Special leave guide

Guidance on the council's special leave provisions.

Managers should also refer to the agree/arrange special leave guide when considering a request that has been received.

1. Special leave with pay

This may be granted by Heads of Service up to and not exceeding six days in any one leave year. Special leave with pay will normally only be granted for emergency/unforeseen situations.

Within the six day allowance, special leave will be granted in the following circumstances in line with the recommendations set out below:

Funeral of close relative or dependant (including in-laws) (one day);
Funeral of a close relative or dependant where the applicant is involved in the funeral arrangements or is the personal representative (up to three days)
To facilitate the fostering of a child (one day);
To facilitate the fostering of a child with Special Needs (up to three days – each case is considered on its own merit, taking the individual circumstances into account);
Prospective fathers/partners – two ante-natal appointments (ante-natal visits and/or scans).

In addition to the above, Heads of Service will consider sympathetically special leave with pay (within the six day allowance and bearing in mind the above reference to emergency/unforeseen situations) where circumstances justify it, including instances where special leave is required because of the sudden illness of a partner, parent, son, daughter or directly dependant relative.

Absence for the purpose of accompanying a dependant (see definition below) on a medical appointment, where they need to be accompanied, will also be considered sympathetically, particularly where the appointment cannot reasonably be arranged outside working hours.

Note: For these purposes a dependant means a spouse, child, parent, or someone who lives in the same household as the employee (not an employee, tenant, lodger or boarder) or another person who reasonably relies on the employee for assistance.

Separate to these arrangements, time off for employees to attend medical, hospital and other health-related appointments will be allowed, as necessary, where appointments cannot reasonably be arranged outside working hours. See Time Off for Medical and Hospital Appointments guidance for further details. Requests for special leave with pay will be sympathetically considered, for example, where employees request time off for bone marrow or stem cell donation.

Absence due to attendance as a witness at Court on County Council business will also be allowed, as necessary, outside the special leave arrangements.

2. Special leave without pay

Periods of unpaid leave of up to three months in any one year can be agreed by Heads of Service for any reason.

These may include requests for:

Special leave to undertake full-time courses of study or training. These should be related to the individual's current and future employment with the County Council and should be for the duration of the specific course with appropriate allowances for assessments, etc, if appropriate.
Special leave to care for relatives who are seriously or terminally ill. These requests need to be assessed on an individual basis having particular regard to the difficulties being experienced by the employee concerned.
Special leave for extended visits to family members living outside the country or for religious purposes. These should be for a maximum period of three months unless there are particularly exceptional circumstances. An employee may wish to consider taking a Sabbatical if they are requesting a period of unpaid leave exceeding three months (up to a maximum of six months in duration).

Other exceptional cases should be considered on their own individual merit.

3. Special leave for care of dependants

Under s.57A of the Employment Rights Act 1996 employees are entitled to a reasonable amount of unpaid time off to deal with emergency situations involving their dependants.

The right to reasonable unpaid leave is available:

To provide assistance on an occasion when a dependant falls ill, gives birth or is injured or assaulted.
To make arrangements for the provision of care for a dependant who is ill or injured.
In consequence of the death of a dependant.
Because of the unexpected disruption or termination of arrangements for the care of a dependant.
To deal with an incident which involves a child of an employee and which occurs unexpectedly in a period during which an educational establishment which the child attends is responsible for him/her.

For these purposes a "dependant" means a spouse, child, parent, or someone who lives in the same household as the employee (not an employee, tenant, lodger or boarder) or another person who reasonably relies on the employee for assistance.

In order to obtain such leave an employee must inform his/her line manager (or other appropriate/available service manager) as soon as he/she can, stating why there is a need for the absence and how long the absence is expected to be.

The manager must consult with the employee in deciding what is a reasonable period of absence, and consider what is practically to be done and how much time this would reasonably take, the particular circumstances that might justify a longer period in particular circumstances, the needs of the service and where appropriate a considered balance between these factors. An approach that is consistent, that allows for management discretion and reflects individual circumstances should be taken. In this respect, clarification provided by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) indicates that, for example, if an employee's child falls ill, the time off must be sufficient to enable the employee to cope with the crisis - to deal with the immediate care of the child (visiting a doctor, if necessary) - and to make alternative, longer-term care arrangements. But the right will not enable an employee to take a fortnight off while their child is in quarantine. In most cases, whatever the problem, one or two days will be the most that is needed to deal with the immediate issues and sort out longer-term arrangements, if necessary.

Note: The above entitlements to unpaid time off do not preclude the granting of Special Leave with Pay, where the circumstances are appropriate, and such leave should always be considered first where appropriate.