Special leave policy
Special leave, public duties and career breaks
Policy statement
This policy aims to ensure that staff are supported at times when they may need to take leave for compassionate reasons, career breaks, to undertake public duties or to balance the demands of home and work life effectively.
In cases where unpaid leave is sought, any entitlement to annual leave must normally be exhausted.
Special leave is discretionary and must be approved by management (either by your AO, Deputy Ombudsman or the Deputy Chief Executive and Secretary). Requests will be considered on their own merits in relation to the individual circumstances.
Should a request for special leave, public duties and career breaks be refused, the decision and reasons, shall be confirmed in writing.
Abuse of this policy may be treated as a disciplinary matter. Complaints arising from the application of this policy should be raised through the grievance procedure, in writing.
HR will be notified of all applications and outcomes of special and other leave detailed within this policy and will provide management reports to the Commission as required, normally on an annual basis.
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Special leave
Requests for special leave will usually be given:
- for compassionate reasons, in the event of a death, serious injury or illness of a dependent or partner/spouse, child, parent, brother or sister who is not a dependent
- to attend a funeral or memorial service for other members of his or her family or for a close friend
- for you to deal with a domestic emergency, for example, where your home was damaged by fire, flood or burglary
- If a dependent becomes ill and cannot reasonably be left alone
- if you are fostering a child with a view to adoption and need some time off to facilitate these arrangements
- where you are required to undertake a course of treatment in relation to your health by your GP or specialist (please also refer to Sickness absence policy)
- for you to attend an interview in connection with an application of employment elsewhere
- for other circumstances that do not fall within the above categories. Such requests may be considered but these must be referred to the Deputy Ombudsman or Deputy Chief Executive and Secretary for their decision.
Up to a total of 10 days paid leave per annum may be granted in any calendar leave year.
Requests for special leave which are for more than five days or which exceed five days in total for the calendar leave year must be considered and approved by the Deputy Ombudsman or Deputy Chief Executive and Secretary. Sympathetic consideration will be given to any hardship or difficulty that might arise which necessitates a request for leave from work without pay and up to a further total of 10 days unpaid leave may be agreed at the Deputy’s discretion.
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Jury service and attendance at court
If you are required to do jury service or to attend court as a witness during a trial, you should notify the Head of Human Resources and your manager of the dates in question. Approval for such service (either jury or as a witness) will be given to cover the period you are required to attend by the courts. The court will provide a form for your employer to complete in relation to loss of earnings and which you should pass to HR. Once the service is completed the court will provide you with a statement of monies paid to you in relation to loss of earnings, which again, you should pass to HR.
You will receive your normal pay during attendance at court and any monies paid to you by the court will be deducted on your return. If you fail to claim for loss of earnings through the Court, the organisation reserves the right to deduct from your salary, any monies paid at the standard rate for loss of earnings.
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Other public and civic duties
In accordance with the Employment Rights Act 1996 (Section 50), special leave may be granted to staff if you are (or wishing to become):
- a magistrate
- justice of the peace
- local councillor
- school governor
- member of a police authority
- member of any statutory tribunal
- member of a relevant health body
- member of the managing or governing body of an educational establishment
- member of the governing body of a further or higher education corporation
- member of a school council or board in Scotland
- member of the General Teaching Councils for England and Wales
- member of the Environment Agency or the Scottish Environment Protection Agency
- in England and Wales, prison independent monitoring boards, and in Scotland, prison visiting committees
- member of Scottish Water or a Water Customer Consultation Panel.
Local authorities and other bodies that fall within jurisdiction of the Commission are excluded.
- Up to two days unpaid leave per month may be permitted with a corresponding reduction in workload, or
- up to two days paid leave per month may be permitted and you will be expected to make up the time and maintain your normal workload.
Leave may be taken in full or half days only.
Where duties for the post require extensive amounts of time due to role, location or other special circumstances, further time off may be agreed by the Deputy, for example, where staff sit on inner London benches (up to 26 full or 52 half days).
