Special leave policy

1 Introduction

The aim of this policy is to facilitate time off with pay and also unpaid provisions, where appropriate for employees requesting parental, carer or bereavement leave to facilitate an effective work life balance for employees. It also covers the arrangement for jury service.

2 Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to provide employees with appropriate leave facilities which will enable them to balance work commitments with domestic, personal and family responsibilities outside of work in a manner consistent with excellent employment practice.

Leave granted under these arrangements is intended to assist in those situations where the granting of a period of leave will help to resolve the employee’s difficulties. It is not intended to resolve recurrent difficulties for which other arrangements may be possible following discussion between the employee and their manager.

3 Scope

These arrangements apply to all employees who fulfil the appropriate requirements and will embrace the following circumstances in which leave may be sought:

parental leave
carer leave
bereavement leave
jury service

4 Responsibilities, accountabilities and duties

4.1 Lead director

The director of people and organisational development has responsibility for the implementation of this policy and coordination of an appropriate communication strategy together with ensuring that appropriate monitoring arrangements are in place.

4.2 Care group directors or corporate directors or head of department

In relation to cases of urgent and unforeseen need, it will be the responsibility of whoever is the colleague on duty, with the required authority (for example the line managers manager, or the on call manager), at the time of the request to grant initial authorisation for the employee to be either released from duty or informed that they need not attend for that particular shift or duty.

It is the responsibility of the care group directors or corporate director or head of department to ensure that this policy is applied fairly and equitably to all employees within their respective area.

4.3 Line managers

The responsibility for authorising leave under this policy will rest with the line manager.

Requests made under this policy should be considered by the line manager on an individual basis taking into account the full circumstances.

Managers have a duty to ensure that they apply these leave arrangements fairly and equitably to all employees and ensure that all accepted requests for special leave are recorded on ESR. Should a manager require advice or would like to explore requests further they can contact a member of the People Experience team.

If a line manager is proposing to authorise leave which is outside of this policy framework, then this must be discussed in advance with the care group director or deputy care group director, corporate head of service or a manager of equivalent status to a care group director or corporate head of service.

Where the colleague on duty giving such permission in accordance with their authority levels is not the line manager (for example the line managers manager, or the on-call manager), it is important that they contact the employees line manager at the first available opportunity to discuss the situation and the absence. The line manager will make contact with the employee to offer support and discuss keeping in touch arrangements.

The purpose of the contact from the line manager is to ensure that:

the line manager is aware of the full circumstances and therefore able to advise the employee on any further leave which may be granted
the employee is clear about the arrangements which have been approved and therefore is not burdened by the additional worry of how the absence will be handled either at the time or their return
where appropriate, the line manager has the opportunity to advise the employee of any further avenues of support or reference to any other trust policies which are available to them such as flexible working, a temporary reduction in hours, career break or other such supportive measures
the line manager should also discuss with the employee additional support which is available through occupational health and the employee assistance programmes

4.4 The People Experience team

It is the responsibility of the People Experience team to support and advise managers in the application of this policy, ensuring consistency is applied.

4.5 Individual employees

It is the responsibility of each employee to:

co-operate fully with the requirements of this policy
communicate fully regarding the circumstances for the leave request
communicate appropriately during any authorised leave
take every step to minimise the need for emergency leave

If an employee knowingly provides false information in relation to taking time off for dependents or bereavement or parental leave or jury service, this will be explored through a fact finding exercise and if appropriate reviewed under the just and restorative culture framework. Should there still be a concern this may be treated as a disciplinary matter, and referred to the counter fraud specialist in line with the counter fraud, bribery and corruption policy, which could potentially amount to gross misconduct, rendering the employee liable to summary dismissal and potential criminal proceedings.

5 Procedure or implementation

5.1 Applying for leave

Applications for parental leave must be made using the form in appendix A, which line managers must also complete.

All other leave requested under this policy should be submitted in writing by the employee to their line manager. Where submission in writing is not possible due to the urgency of the situation a request for leave can be made over the telephone with the line manager or a colleague who has the relevant authority level (for example the line managers manager, or the on call manager).

If the application for leave under this policy is rejected, the reasons for rejection should be explained to the employee in full and documented in writing giving the right to appeal as outlined in section 5.9 of this policy.

5.1.1 Recording leave

All authorised requests for special leave, including parental leave, must be recorded on ESR and e-roster. To correctly record this select ‘special increasing balance’ for type of absence, then the appropriate reason in the following box, such as bereavement, compassionate leave, jury service etc

5.2 Parental leave

Parental leave is a statutory entitlement where qualifying periods and entitlement are defined within legislation (see references within this policy).

