NHS Fife Guidance On Annual Leave Entitlements For As & When Required, Bank And Casual Staff

General Note

NHS Fife acknowledges and agrees with the importance of regular and timely review of policy/procedure statements and aims to review policies within the timescales set out.

New policies/procedures will be subject to a review date of no more than 1 year from the date of first issue.

Reviewed policies/procedures will have a review date set that is relevant to the content (advised by the author) but will be no longer than 3 years.

If a policy/procedure is past its review date then the content will remain extant until such time as the policy/procedure review is complete and the new version published, or there are national policy or legislative changes.

Agenda for Change(AfC): TERMS AND CONDITIONS BRIEFING

1. INTRODUCTION

The NHS Fife Agenda for Change Project Team / Steering Group has agreed the arrangements which are to be applied to all staff in implementing the above AfC terms and conditions of service changes and the arrangements annual leave entitlements for as and when required, bank or casual staff

With effect from 1 April 2008, the Working Time Directive has been amended and the entitlement to paid annual leave for employees with as and when required, bank or casual employments has risen to 28 days per annum (known as WTR leave). There is no additional entitlement to Bank / Public Holidays. WTR leave can only be carried forward for staff on long term sick leave.

2. WTR LEAVE ENTITLEMENTS

2.1 WTR Leave entitlements will be calculated as follows:

• When an employee commences employment part-way through a leave year he / she is entitled to WTR leave proportionate to that period of the leave year remaining.
• Where the employee’s commencement date is part-way through an accounting period he / she will become eligible for paid annual leave at the end of the first complete accounting period worked (see Section 3).

Leave may be taken in instalments but only in the accounting period in which it is due (see sections 3 and 4). It must not be replaced by a payment in lieu, except where the individual’s employment ceases and the WTR leave entitlement is outstanding.

Employees will be required to give reasonable notice when requesting annual leave. If the annual leave is not approved, the manager will inform the employee, again with reasonable notice. The manager will also provide a reason for non-approval of the leave.

2.4 Responsibility of Line Managers

• Line Managers must calculate and authorise the annual leave entitlement at the end of each accounting period.
• Authorise requests to take leave in the following period and where this is not possible to give notice and reasons for the non-approval.
• Authorise both timesheets / SSTS and the request to take annual leave form where the annual leave is to be taken on a day that the employee is not due to work.
• Check that as and when required, bank, casual and substantive employees have a minimum of the WTR leave (28 days per leave year) off work.

2.5 Responsibility of Employees

• Employees must give reasonable notice when requesting leave.
• Record hours worked and leave requested on the ‘Record of Hours Worked and Annual Leave Request Form’ (Appendix A) and ensure that the form is authorised in advance.
• Complete a timesheet in addition to the ‘Record of Hours Worked and Annual Leave Request Form’ to claim payment of his / her salary.

3. ANNUAL LEAVE ACCOUNTING PERIODS

In order to monitor the annual leave entitlement of As and When Required, Bank and Casual Staff, hours worked will be monitored in accounting periods and given / taken retrospectively. Therefore, at the end of each quarter, a review will be undertaken of the hours worked and an entitlement agreed for the following periods as follows:

1^st Period – April to June – Leave to be taken between July to September

2^nd Period – July to September – Leave to be taken between October to December

3^rd Period – October to December – Leave to be taken between January to March

4^th Period – January to March – Leave to be taken April to June

4. CALCULATION OF ANNUAL LEAVE ENTITLEMENT

4.1 The annual leave entitlement will be calculated by Line Managers in line with the following example:

Total hours worked during the 3 month period = 130

Total number of weeks during the 3 month period = 13

28 annual leave days = 5.6 weeks

5.6 weeks ÷ 4 accounting periods = 1.4

130 hours x 1.4 = 14 hours annual leave to be taken in the following period

13 weeks

4.2 Hours worked in excess of 37½ per week will not be included in the calculation, as overtime does not count towards annual leave.

5. PROCEDURE TO RECORD AND TAKE ANNUAL LEAVE

• Employees will record the hours they worked on a ‘Record of Hours Worked and Annual Leave Request Form’ (Appendix A).
• A new form will be required for each accounting period.
• Employees should also complete a claim form / timesheet in accordance with Departmental arrangements.
• At the end of each 3 month accounting period the employee’s annual leave will be calculated in accordance with Section 8 above.
• Employees must ensure that their Record of Hours Worked and Annual Leave Request Form is authorised by his / her manager at the end of the accounting period.
• An employee may ask to take annual leave on a day when they have not been requested to work. In these circumstances, the relevant number of hours must be included on the employee’s timesheet so that a salary payment can be made. The Line Manager should authorise the Record of Hours Worked and Leave Request Form and the timesheet.

6. MONITORING THE COMPLIANCE AND EFFECTIVENESS OF THIS GUIDANCE

The Director of Human Resources will ensure that a process is in place to monitor the compliance and effectiveness of this guidance. This will involve consideration of any complaints as they arise in relation to the application of this guidance ensuring that issues are addressed both through feedback to the NHS Fife Bank, Line Managers, Payroll and HR Staff through amendment as required to the guidance.

7. REVIEW OF THIS GUIDANCE

This guidance will be reviewed one year from the date of approval, or sooner if there is a requirement to meet legal, statutory or good practice guidance.

Related Publications

• CoSO 21 Appendix 1 - Record of Hours Worked and Annual Leave Request Form for Bank Staff