The Buy, Bank and Unpaid Leave Scheme gives employees the opportunity to supplement their existing annual leave entitlement.
It is recognised that there are growing demands placed on employees to try and achieve a work-life balance. By allowing flexibility in working arrangements and this scheme can assist with accommodating individual circumstances subject to the needs of your individual service.
Attendance criteria has been removed for Buy and Bank applications made this year (2023) – previously, employees had to meet a minimum of 97% attendance level from 1st January to 31st December to qualify for the scheme. Further information can be found in the Buy and Bank Leave Scheme Employee Guidance.
This year, the period of application will commence on 1st November 2023 and approved applications must be received and authorised by the manager no later than 10th December 2023.
Line managers should note that any type of leave request should only be authorised if it can be accommodated in line with the needs of the service and that cover requirements are considered and the use of overtime not considered an option.
Bought Leave
An employee can purchase additional hours of leave to increase their leave entitlement up to a maximum of their contract hours (one normal working week excluding overtime).
Bought leave must be the first leave used in the leave year.
Banked Leave
An employee can save a fixed amount of their annual leave, up to a maximum of their contractual hours (one working week excluding any overtime) to bank in the current leave year, to be used in the following leave year.
Employees may have the option to both buy leave and bank leave subject to the conditions of the scheme and the employee meeting the required criteria.
Unpaid Leave
Employees can also apply for up to five days unpaid leave (pro rata for part time employees) in any leave year in addition to any buy or bank leave request. Unpaid leave should be requested via mySelf.
There is no qualification or justification required when making a request for unpaid leave. The exigencies of the service will determine if you have the request for unpaid leave authorised and when you can take it.
Unpaid leave allows employees to take extra leave, without pay, and for the cost of that leave to be deducted from the employee’s salary, normally, over the course of the leave year.
This will normally be deducted from each pay in the twelve month period, if the request is made during the application window of 1st November 2023 to 10th December 2023.
Authorisation
All reporting managers will receive an email communication confirming that an employee has made a Buy and/or Bank Leave request via MySelf.
Managers should log into myTeam and view their To-do List to approve/reject employee’s requests for bought, banked or unpaid leave. Full guidance details are available in the Buy & Bank Leave Managers Guide (myTeam) on how to approve/reject requests via myTeam.
Line managers should note that any type of leave request should only be authorised if it can be accommodated in line with the needs of the service and that cover requirements are considered and the use of overtime not considered an option.
See the Buy and Bank FAQ’s for more information.