The purpose of parental leave is for employees to take time off work to look after a child’s welfare. This leave is unpaid and is available for each child and adopted child up to their 18th birthday. To qualify for parental leave employees must have a minimum of one year’s continuous service. ‘ordinary’ parental leave should not be confused with shared parental leave, see the family leave policy (maternity, shared parental leave, adoption, paternity and nursing mothers).

5.3 Entitlements

An eligible employee will be entitled to a total of 18 weeks unpaid leave (up to a maximum of four weeks of parental leave in any financial year) for each child. The leave can start once the child is born or placed for adoption, or as soon as the employee has completed a year’s service, whichever is later, and it can be taken at any time up to the child’s 18th birthday.

Parental leave should be taken in blocks of a week or multiples of a week with the exception of parents with disabled children who can take leave in blocks or multiples of one day (for the purposes of parental leave, a disabled child is one for whom disability living allowance or personal independence payment has been awarded). A week is classed as the employees normal weekly contracted hours.

If both parents are employed by the trust, each parent will be entitled to a maximum of 18 weeks each per child, for example, 36 weeks in total for one child. Each parent is able to make a request for parental leave at the same time. It would be for each service to review the request and either accept or postpone

5.4 Procedural arrangements

In all cases, the employee will need to provide the following evidence, as applicable, to confirm that they are a parent or person who is legally responsible for the child:

the child’s birth certificate
papers confirming the child’s adoption (if applicable)

5.4.1 Parental leave immediately after birth or adoption

The employee needs to give, in writing to their manager, 21 days’ notice before the beginning of the expected week of childbirth, using appendix A, application form.

In the case of adoption, the employee needs to give 21 days’ notice of the expected week of placement. In rare cases where this is not possible, an adoptive parent should give the notice as soon as is reasonably practicable.

5.4.2 Applications for parental leave at other times

Employees should make a request for parental leave in writing to their manager and should provide a minimum of four weeks notice. If an employee wants to take more than two weeks at a time they must provide as much notice as is reasonably possible or a minimum of 4 weeks.

An employee must give notice of the exact day on which parental leave will start, except for co-parents who want to take leave straight after the baby is born or prospective adoptive parents who want to take leave straight after the child is placed with them for adoption.

The employer must inform the employee in writing within 7 working days whether they can take the leave or whether it must be postponed.

Refer to appendix A for supporting documentation.

5.5 Managerial discretion

The trust may postpone parental leave for up to six months where the business would be particularly disrupted if the leave were taken at the time requested. Any postponement of leave will be discussed with the employee and will be confirmed in writing no later than 7 working days after the employee’s notice to take leave and will state the reason and set out the new dates of parental leave.

When an employee applies to take parental leave immediately after the birth or adoption of a child or if it means that an employee would no longer qualify for parental leave, for example, postponing it until after the child’s 18th birthday, then the employer cannot postpone the leave.

5.6 Carer leave and domestic leave

The aim of carer leave and domestic emergency leave is to provide a compassionate response to immediate needs. The needs covered will be those arising from the many and varied domestic situations which, from time to time, occur, for example, illness of a child, close relative or dependent dependant, breakdown of normal carer arrangements, burglary or house flood.

A dependent is someone who is married to, is a civil partner, or a partner (whether opposite or same sex), “a near relative” or someone who lives at the same address as the employee. A relative for this purpose includes: children, parents, parents-in-law, adult children, adopted adult children, siblings (including those who are in-laws), uncles, aunts, grandparents and step relatives or is someone who relies on the employee in a particular emergency.

5.6.1 Entitlements

In such situations it is recognised that the problem will normally be short term and therefore the line manager will have discretion to authorise up to a days paid leave. However, there is an expectation that both the line manager and the employee will have considered other options which are available in order to address the immediate difficulty, for example, change of shift; variation to start and finish time; use of flexible time arrangements; home-working, etc.

No more than 4 days paid carer’s or domestic special leave can be authorised in any given financial year.

Dependent on circumstances, leave may be taken in hours rather than days.

Requests for special leave should be considered regardless of any outstanding annual leave entitlement.

The exception to this rule is when carer or domestic emergency leave is requested during the last week of the annual leave year. The employee should then use outstanding leave, rather than request it be carried forward.

Leave would normally be granted for up to one working day or shift and may be granted in hours. In exceptional circumstances, additional time may be granted on the second day. Any further time off would not be unreasonably refused but would be granted as unpaid leave, flexible time arrangements or lieu time or use of annual leave.

