North Ayrshire Council has procedures in place to support employees who need to be away from the workplace. In the main, this is facilitated by our generous annual leave entitlement and supported by policies and procedures which may apply, depending on personal circumstances.
Annual leave entitlement
The annual leave year runs from 1 January to 31 December.
Entitlement is dependent on length of continuous service.
A full time employee will be entitled to annual leave as follows:
Annual leave entitlement
| Length of service (at start of leave year) | Annual leave and Public Holiday entitlement |
|---|
| Less than 5 complete years |
21 days (and 12 Public Holidays, either fixed or floating) |
| 5 complete years, but less than 10 |
26 days (and 12 Public Holidays, either fixed of floating) |
| 10 complete years or more |
29 days (and 12 Public Holidays, either fixed or floating) |
Part-time employees
Entitlement for a part time employee is calculated using this formula:
(Weekly contracted hours / Full-time weekly hours) x Full-time annual leave entitlement (hours)
Please note: holiday entitlement differs for teachers and chief officers.
Personal days
Personal days allow you, if necessary, to apply to take up to 3 days of your annual leave entitlement (per leave year) at short notice.
Personal days are not an addition to your existing annual leave entitlement. They simply allow you to apply for a days' unplanned annual leave at short notice.
Before requesting a personal day, you should consider:
- any diary commitments you have
- the impact your absence will have on both your workload and your colleagues
For more information in Personal Days see the HR Guide: Personal Days (PDF, 189kb).
Special leave
Our Special Leave Scheme provides for time off under employment legislation, known as statutory leave, for example time off for: Jury Duty, antenatal appointments.
In addition, the scheme provides employees with additional support, in the form of non-statutory time off work. The intention of non-statutory time off is to support employees who have no other leave to use, and where at the discretion of the council, the leave can be authorised as 'Special Leave'.
Employee Volunteering Policy
North Ayrshire Council supports employees who wish to do volunteer work within the community or for charitable institutions. See our Employee Volunteering Policy (PDF, 174KB).
It is expected that the majority of volunteering should take place outside of work. Where this is not possible the council will try to facilitate volunteering through flexible working options.
Other leave
- Flexible Working Hours Scheme
A Flexible Working Hours Scheme (PDF, 238kb) is in operation in some parts of the council.
- Maternity, Adoption and Shared Parental Leave
North Ayrshire Council has policies in place to support employees who are expecting a baby, or have been newly matched for adoption.
- Adverse Weather Policy
The Adverse Weather Policy (PDF, 343kb) provides a mutually acceptable procedure for attendance at work in times of adverse weather conditions.
- Working Time Regulations
The Working Time Regulations specify the minimum number of holidays which should be provided to employees.