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Requesting time off for public and civic duties
You should discuss your request with your Deputy and complete the relevant special leave form. The Deputy will discuss your request with your line manager and notify HR if the request is agreed and will approve your request by signing your completed special leave form. Once the leave has been agreed this form should be sent to the local Facilities team and a copy sent to Human Resources. Approval must be given before you make a commitment to undertake a public or civic duty. If a request is refused, the decision will be confirmed in writing with reasons. If you are aggrieved by the decision, you should pursue your complaint through the Grievance procedure.
Approval/non approval of the request
Requests will be judged in each case against the work commitments of the Commission and the decision by your Deputy Ombudsman or Deputy Chief Executive and Secretary to approve such requests must take into account:
- whether the absence would be unduly disruptive to the work of the team or service, and
- whether productivity may be affected in relation to the quantity or quality of work and service delivery.
Applications for undertaking public duties must be approved prior to appointments being accepted.
Staff who wish to undertake public duties may choose to use their annual leave and flexi leave rather than apply for additional special leave. However, you must seek approval from your Deputy before making a commitment to undertake such duties.
Approved arrangements may be ended with notice where performance becomes adversely affected or where the work of the team or office is disrupted and becomes problematic.
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Conflict of interest
Although we support and encourage social responsibility and involvement, it is important that it does not interfere with your normal duties and does not present a conflict of interest with the organisation’s objectives and operation. Staff must discuss their intention to engage in any other role/job outside work with either their Deputy Ombudsman or Deputy Chief Executive, in confidence, before making any commitment of any outside work (excluding purely temporary work but including public service eg as a JP or a school governor). The Commission reserves the right to instruct any member of staff not to do outside work which it considers harmful to its interests.
Career breaks
After five years continuous employment, you may apply for up to 12 months unpaid leave.
Requesting time off for a career break
Applications must be made in writing to your manager who will consider your application and discuss with the relevant Deputy before it is approved or rejected.
If your application is rejected you may use the grievance procedure to resolve your concerns. You will need to put your complaint in writing.
All applications for a career break must be submitted at least three months prior to the anticipated commencement date.
Where a second or repeat application for a career break is requested the applicant must have five years continuous service from the date they returned from their previous career break.
Applications for career breaks will not be considered for the purpose of taking alternative waged/salaried employment. The Deputy may exercise discretion where employment is incidental for example if it was a Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) opportunity or temporary work to fund travel.
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Approval/non approval of the request
Approval of applications will depend upon service delivery considerations, taking into account:
- whether it is possible to provide cover for the absence without causing serious disruption to the service or incurring significant costs
- whether the absence will provide a career development opportunity potentially for another member of staff
- other absences requested or already agreed within the office for the period requested, eg maternity or adoption leave.
Benefits during a career break
Holidays: There is no entitlement to contractual or statutory annual leave or bank holidays during a career break.
Sickness: This period of leave is not subject to the sickness absence scheme nor counted for sick pay purposes.
Pension: This period is not counted as pensionable service unless the individual wishes to bridge the period of leave by making a lump sum payment of their pension contributions within 30 days of their return. In this case, the Commission will pay the employer’s contributions and the career break period will be counted as pensionable service.
Other benefits: You are not entitled to benefit from any other paid benefits or leave during your career break. For example, if you become pregnant during this period you would not be entitled to occupational maternity pay.
Returning from a career break
On your return from a career break you may return to the same or similar job to that which you are leaving and on the same salary point, grade and location.
You will need to ensure that your contact details and emergency contact information is up to date prior to starting your career break. You should notify your manager and HR of these.
You must notify your manager whether you intend to return from a career break or whether you are not planning to return and give at least eight week’s notice.
If you wish to return early from your career break, you will need to contact your manager and advise them of your wish to return early. Your manager will discuss this with the relevant Deputy whether this is practicable taking into account any cover arrangements made for the career break period. Your manager will write to you to let you know whether this request may be accommodated and will confirm your return to work date in writing.
If you do not return from your career break and you have not contacted us about your return, we will consider that you have resigned your employment with the Commission and will write to confirm this.
February 2009
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Date Updated: 19/11/10