Public Holidays and Closure Days Entitlements for Part-Time Staff

1. Introduction

Under the Part-Time Workers Regulations 2000, the University has an obligation to ensure that it is not treating part-time staff less favourably than comparable full-time staff. Entitlement to leave is covered by these Regulations and part-time staff should therefore receive pro-rata public holiday/closure day leave entitlement calculated on the basis of the proportion of a full-time contract worked, rather than on the days normally worked. This is also the advice of the Equal Opportunities Commission and ACAS.

2. University Policy on Public Holiday/Closure Day entitlement for Part-time Staff

All staff who are currently receiving more than their pro-rata proportion will have their entitlement brought in line with their pro-rata entitlement, in line with legislative requirements.

Members of staff receiving pro-rata entitlement are expected to bank and use this on public holiday/closure days which fall on their working days. Where a member of staff has to take a public holiday/closure day off (because it falls upon one of their working days) and their entitlement is not sufficient to cover this staff and Heads of Departments are encouraged to work flexibly together to arrive at a mutually agreed solution for making up the hours. Staff and Heads of Departments can contact Human Resources where guidance is needed on the viability of potential options. Options could include:

• for staff to take the balance from their annual leave entitlement;
• for staff to agree with their Head of Department to work the hours at an alternative time.

Where a member of staff is unable to take all of their public holiday/closure day entitlement on public holidays/closure days (because not enough public holiday/closure day days fall on their working days) they are able to add the balance to their annual leave entitlement.

3. Calculation of pro-rata entitlements

3.1 For staff working an equal number of hours each day the entitlement should be calculated in days (rounded up to the nearest half day):

Number of days worked / number of days in the standard working week x full time public holiday/closure day entitlement in days x number of weeks worked / 52

For example:

The bank holiday and closure day entitlement for a member of staff working the same number of hours each day for 4 days per week all year:

Entitlement = 4 / 5 x (8 + 3) x 52 / 52 = 8.8 days (rounded to 9 days)

3.2 For staff who work a varying number of hours each day their entitlement should be calculated in hours:

Total hours worked / hours in the standard working week x full time public holiday/closure day entitlement in hours x number of weeks worked / 52

For example:

For a Grade 2 member of staff working 3 days per week, of 4 hours, 7 hours and 4 hours, totalling 15 hours per week for 31 weeks per year:

Entitlement = 15 / 37 x ([8 + 3] days of 7.4 hours) x 31/52 = 20 hours

For a member of Grade 4 staff working 4 days per week, of 5 hours, 7 hours and 7 hours, totalling 19 hours, for 31 weeks per year:

Entitlement = 19 / 35 x ([8 + 3] days of 7 hours) x 31/52 = 25 hours

4. Implementation and Advice

These guidelines were agreed with Campus Unions at the JUCC on 26 September 2002 and approved by the HRM Committee on the 19 November 2002. The guidelines were amended in December 2005 to take account of the implementation of the Framework Agreement.

For enquiries on the application of these guidelines please contact your customary Human Resources Adviser/Assistant.