Extra closure days and annual leave carry over

The dates for the two extra closure days, announced by the Vice-Chancellor recently, have been finalised.

The closure days will be on 2 August and 3 August.

University colleagues will also be able to carry forward up to 8 days of annual leave, or the pro-rata equivalent, into the 2021-22 leave year with the flexibility to use this across the whole of the 2021/22 leave year.

Both the decisions apply to any colleagues on furlough leave as well where local arrangements are in place to manage the use of annual leave.

The additional closure days are a thank you to everyone for their work this year.

We understand that some colleagues, particularly those in frontline teams, may be required to work on these days and will not be able to take time off. In such a case, you can agree with your line manager in advance to taken the two extra days at another time.

Please note that the new dates will be added to Employee Self Service (ESS) but this does not happen automatically and manual adjustments need to be made, so please allow HR colleagues sufficient time to complete the work involved.  Colleagues who have already booked these days as annual leave will have the time automatically recredited

The Easter break will, hopefully, offer many colleagues an opportunity to relax before a busy term.

As the weather get warmer, we would encourage colleagues – whenever work commitments allow – to build in some break using your annual leave. Taking time off from the demands of work will help you relax and maintain the focus.

You can book annual leave as usual through Employee Self Service. Please agree any dates with your line manager.