Purchase of Additional Leave FAQs
The University recognises that some employees may wish to increase their annual leave entitlement for personal reasons such as special occasion or an extended overseas holiday or to take additional holiday to assist with caring responsibilities. The Policy will allow staff to spread the cost over a full year.
The Policy covers all staff in the Professional Services job family, regardless of grade or length of service.
The trial period for the Policy has ended and it has been agreed that additional annual leave may be purchased, once a year, on a permanent basis. This will however be subject to review and can be withdrawn at any time.
No, but it would be helpful to indicate to your manager when you make the application of when you are likely to want to take the additional leave.
No, once your application has been approved you cannot sell the additional leave back again.
The window for purchasing annual leave for 2024 opens on Monday 13th November and your request must be approved by your manager by Friday 8th December.
You can purchase up to 2 weeks (pro rata) additional leave. This is 73 hours for full time employees. You need to apply in hours as this will be added to the Trent annual leave system in hours.
No. You are not required to take all the additional leave in one block, but it would be helpful to inform your manager when you apply as to how and when you wish to take the leave.
Your salary (including any allowances) will be reduced by an amount equivalent to the number of hours being taken; 7.3 hours being considered to be 1/260th of a year for full time staff. This cost will then be spread out over the whole year. For part time staff this will be pro rata.
You will pay Tax and National Insurance on the reduced pay.
If you are in USS or ERSS your pension contributions will continue as normal, and will be paid for the period of additional leave. If you have an NHS pension, then additional leave is not pensionable, so pensionable service will be lost for the period of additional leave and pension contributions will be reduced in line with the reduction in salary.
Possibly, if your salary falls below the Lower Earnings Limit for National Insurance your entitlement to state benefits (such as state pension, statutory maternity pay etc.) may be affected.
This will depend on the circumstances and will be dealt with on a case by case basis. If the circumstances change before the repayments have begun, the leave could be cancelled. When the repayments have begun and where you cannot take the leave on the dates that you indicated to your manager, it may be possible to change the dates of the additional leave. Any leave must be approved by your manager. It must be noted, however, that the purchased leave cannot be sold back to the University.
Your reduced monthly salary will continue for the previously agreed period (ie 12 months) whether you are at work or off sick.
Your University maternity or adoption pay is based on your salary on the first day of your maternity/adoption leave. Depending on your circumstances, there may be some impact on the amount of your statutory maternity/adoption pay if you do not take UMP. You are advised to speak to your HR contact as soon as you know you are pregnant or will be adopting a child to discuss your options in more detail.
Any additional leave purchased must be paid for before you start a career break. If you have any outstanding payments, they will be taken from your final month's salary before your career break starts.
No, you must use your additional annual leave in the leave year you have applied for. If you do not use your additional leave for any reason and you fail to take it within the approved leave year, then you may lose the leave.
Your manager should inform you of the reasons why your request has been turned down. There is no right of appeal.
No, the University reserves the right to withdraw or amend the Policy at any time.
You will be required to pay back any holiday that you have not yet paid for through the monthly reduction to your salary. Any amounts owed will be deducted from your final salary.
As long as your contract is current for the total duration of the annual leave year in which you are applying, you may make an application to purchase additional annual leave.
Reductions to your salary will be calculated on the salary that you are earning in January. This amount will not change during the year regardless of whether your salary reduces or increases.
Your salary can not fall below the National Minimum Wage after deductions have been made for the purchase of additional leave. If this will occur, then your application will not be approved by the Pay and Benefits team.