Annual leave entitlement for employees
Our employees receive very generous annual leave entitlements, according to the employees’ length of service and grade, in addition to eight public holidays each year. The basic entitlements in working days, based on full time employees working a five day week, and in working weeks are as follows:
| Grade | Less than 5 years | After 5 years | After 10 Years | After 15 Years | After 20 Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Craft | 24 Days (4.8 weeks) | 29 Days (5.8 weeks) | |||
| CX, Director, Head of Service/Assistant | 32 Days (6.4 weeks) | 35 Days (7 Weeks | |||
| S1a - S4 and Apprentices | 25 Days (5 weeks) | 29 Days (5.8 weeks) |
30 Days (6 weeks) |
31 Days (6.2 weeks | 32 Days (6.4 weeks |
| S5 - S6 | 27 Days (5.4 weeks) | 29 Days (5.8 weeks) | 30 Days (6 weeks) | 31 Days (6.2 weeks) | 32 Days (6.4 weeks |
| SO1 - PO2B | 29 Days (5.8 weeks) | 32 Days (6.4 weeks) | |||
| PO2C - PO2D |
33 Days (6.6 weeks) |
36 Days (7.2 weeks) |
Distribution of leave
Employees may take their annual leave however they choose, including in hours. This is subject to the needs of the service and employees are encouraged to spread their annual leave throughout the year and to take reasonable periods of leave to ensure a break from work.
Additional leave (holiday purchase)
Employees may request up to two working weeks’ additional leave in any leave year, which they will then pay for by deduction from their salary. This leave can be a continuous period of anything from one day to two weeks and is no longer restricted to whole weeks. The costs can be deducted in a single lump sum or in instalments over a period of no more than 12 months, starting from the month after the leave is taken.