The purpose of the paid leave facility is therefore to assist when other managerial options have been unable to assist the employee overcome their immediate difficulty. It should be noted that where two employees have joint responsibility for dependents or live in the same household only one may take carer or domestic emergency leave at any one time.

The manager can refuse to grant paid leave where in their judgement a pattern of leave requests has emerged which suggests there is an ongoing problem for which an alternative course of action would be more appropriate, rather than the use of this leave facility which is intended to help employees cope with urgent or unforeseen circumstances.

Any further days carer’s leave (or time off for dependants) over the 4 days paid leave would be on an unpaid basis as per the regulations regarding ‘time off for dependants’.

Where the amount of carer’s leave (time off for dependants) that the employee requires becomes excessive or begins to cause operational difficulties for the organisation, the trust may refuse further time off in the immediate future

5.6.2 Support for carers

At times situations occur where normal caring arrangements fall through or a carer is required to undertake further caring duties that may impact their usual working hours.

This may be used to support employees to care for an ill relative, dependent or child for whom they have caring responsibilities and to support employees where a level of care cannot be arranged outside of working hours for a short period.

In these cases, employees can request short term flexibility to deal with the situation. Agreement is subject to the line manager’s discretion and dependent on service requirements.

If the agreed flexibility is for less than 1 month and the contracted hours remain unchanged, the arrangement will be informal. For longer periods of time or where hours will change, please refer to the flexible working policy and procedure to apply for a change of hours.

There may be times where carers need to attend medical appointments with the individual they support. Wherever possible these should be in the employees own time, but where this is not possible discussions should be held with their line manager to discuss how this can be accommodated. Line managers should consider how they can support the employee. There is no entitlement to paid carers leave.

5.6.3 Private telephone calls

Carers may need to check on the person they care for on a regular basis. In these circumstances carers may discuss with their line manager the need to make private calls. Frequency and duration of calls will be as needed within reason and at the discretion of the line manager. Where the amount or frequency of calls that the employee makes or receives becomes excessive or begins to cause operational difficulties, the trust reserves the right to limit calls to a specific number and time each day.

5.6.4 Occupational health

The trust’s occupational health provider is available to provide support on issues that concern employees in their role as carers or parents. Alternatively employees can contact the 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year helpline details of which can be found on the trust intranet or via the People Experience team.

5.7 Bereavement leave

The purpose of bereavement leave is to enable managers to respond with empathy where employees have been affected by bereavement

5.7.1 Entitlements

All employees, regardless of their length of service, are entitled to request bereavement leave. Managers have the discretion to look at each individual employee’s case and to assess their needs and the needs of the service. Bereavement leave will normally be taken on consecutive days but this may be varied according to the circumstances.

The relationships described below have been provided as a guide, as it is recognised that closeness of relationships may vary in individual circumstances however, managers are responsible for monitoring requests for leave for the “equivalent” relationship to ensure that the policy is not being misused. The definitions below include step and half family members.

The leave entitlements are as follows:

death of a spouse or child (or equivalent relationships): paid leave for up to two (2) months
death of an immediate family member such as a sibling or parent (or equivalent relationships): paid leave for up to one (1) month
death of other family members or for very close friends: paid leave up to one (1) week (as required)
executor of an estate, paid leave for up to one (1) week (if required)

The above should be used as guidance only and line managers should use discretion, they think is appropriate for each employees’ individual circumstances. For example, an employee who is suffering the loss of a close friend whom they live with.

The periods of leave detailed above will not necessarily commence from the day of the death but from the first day of absence if the employee requires time off to be at the bedside of their dying relative. The leave could also be varied should an employee wish to attend work after the death but to support the arrangements following a death or take time off around the funeral or. Where requests are made to extend the period of absence beyond what is detailed above, agreement will be at the discretion of the care group director or head of department.

This paid leave normally relates to no more than two bereavements per year, but it is appreciated that at some points during a colleagues career there may be years where they may require more bereavement leave and therefore line managers have discretion to authorise more than two periods. Managers are responsible for monitoring the number of requests that are made by employees.

Managers should sensitively agree or negotiate requests for bereavement leave in a non-discriminatory manner, specifically taking account of:

the responsibility the individual has for the circumstances (for example, if they are organising the funeral)
the distance, if applicable, that the employee has to travel to manage such circumstances
the availability of others to assist with any relevant arrangements

Where an employee experiences multiple bereavements in a short space of time, including if they are already on compassionate leave, then each episode should be considered and recorded separately and independently.

