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Long-term special leave Task

Long-term special leave is granted at the department’s discretion. It is always unpaid and is usually for one of the following reasons: 

  • short break special leave (up to 20 days) as long as you have completed at least one year’s service and your performance, attendance and conduct are all satisfactory.
  • visits to relatives overseas  that you have not visited for more than three years. You may use a combination of annual leave and special leave without pay but the total period must not be more than 40 working days.   You must be a permanent member of ACME and you must have completed at least one year’s service and your performance, attendance and conduct are all satisfactory. After an overseas visit you may only re-apply every 3 years. Please make sure your application has been granted before you make any travel arrangements.
  • If your partner’s job moves to another place you can apply for up to three years special leave to accompany them if you have completed two years’ service and if you and the department expect you to return.
  • a fixed term career break of up to five years.  This is usually for domestic responsibilities, such as caring for children or sick or elderly relatives. A career break will not normally be granted for study or travel unless either your manager makes a commitment to offer you a post on your return or there is clear benefit to the Department.

Apply for long-term special leave without pay

You need to speak to your manager and then complete a Workforce Workforce Planning Form which will be considered by the ACME Corporate Committee

Returning to work

You must confirm in writing that you will be available to return to work from your agreed return date.  You will be contacted three months prior to your return date to discuss your planned return to work. 

If you fail to respond within one month to the Department’s attempts to contact you in writing to discuss your return to work, you may be considered to have resigned from your employment.

You will need to be flexible about the time you return to work and the type of job you come back to.

You should start applying for posts under the ACME advertising scheme at least three months before you are due to return.  If you have not secured a post one month before your return, HR will try to broker a post for you in line with our postings policy.  You must let HR know if your circumstances change in any way eg if you decide you do not intend to return to work.

Keeping in touch arrangements 

If you are away from the Department for more than 20 working days, you can join the Keeping in Touch Scheme.  You will have a brief interview prior to your leaving date to explain the Department’s and your responsibilities.  You will also be given a Leaver’s Pack containing relevant information.  You will be offered the choice of email or postal contact and will receive, as a minimum, copies of the Bulletin and Office Notices.

You may find it useful to keep in touch with one or two former colleagues in order to provide a more personal, ongoing link between yourself and the Department.

If you are on a Career Break, you may also wish to undertake up to a total of 10 days paid work experience/training each year as part of keeping in touch.  This is voluntary and not a requirement.  The paid work experience is subject to your former Division having adequate funding. 

Guidance on the practicalities of paid work experience/training is contained at Pay on a Career Break.

Affect on Terms and Conditions of service

Your special unpaid leave will not count as qualifying service for the purposes of performance pay, pension, sick absence or annual leave.  A “stop the clock” principle is operated so that although unpaid leave does not accrue benefits, those already accumulated can generally be preserved and built upon when you return to work. 

You will return to work on the salary that you were on before.  Your eligibility for performance pay will be based on your most recent annual appraisal report.

Your special leave will not count towards your pension, but your pension rights accrued up until the start of your career break will be preserved as long as you have at least two years service.

You can also improve your pension rights on return: by making additional voluntary contribution or by buying added years.

The following special leave without pay counts for pension  purposes:

  • voluntary membership of the Reserve Forces;
  • training for voluntary or compulsory members of the Reserve Forces; 
  • voluntary public service.

You can be considered for promotion under the normal ACME promotion board arrangements whilst on special leave.

You may take a temporary job outside the Department while on special leave, provided that it does not involve any conflict of interest with your loyalty or duty to the Department.  If you are unable to get an outside job, you may not be eligible for unemployment or other benefits, as you remain a member of ACME.  You should however, contact the Department for Work and Pensions to find out your position and also to make arrangements to pay your National Insurance contributions.