Holiday (annual leave)

 

This policy sets out the terms and conditions of your holiday entitlement and holiday pay, and should be read in conjunction with your contract of employment.  In the event of any inconsistency between the terms set out in this policy or in your contract or statement of particulars the terms set out in your contract or written particulars will prevail.

Annual holiday entitlement is calculated according to the holiday year running form 1st January to 31st December of each year.   All employees are entitled to 25 days paid annual leave plus 8 (eight) statutory public holidays, or the contracted hourly equivalent.

 

In addition, for every complete year of employment after  one full year of employment, additional holiday days (or pro-rata equivalent) will be allocated in the next holiday year, as follows;

 

There is an additional enhancement to this plan based on seniority and performance.

 

Holidays must be taken at times convenient to the company and not less than 4 (four) weeks’ notice of intention to take holiday must be given to your line manager  for a period of holiday of 1 (one) week or more, and not less than 2 (two) weeks’ notice for a period of holiday of less than 1 (one) week.

 

If you wish to book a holiday period longer than 2 weeks (10 working days) please discuss this with your line manager, department manager and the People team.  The decision to approve will be based on workload, ability to find resource to cover the absence, impact on others and any other factors that need to be considered on a job-by-job basis.

 

Please book your leave via BreatheHR, your line manager will approve this online.

 

Employees should not make any firm plans (for example, accommodation, flights, travel arrangements, etc) until they have received written confirmation that their request for leave has been granted. There may be circumstances where the Company cannot grant the request based on  operational/staffing requirements. The Company is not liable for any loss incurred by an employee, such as lost deposits etc, if they incur costs and make commitments prior to receiving confirmation.

 

If the company refuses you permission to take leave requested this must be notified within a period equivalent to the period of leave, from the date of request. Any unauthorised absence from work is a serious disciplinary offence and can in appropriate cases lead to dismissal with or without notice or payment in lieu and irrespective of the fact that no warnings have been given.

 

Managers must ensure that their teams are adequately staffed for operational reasons, and careful consideration given before either approving leave of their staff or requesting leave themselves. Where there are higher levels of leave requests for specific times of the year (for example, Christmas or other religious festivals) the company will make every effort to accept requests but will also have to ensure there is sufficient cover for work.  These considerations will sometimes need to take priority over leave requests.

 

As a general rule, holidays are booked on a “first come, first served basis”.

 

3 days holiday can be carried over into the new holiday year.  No payment is made in lieu of untaken holiday entitlement.

On the termination of your employment you will be entitled to payment in lieu of outstanding holiday entitlement in respect of that holiday year, and you shall be required to repay the company for holiday taken in excess of your entitlement during your final holiday year of employment and/or any preceding holiday years.