Recording of bereavement leave is detailed in section 5.1.2 of this policy.

5.7.2 A colleague’s death in service

Unfortunately and occasionally employees may die in service. This can be a very sensitive topic for colleagues within a service or team, as it is recognised that employees develop closeness or friendship to their colleagues over time. Line managers should act with sensitivity and care to their team who are grieving the loss of their team member. Due to service delivery and safer staffing reasons, special leave for a team would not be operationally feasible in most circumstances. Line managers should act appropriately, ensuring that all employees are offered health and well-being support in the first instance. Should other teams and areas be able to support a team during this difficult times, the line manager of the team should make the appropriate arrangements for this to happen.

Should an employee feel they are not well enough to be in work due to the loss of a colleague within the team, this should be recorded as sickness. However this should be taken as guidance and line managers can use discretion around this, they feel is appropriate. For example if an employee is a close friend or a family member to the colleague that has died then bereavement leave may feel more appropriate.

In relation to funeral arrangements, it is also recognised that employees, naturally, would like to attend their colleague’s funeral. In instances where there are multiple staff members wishing to attend the funeral, line managers should handle this request with sensitivity. Line managers should consider other avenues where appropriate to cover service demand. Line manager should consider bank employees and other teams to cover service demand on the day of a colleague’s funeral, where necessary.

Line managers should also consider alternative arrangements in order for their team to pay respects. For example, booking some team time away from the ward or office environment, where operationally feasible. Line managers can also explore a memorial service on site. In this instance the manager should speak to the Communications team and the Chaplaincy team where appropriate. For example, a bench memorial.

Should an employee attend a colleague’s funeral, please see clause 5.7.3 on Funeral leave, to determine how this should be recorded.

5.7.3 Funeral leave

Employees can receive a total of one working day’s paid leave to attend the funeral of a direct family member (direct family members being: spouses or partners, parents, children or siblings: this definition includes step, half family members, grandparents and close friends also). As a guidance this leave relates to two episodes per year, but it is appreciated that at some points during a colleagues career there may be years where they may require more funeral leave and therefore line managers have discretion to authorise more than two periods.

Management should try to be flexible with annual leave requests in circumstances where an employee has to travel in order to attend a funeral.

Recording of funeral leave is detailed in section 5.1.2 of this policy.

5.7.4 Pregnancy loss leave

Pregnancy Loss Leave is available for pregnant employee’s or an employee who is the partner of the pregnant person who’s had a miscarriage prior to 24 weeks of pregnancy. A partner is defined as the child’s biological father or the partner of the mother or adopter. This can be a spouse, civil partner; or a partner who is living in an enduring relationship with the mother. The trust will provide up to two weeks paid pregnancy loss leave (this will be recorded on ESR as ‘special increasing balance’, ‘compassionate leave’).

To qualify for this leave employees must supply medical evidence of a miscarriage. Due to the sensitivity around this, a fit note, from a GP stating pregnancy related loss would suffice.

Pregnancy loss leave will also be entitled to those employees who are acting as surrogates for another person wishing to become parents. Surrogates will also qualify for the two weeks paid pregnancy loss leave.

For employees who have a pregnancy loss over 24 weeks please refer to the family leave policy (maternity, shared parental leave, adoption, paternity and nursing mothers).

5.8 Jury service or coroners court leave

Employees called for jury service should advise their line manager in the first instance and provide them with a copy of the official communication from the clerk to the court to verify the dates.

Conditions of jury service are such that:

employees will be granted basic time off with pay for jury service provided they are not claiming expenses from the courts for loss of earnings
employees would need to claim any loss of additional earnings (shift enhancements etc) directly through the court using their documentation
no travelling or subsistence expenses, associated with jury service, are paid by the trust. Expenses would need to be claimed by the court if applicable
in exceptional circumstances where granting time off would be detrimental to the service and patient care, employees may be asked by their manager to request a postponement of jury service. However, it will be the court’s decision as to whether the request is agreed. Postponement of jury service is normally only allowable once in 12-month period
line managers must record jury service on ESR and should also report to payroll, as appropriate, through e-rostering, positive returns or any other relevant payroll documentation
employees are normally expected to attend work if they are not required in court on whole or half days in the jury service period. Arrangements for this potential eventuality would need to be agreed with the employee and line manager

This guidance for jury service is also applicable to employees who are called for coroners court, whether for the trust or a previous employer.

