Annual leave Entitlement
The QMUL annual leave entitlement is based on 30 days of bookable leave (subject to line management approval) and 12 days of pre-determined leave (consisting of 8 bank holidays and 4 college closure days) for a full time member of staff working the same number of contracted hours each day, 5 days per week.
The bookable annual leave for some staff may look a little different from 2016/17’s (even where staff have not changed their hours).
If this is the case for you and you would like to understand why, please read on…
1. Some staff are not contracted to work full time hours over 5 days a week or work different hours on different days. This reflects the growing number of staff with flexible working arrangements and the efforts of QMUL to offer part time as well as full time positions. As more complicated work patterns have been established, it has become necessary to reassess the calculation of annual leave to ensure that all staffbenefit equallyregardless of their working patterns.
2. Another change that we are making is for staff who work on different hours on different days – to ensure that people are not having to use the same “days” leave for the shortest working day as well as the “longest” or do manual calculations behind the scenes leave will be converted into hours. Please note if your leave is changed to hours you must still book periods of leave that equate to a half or full day or work time; for example if your contracted work pattern is to work 5 hours on a Monday you must request 5 hours of leave to take the full Monday off or 2 ½ hours to take a half day [please note the system would see 2 ½ hours as 2.5hrs). Any half days of leave must cover the first or last part of your working day- i.e. you can’t take leave just for the middle of the day and work first and last thing and you cannot book periods of leave that are less than a half day.
3. The only exception to the above (section 4) is for those who work different hours on different days but are working either full days (7 hours) or half days (3.5hours) – in these circumstances entitlement will remain in days.
Please note the expectation that you use you leave entitlement for each year within that leave year still exists, with the flexibility to carry over 5 days of leave in exceptional circumstances and if properly authorised.
Please see FAQ’s for more information if required.
Annual Leave FAQs
1.Why do I have less leave than last year?
There is no change to your leave entitlement overall- only the bookable aspects of leave.
If you have less showing bookable leave than 2016/17 it means for the leave year for 2017/18 the pattern of bank holidays and closure days falls more heavily on your contracted working days as a total proportion of your contracted working time compared with other staff (and those work the standard full time working pattern -the standard working pattern is 7 hours a day, Monday to Friday. Therefore an adjustment has had to be made to rebalance your leave to ensure it is line with all other staff.
2.I still want to know more can you show me an example?
This example shows how we have worked to ensure all staff have paid leave and time off not only in line with contractual provisions but also to ensure equity across all staff whether working the “standard” work pattern of 7 hours each day Monday to Friday or any other full or part time working pattern.
For example:
Working 7 hours on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday is 60% of the standard working pattern. For the leave year 2017/18 more bank holidays and closure days fall on these working days when compared with those working a standard full time pattern and other part-time staff who work different hours or days with 67% of bank holidays/closure days falling on these working days.
If left unadjusted this person would end up working comparatively less time than other staff during the weeks these bank holidays and closure days fell AND would not get benefit for the other 4 days that fall on their non-working days which again is not an equal arrangement when compared to other groups of staff. The new calculation ensures both of these aspects are considered in establishing how many bookable days are due.
On this example you might have got 18 days of bookable leave last year, but to ensure you get the right proportion of leave as well as pay for bank holidays and closure days compared with those on a full time standard work pattern you would have 17.5 daysof bookable leave after adjusting the leave for bank holidays and closure days that fall on working and non-working days and rounding up to the nearest half day.The bookable (17.5 days) and non-bookable leave (8 days) gives the overall number of paid days off to 25.5 days.
If the work pattern was 21 hours a week but the person was working Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday only 3 closure of bank holidays would fall on working days. To ensure the same prorata entitlement of leave and pay as those on a full time standard working pattern the bookable days of leave will be adjusted to give allowance for bank holiday and closure days that fall on their non-working days as well this gives 22.5 bookable days. With non-bookable (3 days) and bookable leave (22.5 days) the total number of days leave this person will have for the 2017/18 year will be 25.5 days.
3. Will my bookable leave always change if I don’t work a full time standard pattern?
It may do. Bank holidays and particularly closure days may vary as to which day of the week they fall on. This may result in some fluctuation to the number of bookable days of leave but not to the overall days of leave you will get each year.
4. What happens if I change my days or hours of work.
Your leave entitlement would be recalculated if your days and/or hours of work change to ensure it remains correct. Please note requests to change hours and days of work are limited to once a year unless there are exceptional circumstances and must be agreed by your line manager and in line with QMUL requirements for your role type. For example line managers will be unable to agree all team members to have Mondays as a non-working day.
5. If I work condensed hours but full time why do I not get 30 days leave or 210 hours?
For the purposes of accruing and calculating leave the entitlement of 30 days is based on a standard working week of 7 hours a day, Monday to Friday. If you work 4 days a week or 9 days a fortnight without an adjustment to your leave you may get more or less time off than those on a standard working pattern. The calculations ensure that your get exactly the same leave as those working a standard week, but for your non-standard pattern.
6. Why is my leave now in hours not days?
This is because you do not work the same number of hours each day/week you work and/or your full or half days of contracted work are not either 3 ½ or 7 hours.
7. What is the minimum amount of leave I can book in each request?
Whether your leave is in hours or days the minimum hours or days you can book is the equivalent of a half day. If the day on which you wish to book leave is one onwhich you are contracted to work 8 hours you must book 0.5 of a day or 4 hours. When booking your final period of leave for the year if you have an odd hour or half hour of time you may take this lesser period either at the start or end of the working day with your line manager’s consent.