Human Resources Services
Annual Leave Guidelines
Annual Leave year
The annual leave year runs from 1 October to 30 September each year.
Annual Leave Entitlements
Details of annual leave entitlement for full time employees can be found below;
Grade 1 to 5 - Annual entitlement is 25 days
Additionally, Service Leave will be awarded to employees on completion of:
- 3 years’ service - 1 day
- 5 years’ service - 1 day
This will take entitlement for staff with more than 5 years service to 27 days.
Service holiday increases will take effect on the October following e.g. 3 years reached by 30 September,
and then the additional day will not be due until the start of the following leave year.
Grade 6 to 10 - Annual entitlement is 30 days. There are no long service leave arrangements.
Part-time employees (those contracted to work less than the number of hours in the full-time working week or
those who work a fraction of the year) are entitled to annual leave pro rata to the full-time entitlement.
Guidance is given below on how to calculate this;
Guidance Note for Part Time Employees and how to calculate annual leave and Public Holidays
Casual Staff are entitled to take holidays in accordance with the current statutory entitlements. Employees will
accrue holidays monthly, according to the hours they work at the accrual rate of 7 minutes for every hour worked.
Please refer to our terms and conditions document for more detailed information regarding holidays:
http://www.hr-services.stir.ac.uk/terms/index.php
Public Holidays and University/Floating Days
In addition to the above annual leave entitlement; there are the following Public Holidays/University/Floating days;
- 10 fixed Public/University holidays.
- 4* “floating” days as follows:
- 1 day in March or April
- 1 day in May or June
- 1 day in July or August
- 1 day in October or November
*NOTE: These days may be fixed for employees within certain departments due to business needs
Floating Days
Entitlement to Floating Days will be given to employees starting or leaving during the months in which the Floating Day falls. For example:
If an employee starts on 20 March, they would be entitled to the March/April Floating Day.
If an employee leaves on 10 April, they would be entitled to the March/April Floating Day.
Details of when the Public holidays and University/Floating days for each year can be found using the links below;
Staff joining/leaving mid leave year
The annual leave entitlement for staff joining or leaving the employment of the University during the course of the year is proportionate to their completed months service during the leave year.
New Starts
The Universities annual leave year will commence on 1st October and from that date employees shall accrue one-twelfth (1/12th) of the annual entitlements for each completed month of service.
For example if an employee started their employment on 10 April then their annual leave entitlement would commence on 01 May.
Leavers
If an employee leaves the University part way through a leave year they are normally entitled to annual leave in proportion to the number of completed months of service in the current leave year, less any leave already taken.
Staff should normally try to take any annual leave due during their period of notice. If it is not possible, due to the operation requirements of the Department to take all outstanding annual leave before they leave, they will be entitled to receive payment–in-lieu for any such outstanding annual leave entitlement. Annual leave cannot be paid-in-lieu whilst the employment continues.
The University reserves the right to deduct salary for overpayment of annual leave which had been taken before it has been accrued. Any such payments will normally be deducted from the employees final salary payment or offset against the notice period.
Calculating Annual Leave – Holiday Calculator
All Departments have access to the Annual Leave calculator which can be found on the HR Website using the below link or clicking on the tab at the top right hand side of this page;
http://www.hr-services.stir.ac.uk/holidays/holiday-calculator.php
Departments and Employees are encouraged to use the calculator.
Instructions on how to use the calculator can be found below.
- Enter start date of your holiday year into "Holiday Year Start Date". This will be 1 October or your start date if you joined mid year.
- Enter end date of your holiday year into "Holiday Year End Date". This will be 30 September or your end date if you are leaving mid year.
- Enter normal number of hours you work per week in "Actual hours worked per week".
- Enter your holiday entitlement in "Normal Personal Holidays".
- Enter number of days worked in a normal week in "Actual days worked per week"
- If you have taken any floating days please enter the number taken in "Number of Floating Days Taken"
- If you have taken any personal holidays please enter the number taken in "Number of Personal Holidays Taken"
Carrying leave forward
Holidays must be taken when conditions within the department permit in agreement with the line manager/Head of School. Any holidays not taken by 30 September following shall normally lapse.
Maternity Leave
Annual leave will continue to accrue during periods of maternity leave. Please see the Maternity Leave Policy for more details;
http://www.hr-services.stir.ac.uk/documents/maternity.doc
Sickness
If you fall sick during a period of authorised annual leave, you may be entitled to reclaim the leave entitlement. If such a circumstance occurs, you should notify your manager as soon as possible. On your first day back at work, you must submit a certificate signed by a registered medical practitioner confirming the details and dates of your illness. The certificate should be dated from the first day of your illness, as retrospectively dated certificates will not normally be accepted for the purposes of reclaiming annual leave, other than in exceptional circumstances. You will not be reimbursed for Public, University or Floating day holidays as these are taken into account when calculating contractual sick pay entitlement.
Please see the Sickness Absence Management policy for more details;
http://www.hr-services.stir.ac.uk/documents/sick-policy-pdf.pdf
Responsibilities
| Role | Responsible for |
| Employees | Keeping a record of annual leave allowance and leave taken. Ensuring that adequate leave is retained for use on ‘Public Days/University Holidays (Part-time employees only). Identifying well in advance situations where the amount of leave untaken may lead to problems. |
| Line Managers | Authorising and monitoring the taking of annual leave by their staff. Identifying well in advance situations where the amount of leave untaken may lead to problems. |
| School Administrators/Assistants | Calculate and keep record of annual leave allowance and leave taken (This may differ between departments) |
| HR Services | Providing guidance on calculating annual leave |
Annual Leave Request Form
Below is an example of how leave requests might be requested and approved within a department
Recording Annual Leave
Below is an example how a team/School leave might be recorded on a spreadsheet.
If you have any queries about annual leave, please contact a HR Adviser on ext 7779 or email hradmin@stir.ac.uk.