5.8.1 Parliamentary candidate leave

Employees who are elected as a candidate for parliamentary election are entitled to four weeks special leave without pay to enable them to undertake required duties to support their potential election.

If subsequently elected as a member of parliament then an employee would be required to resign from their substantive post in order to undertake those duties. The resignation is unconditional and would not give any right to re-employment at a later date. If successful election is to a part time position then continuation of the employee’s substantive contract with the trust.

depends on the individual’s ability to successfully request (if necessary) a reduction in hours via the trust’s flexible working policy and procedure; it also depends on the individual’s ability to successfully continue to meet the requirements of their substantive position.

Time off for this type of leave should be requested by the employee directly to the line manager with as much notice as possible. Such leave should be reported to payroll, as appropriate, through e-rostering, positive returns or any other relevant payroll documentation

5.9 Appeal

Where a request for special leave is declined the reason should be explained to the employee as soon as possible and clearly documented in writing.

The employee must be advised they have a right of appeal against this decision and the process for pursuing it.

The first step is for the employee to discuss any concern with the person who declined the request. This should be dealt with without delay and it may resolve the matter informally.

If the matter is not resolved informally or without delay, then the employee should write to the next level of manager not previously involved to appeal the decision. The employee must be advised that they are entitled to be represented or accompanied at this appeal meeting. A formal meeting will take place and the written outcome of that appeal will be final

6 Training implications

There are no specific training needs in relation to this policy, but the following employees will need to be familiar with its contents:

line managers
care group directors or corporate heads of service or deputy care group directors
directors
People Experience team representatives
staff side representatives

As a trust policy, all employees need to be aware of the key points that the policy covers. Employees can be made aware through:

the agreed trust communication channels
management meetings

7 Monitoring arrangements

7.1 Number of applications made under this policy and the outcome

How: Review of applications.
Who by: People Experience team.
Reported to: Care group governance meetings policy forum.
Frequency: Once yearly.

8 Equality impact assessment screening

To access the equality impact assessment for this policy, please see the overarching equality impact assessment.

8.1 Privacy, dignity and respect

The NHS Constitution states that all patients should feel that their privacy and dignity are respected while they are in hospital. High Quality Care for All (2008), Lord Darzi’s review of the NHS, identifies the need to organise care around the individual, ‘not just clinically but in terms of dignity and respect’.

As a consequence the trust is required to articulate its intent to deliver care with privacy and dignity that treats all service users with respect. Therefore, all procedural documents will be considered, if relevant, to reflect the requirement to treat everyone with privacy, dignity and respect, (when appropriate this should also include how same sex accommodation is provided).

8.1.1 How this will be met

No issues have been identified in relation to this policy.

8.2 Mental Capacity Act

Central to any aspect of care delivered to adults and young people aged 16 years or over will be the consideration of the individuals capacity to participate in the decision making process. Consequently, no intervention should be carried out without either the individuals informed consent, or the powers included in a legal framework, or by order of the court.

Therefore, the trust is required to make sure that all staff working with individuals who use our service are familiar with the provisions within the Mental Capacity Act (2005) . For this reason all procedural documents will be considered, if relevant to reflect the provisions of the Mental Capacity Act (2005) to ensure that the interests of an individual whose capacity is in question can continue to make as many decisions for themselves as possible.

8.2.1 How this will be met

All individuals involved in the implementation of this policy should do so in accordance with the guiding principles of the Mental Capacity Act (2005) (section 1) themselves as possible.

9 Links to any other associated documents

10 References

Work and Families Act 2006.
Shared Parental Leave Regulations 2014.
Children and families Act 2014.
The Maternity and Parental Leave etc. Regulations 1999.
Maternity and Adoption Leave (Curtailment of Statutory Rights) Regulations 2014.
Shared Parental Leave and Paternity and Adoption Leave (Adoption from Overseas) Regulations 2014.
Agenda for Change Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook, Amendment Number 02/2022.
Section 57A of the Employment Rights Act 1996 – Time off for Dependents.
NHS Constitution.
Mental Capacity Act (2005).
High Quality Care for All (2008).

11 Appendices

11.1 Appendix A Application for parental leave

Appendix A Application for parental leave

Document control

Version: 14.2.
Unique reference number: 252.
Approved by: Corporate policy approval group.
Date approved: 11 January 2024.
Name of originator or author: Associate people experience partner.
Name of responsible individual: Executive director for people and organisational development.
Date issued: 16 January 2024.
Review date: 28 February 2026.
Target audience: All trust employees.

Page last reviewed: April 30, 2024
Next review due: April 30, 2025

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