Home > How do I? > Short-term special leave

Short-term special leave Task

You can apply for short-term special leave in specific circumstances, to help you balance work responsibilities with personal commitments or to deal with an emergency.

  • Your manager has the discretion to grant your special leave and he/she will need to consider in line with the business needs. You will also be expected to use your annual leave for at least some of the period requested.
  • You will not be able to take special leave when other forms of leave such as annual and/or flexi leave are more appropriate.
  • The maximum amount of special leave that you can apply for is 20% of your contracted hours (for both paid and unpaid special leave).
  • You can apply if you are on probation, fixed-term appointments and on loans/secondment.
  • If you are on poor performance measures, you are unlikely to have a request granted other than for emergencies or statutory obligations.

You can request special leave for:

  • an emergency involving  a dependant

You may request paid leave if the emergency lasts 1-2 days.  If you need to take longer, your manager can consider unpaid leave if you are unable to use annual leave or flexible working arrangements .

  • a domestic crisis (eg a flood)

Generally your manager will grant paid leave for 1-2 days, except where you have already received paid special leave on separate occasions, in which it would be unpaid.

  • bereavement

You would normally be allowed one days paid leave to attend the funeral of a close relative and up to 4 days if you are responsible for arranging the funeral. If you feel unable to return to work following your special leave, you should discuss with your GP whether you are fit to attend work and the  sickness absence policy (related link) will apply.

  • attending court as a juror or witness

You would be entitled for paid leave and would not be able to claim any fees from the court as compensation. Special leave for attending court does not count towards the cumulative total of special leave so should not affect your other entitlements eg for volunteering.

  • public duties and volunteering

You can apply for up to five days each year and it will be paid, subject to business need and to whether you get other payments for volunteering

  • sports events and civil service societies

Your manager will consider applications for special leave in light of the overall amount of special leave you have had in the year, and overall business need.

Further details are available on your entitlements to time off and  on statutory and non-statutory reasons for  your application

How to apply

You can see how the Decision Process works here 

 Before you apply, check:

  • whether special leave is the most appropriate course of action –would flexible working arrangements or annual leave be more appropriate?
  • whether you are eligible for special leave
  • whether you are applying for paid or unpaid special leave

You need to discuss your request with your Development Manager as soon as possible, and then request the special leave via Oracle.

Managers

You need to consider:

  • your staff member’s  specific circumstances and their previous 12 month special leave record
  • that you ensure statutory obligations are met (see Annex A)
  • whether the leave being requested will breach any limits 
  • the needs of the business, including the impact on the team or unit
  • consistency of treatment between colleagues when dealing with similar types of requests 
  • whether any volunteering activities conflict with the Civil Service Code or departmental standards of conduct.

You can also get advice from HR on whether to approve special leave and whether this should be paid or unpaid. HR will monitor cases of special leave to ensure this policy is applied fairly and consistently across the Department.