff who are entitled to discretionary days, entitlement is
pro-rata to the full time allowance, regardless of whether these holidays fall on days
when the part-time member of staff would normally be expected to work. Details of
the allocation of discretionary days for each year can be found in the HR website.
5.5
Management of part-time leave entitlements
Page 6 of 11
September 2011
Keele University – Guidance on Staff Holiday Entitlements
5.5.1 Once a part-time member of staff’s pro rata entitlement to annual leave, public
holidays (if applicable) and discretionary days (if applicable) has been calculated the
figures should be added together to give a total leave entitlement.
When calculating leave entitlements, line managers should look at the bank holidays
and discretionary days scheduled for the forthcoming leave year and establish, for
part-time staff, which of these days they would have otherwise been expected to
work. As the days on which certain public holidays change each year (i.e. Christmas
Day, Boxing Day and New Years Day), so the allocation of discretionary days also
changes. Managers will therefore need to calculate total holiday entitlement for parttime staff each year. The holiday calculator, available on the HR website can assist
with this.
For bank holidays and discretionary days falling on days when the member of staff
would normally work, the number of hours he/she would have worked that day
should be deducted from his/her total leave entitlement as he/she will not be
expected to work on that day. For bank holidays and discretionary days falling on
days when the member of staff would not normally work, no adjustment is needed.
5.5.2 Part-year working
Where an individual who is contracted to work less than 52 weeks per year is
permitted to take annual leave during their working weeks, a leave entitlement
calculation can be done. However, if the member of staff’s holidays are to be taken
during their non-working weeks (e.g. term-time working), this will be reflected in the
calculation of his/her FTE (full-time equivalency), which may need to be reviewed if
the member of staff becomes entitled to additional annual leave on attaining five
years service. HR can advise on this further.
5.6
Carrying forward leave
In exceptional circumstances, part-time staff may, with the approval of their line
manager, carry forward pro-rata to 5 days (1 working week) into the next leave year.
5.7
Calculating Holiday Entitlement for Part-Time Staff
To assist in calculating part-time leave entitlements, an annual leave calculator has
been developed, which can be found on the Human Resources website. Please also
refer to Annex A for worked examples. The Full-time equivalency (FTE) is required
in order to perform these calculations. This is calculated by dividing the individual’s
contracted weekly hours by the full-time hours for the type of contract. Staff are
advised of their FTE in their Written Statement of Terms and Conditions of
Employment and this information is also available from the HR Department.
Step 1:
Calculate pro rata annual leave entitlement
Full Time Equivalency (FTE)
X Full-time annual leave entitlement
(include long service days if applicable)
= pro rata annual leave entitlement
Step 2:
Page 7 of 11
Calculate pro rata public holiday’s entitlement
September 2011
Keele University – Guidance on Staff Holiday Entitlements
FTE
X Full-time public holidays entitlement
= public holidays entitlement
Step 3:
Calculate pro rata discretionary day’s entitlement
FTE
X Full-time discretionary days entitlement
= discretionary days entitlement
Step 4:
Calculate total holiday leave entitlement
Pro rata annual leave entitlement +
Pro rata public holidays entitlement +
Pro rata discretionary days entitlement (where applicable)
= total holiday entitlement
Step 5:
Deduct entitlement for public holidays and discretionary days
that fall on days that the member of staff would ordinarily have
worked
Total Holiday Entitlement -
paid bank holidays and discretionary days that fall on normal working days
= bookable holiday entitlement
This represents the annual leave that the member of staff can book and take
throughout the leave year, in accordance with the procedure for booking leave.
Where the member of staff works days of equal length, entitlement can be calculated
in either days or hours. However, where days are of unequal length, it is more useful
to perform the calculations and book annual leave in hours.
