Annual Leave & Hours of Work

Annual Leave Entitlement

The entitlement is 27 working days with the choice of dates left to the individual, subject to the approval of the Head of Department who will not unreasonably withhold consent.

The normal holiday year runs from the 1st August to the 31st July.

Public Holidays

There are normally 8 public holidays:

  • Summer Bank Holiday
  • Christmas Day
  • Boxing Day
  • New Year's Day
  • Good Friday
  • Easter Monday
  • Early May Bank Holiday
  • Spring Bank Holiday
Please note that, in 2021/22, the Spring Bank Holiday will not be in May (as is the norm) but has been moved to 2 June. There is also an extra bank holiday in 2022; Friday 3rd June.

Customary Holidays 2021/22

There are 7 customary holidays which are as follows in 2021/22:

  1. 4 days at Christmas - 24th, 29th, 30th, and 31st December.  The University will reopen on Tuesday 4th January, 2022.
  2. the Thursday before Good Friday - 14th April 2022
  3. the Tuesday after Easter Monday - 19th April 2022
  4. the remaining customary holiday may be included in annual leave entitlement for 2021/22.

Customary Holidays 2022/23

There are 9 customary holidays which are as follows in 2022/23

  1. 6 days at Christmas - 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 28th, 29th and 30th December. The University will reopen on Tuesday 3rd January, 2023.
  2. the Thursday before Good Friday - 6th April 2023
  3. the Tuesday after Easter Monday - 11th April 2023
  4. the remaining customary holidays may be included in annual leave entitlement for 2022/23.

As was communicated via the Staff Bulletin on the 10th of November the Executive Board recognises that colleagues have adapted successfully to new ways of working following the pandemic and almost two years of remote working.Pivoting to in-person working within the guidance of our dynamic working framework has brought different challenges which colleagues have met with positivity and a consistent focus on supporting our students.
Not only have these challenges been met successfully but during the year the University also celebrated an excellent REF outcome, an improved NSS score, a ranking of 15 in a world sustainability table, an increase of 19% in the Times Good University Guide and an excellent extended graduation celebration.
As a way of showing grateful appreciation to colleagues for their commitment and hard work during this challenging year it has been decided to give two additional days leave over the Christmas period. The University will close at 5.00pm on Tuesday 20th December and re-open on Tuesday 3rd January.
A number of facilities will remain open for restricted hours during the Christmas period and for the small number of colleagues required to work during this time, two extra days annual leave will be given.

How to Work out Part-Time Holiday Entitlement:

For part time staff holiday entitlement is worked out in hours rather than days.

  • Multiply the 42 (43 for 2022) total leave days (which includes College and Bank Holidays) by 7.25 hours (the full time daily hours); this gives a full time hourly holiday entitlement.
  • Divide the result above by 36.25 hours (the full time weekly hours), then multiply by the number of hours a week you work.

This result gives you your annual holiday entitlement in hours. This includes hours to be taken for College and Bank Holidays.

Hours of Work

Grade 6 and below:

The standard working week for full-time staff is 36.25 hours (excluding meal breaks), normally between Monday and Friday, the actual attendance times to be agreed with the Head of College/School/Department.  

Grade 7 and above:

Because of the nature of the work, the University does not specify any terms and conditions relating to hours of work within the meaning of the Employment Rights Act 1996.  Hours shall be such as are necessary to carry out satisfactorily the duties associated with the post; and on average a normal weekly commitment will mean between 36.25 and 48 hours per week.

Part-time Working within Academic, Managerial and Professional Terms and Conditions:

Current Academic, Managerial and Professional staff contracts of employment state that the precise hours of work are not specified generally, but shall be such as are necessary to carry out satisfactorily the duties associated with the post, and in line with the Working Time Directive. For full time members of staff the contract will stipulate hours between 36.25 and 48 per week.

Where staff have been appointed to part-time roles, then this will be on the basis of a percentage of time e.g. as an 80% contract. This means they will work 80% of 36.25 – 48 hours per week rather than a fixed 29 hours per week. Another example would be a 0.5 FTE contract, this would mean the staff member works 50% of 36.25 – 48 hours per week i.e. between 18 – 22 hours per week rather than a fixed 18 hours. Staff are not entitled to accrue additional hours if on occasion they work more hours; the Flexitime Policy and any time off in lieu arrangement is only applicable to Support Staff i.e. staff members at grades 1 – 6.

 

Annual Leave arrangements from the 1st of August

The University is currently developing ‘I Trent’ (an integrated HR/Payroll system) ahead of the  implementation of its core functionality in April 2023.

The new system will automatically record and process  annual leave in hours rather that the current manual practice of days or half days. With the introduction of dynamic working at the University and our commitment to providing enhanced flexibility to staff with families, caring responsibilities etc, this method of recording will more accurately reflect the annual leave allowance of each member of staff. As the implementation of iTrent is expected to take place part way through the leave year, all areas of the University are asked to record annual leave in hours with effect from 1 August 2022. This will allow areas greater flexibility in considering whether leave requests can be submitted in hours of less than a half/ full day or whether they wish to continue to operate as currently.  

As we near the “go live” date of 1 April 2023, HR will request all staff leave balances (plus details of any future pre-approved leave requests) for uploading into the system. If we do not have a balance only a pro rata leave allowance based on the final 4 months of the year will be entered, assuming staff will have taken the remainder of their leave during the year.