Managers Guide to Annual Leave

Managers Guide to Annual Leave



Applies to: all TWL Management Team

Overview


Remember: As a leader in this business, you are responsible for delivering excellence through the use of business processes. You need to listen, understand and help guide the team to follow the processes outlined in this guide

Purpose of Annual Leave


Annual leave is provided to ensure all team members are refreshed and rested for work, so it is the manager’s responsibility to actively manage leave to ensure it is taken.

Why is it important to get Annual Leave right?


By law and in our business, there are processes that need to be followed to ensure that all team members can use their annual leave. If it accrues from year to year and is not taken the cost of the leave accrues also.

It is important that leave is taken at a time that will lessen any impact on the business.

It is also fair to the team members that they have all the information regarding their leave so they can plan accordingly and they receive a prompt response to leave requests from their manager.

Process

Team member requests leave
The team member completes the leave request at least 1 month in advance of the leave being taken.

Manager approves the leave in a timely manner.
Leave should be provided as requested, unless:
  • The team member does not have sufficient leave entitlement available (unless unpaid leave in advance is being considered, contact Ask People Support about this).
  • The request is made too late to allow reasonable work arrangements to be made.
  • Approving the leave would compromise the department due to other team already being away or unusually high work levels at the time leave is requested.
  • The leave is requested at a business-critical time, e.g. Christmas Trading.
If leave is not approved, discuss with team member the reasons why it is declined.
Where leave is not approved
The team member is required to attend work as per usual if their leave has been declined
What if the team member does not turn up / calls in sick for the period when leave was requested but declined?
Try to contact the team member as soon as you realise they are not at work. If you speak to them on the phone, ask why they are not at work. If they say they are not coming in, warn them they are putting their job at risk. Make sure you have a witness to your end of the call and make full notes of the conversation.

If the team member says he or she is sick, tell them you are not accepting that and they will be required to attend a doctor of our choice (TWL will have to pay for the medical examination). If the team member is not sick then disciplinary action will result.

If the team member says he or she is stuck and cannot get transport back to work  (or similar excuse), tell them this is not acceptable and disciplinary action may result.

Submit the completed Leave Application to Payroll:
Payroll will record the leave, amend the leave balance, and pay the leave period at the appropriate rate.

Team member takes the leave
During this time the team member should not come to work; if they do at their own volition, then it does not alter the leave arrangements.

NB – if the holiday is disrupted by sickness or bereavement, you will need to notify Payroll:
  • If sickness occurs during the holiday, the affected part of the holiday can be recorded as sick leave - with the manager’s agreement.
  • If sickness occurs before the holiday, and it runs into the holiday time, you must provide the affected part of the holiday as sick leave if requested and it is available
  • If a bereavement occurs, the affected part of the holiday must be provided as bereavement leave
  • In these circumstances the team member may need to repay or be paid the difference between annual leave payment and sick or bereavement payment.
What if the team member has leave approved but comes in to work?
Unless it is one of the circumstances above there is no guarantee that the leave will be credited back. Managers should consider all the circumstances e.g. did the team member come into help with an emergency situation; were they asked to come in or did they turn up unexpectedly?

Leave reports
These are sent to managers every month showing all annual, long-service and alternative-holiday leave balances for all their team members.
Evaluate leave levels
Each month, If any team member has more leave available than their annual entitlement, this indicates that the team member is due for a rest, and the manager must act to reduce the leave.

Bear in mind that:-
  • Annual leave should not exceed the annual entitlement – it represents breaks not taken.
Managers should watch for anniversary dates:
  • Team Member A has 22 days outstanding annual leave. Their next anniversary date is in two months time.
  • Team Member B has 27 days outstanding annual leave. Their next anniversary date is in ten months time.
  • You should be more concerned with Team Member A as although on the face of it they have less leave outstanding, if they do not take any leave in the next two months they will then have another 20 days leave i.e. 42 days in total whereas Team Member B has ten months to take leave.
  • Send a reminder to the team member that their leave levels are creeping up.
Agree suitable leave dates with team member:
If excess leave is there, then plan leave dates with the team member, considering:
  • When doing this it is important to remember that leave continues to accrue, so any plan to use up leave over many months can be ineffective due to more leave accruing.
  • If the team member has excess leave, and is reluctant to choose dates for leave, the manager can direct the team member to take leave. Should this be considered, contact Ask People Support for advice first, as there are legal implications with this. A minimum of 4 week’s notice must be given to the team member.
  • Leave can only be ‘cashed up’ (money paid and the leave balance reduced accordingly) when the leave is in addition to the legal minimums. That means that the four weeks’ annual leave cannot be ‘cashed up’. Long-service leave and ‘alternative holidays’ which are over 12-months old can be cashed up.
  • All ‘cashing up’ of leave is to be arranged through Payroll. Complete the Leave Cash Up Application Form in MyPay.

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