Page 8 of 11
September 2011
Keele University – Guidance on Staff Holiday Entitlements
ANNEX A
CALCULATION EXAMPLES FOR PART-TIME STAFF
The following examples assume that Christmas Day falls on a Saturday and the University
has therefore allocated four of the five discretionary days (the remaining discretionary day
(pro rated) having been added to annual leave. Further calculations will need to be
performed for subsequent years. Details of the allocation of discretionary days for each year
can be found in the HR website.
Example 1: Administrative & Technical; Full year; 3 full days per week.
A member of staff works 21.75 hours per week on an Administrative and Technical contract
(full-time = 36.25 hours/week). The days of work are Monday, Wednesday and Thursday,
7.25 hours per day, 52 weeks of the year. The member of staff does not yet have five years
service. FTE = 0.6
As the working days are of a standard length, holiday entitlement can be expressed in either
days or hours (hours shown in brackets).
1. Pro rata annual leave entitlement: 0.6 FTE x 24 days (174 hrs) = 14.4 days (104.4 hrs).
2. Pro rata public holidays entitlement: 0.6 FTE x 8 days (58 hrs) = 4.8 days (34.8 hrs)
3. Pro rata discretionary days entitlement: 0.6 FTE x 5 days (36.25 hrs) = 3 days (21.75
hrs).
4. Pro rata total holiday entitlement: 22.2 days (160.95 hrs)
5. Deduct entitlement for public holidays and discretionary days for days worked (see
below)
Bank Holidays
Working Day?
Deduction
27 December (Mon)
28 December (Tues)
3 January (Mon)
Good Friday
Easter Monday
May Day (Mon)
Spring Bank Holiday (Mon)
August Bank Holiday (Mon)
Normal Day IN
Normal Day OFF
Normal Day IN
Normal Day OFF
Normal Day IN
Normal Day IN
Normal Day IN
Normal Day IN
1 day (7.25 hours)
0
1 day (7.25 hours)
0
1 day (7.25 hours)
1 day (7.25 hours)
1 day (7.25 hours)
1 day (7.25 hours)
Discretionary Days
Working Day?
Deduction
24 December (Fri)
29 December (Wed)
30 December (Thurs)
31 December (Fri)
Normal Day OFF
Normal Day IN
Normal Day IN
Normal Day OFF
0
1 day (7.25 hours)
1 day (7.25 hours)
0
Total days (hours) to be deducted
8 days (58 hours)
Total holiday entitlement
22.2 days (160.95 hours)
Deduction for public holidays and discretionary days
8 days (58 hours)
Remaining entitlement which can be booked as
annual leave
14.2 days (102.95 hours)
By contrast, had Christmas Day fallen on a Friday, the deduction for bank holidays and
discretionary days would only have been 7 days, leaving 15.2 bookable holidays.
Page 9 of 11
September 2011
Keele University – Guidance on Staff Holiday Entitlements
Example 2 – Managerial & Specialist; Part-year, 4 full days per week
A member of staff works 4 full days per week (29 hours) on a Managerial and Specialist
contract (full-time = 36.25 hours/week) on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and
Thursdays, except during July and August (i.e. works 10 months per year). Annual leave is
booked to be taken during the member of staff’s working weeks. The member of staff has
worked for the University for more than 5 years and is therefore entitled to the additional long
service days. FTE: 0.67.
1. Pro rata annual leave entitlement: 0.67 FTE x 28 days (203 hrs) = 18.76 days (136hrs).
2. Pro rata public holidays entitlement: 0.67 FTE x 8 days (58 hrs) = 5.36 days (38.86 hrs)
3. Pro rata discretionary days entitlement: 0.67 FTE x 5 days (36.25 hrs) = 3.35 days
(19.43 hrs).
4. Pro rata total holiday entitlement: 27.47 days (179.08 hrs)
5. Deduct entitlement for public holidays and discretionary days for days worked (see
below)
Before deducting for public holidays and discretionary days you must first establish whether
the public holiday/discretionary day falls during one of the member of staff’s working week
and if it does, whether it then falls on a working day.
Bank Holidays
Working Week?
Working Day?
Deduction
27 December (Mon)
28 December (Tues)
3 January (Mon)
Good Friday
Easter Monday
May Day (Mon)
Spring Bank Holiday (Mon)
August Bank Holiday (Mon)
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
NO
Normal Day IN
Normal Day IN
Normal Day IN
Normal Day OFF
Normal Day IN
Normal Day IN
Normal Day IN
N/A
1 day (7.25 hours)
1 day (7.25 hours)
1 day (7.25 hours)
0
1 day (7.25 hours)
1 day (7.25 hours)
1 day (7.25 hours)
0
Discretionary Days
Working Week?
Working Day?
Deduction
Normal Day OFF
Normal Day IN
Normal Day IN
Normal Day OFF
0
1 day (7.25 hours)
1 day (7.25 hours)
0
8 days (58 hours)
24 December (Fri)
YES
29 December (Wed)
YES
30 December (Thurs)
YES
31 December (Fri)
YES
Total days (hours) to be deducted
Total holiday entitlement
Deduction for public holidays and discretionary days
27.47 days (179.08
hours)
8 days (58 hours)
Remaining entitlement which can be booked as annual leave
19.47days (121.08 hours)
Page 10 of 11
September 2011
Keele University – Guidance on Staff Holiday Entitlements
Example 3 – Teaching and Scholarship, Full year, 4 days per week; days of varying
lengths
A member of staff works 20 hours per week on a Teaching & Scholarship contract (full-time
= 35 hours/week); two 7 hour days and two 3 hour days on a full year basis as follows:
Tuesday (7hrs), Wednesday (7hrs), Thursday (3hrs) and Friday (3hrs). He works 52 weeks
of the year. FTE = 0.57.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Pro rata annual leave entitlement: 0.57 FTE x 30 days (210 hrs) = 119.7 hrs.
Pro rata public holidays entitlement: 0.57 FTE x 8 days (56 hrs) = 31.92 hrs
Discretionary Days – not applicable
Pro rata total holiday entitlement: 151.62 hrs
Deduct entitlement for public holidays for days worked (see below)
Bank Holidays
Working Day?
Deduction
27 December (Mon)
28 December (Tues)
3 January (Mon)
Good Friday
Easter Monday
May Day (Mon)
Spring Bank Holiday (Mon)
August Bank Holiday (Mon)
Total number of hours to be deducted
Normal Day OFF
Normal Day IN
Normal Day OFF
Normal Day IN
Normal Day OFF
Normal Day OFF
Normal Day OFF
Normal Day OFF
0
7 hours
0
3 hours
0
0
0
0
10 hours
Total leave entitlement
151.62 hours
Hours to be deducted for public holidays
10 hours
Remaining entitlement which can be booked as
annual leave
141.62 hours
As the member of staff works days of varying length it is more useful to calculate all holiday
entitlements in hours. When taking holidays, the member of staff should deduct from the
remaining entitlement the number of hours that would have been worked on that day. (e.g. If
the member of staff in takes a Wednesday and Thursday as annual leave a total of 10 hours
would be deducted from the holiday entitlement.
Page 11 of 11
September 2011
Keele University – Guidance on Staff Holiday Entitlements
Example 4: Staff commencing in role part-way through an annual leave year
A full-time member of staff on a Teaching and Research contract is due to commence on 1st
March 2011.
To establish the member of staff’s leave entitlement it is necessary to calculate the
proportion of the leave year for which the member of staff will be employed.
Leave year runs 1st Oct 2010 – 30th Sept 2011. The member of staff is due to commence on
1st January 2011 and will therefore be employed for 9 months of the leave year, i.e. 0.75. .
A: Annual Leave
0.75 x 30 days (210 hours) = 22.5 days (157.5 hours)
B: Public Holidays
As the member of staff is full-time this does not need to be calculated. He/she will be entitled
to applicable public holidays as they fall during the remainder of the leave year.
C: Discretionary Days
Not applicable.
Page 12 of 11
September 2011