Purpose and Scope
This policy sets the framework for requesting, approving, and managing paid annual leave within [Organisation Name]. It covers all employees and workers, including part-time and fixed-term staff. If an employment contract offers more generous terms than this policy, the contract takes precedence.
Working through related paperwork at the same time? See also our Adoption Leave Policy, Bereavement Leave Policy and Maternity Leave Policy.
Entitlement and the Leave Year
- The annual leave year runs from [Start Date] to [End Date].
- Full-time staff receive [Number] days of paid annual leave per year, inclusive of or in addition to statutory bank holidays. Total leave will meet or exceed statutory requirements.
- Part-time staff receive a pro-rata entitlement based on contracted hours.
- Staff joining or leaving [Organisation Name] mid-year receive a pro-rata entitlement calculated from their start or end date.
Booking and Approval Procedure
- Submit leave requests through [System/Form] at least [Number] weeks in advance. Give longer notice for leave requests of one week or more.
- Get written approval from [Line Manager/Role] before booking travel or making personal plans. Leave is not confirmed until approved in writing.
- Managers process requests in the order received. For overlapping requests, [Line Manager/Role] approves leave based on operational coverage and rotates priority for peak periods year to year.
- Keep within department limits: no more than [Number] staff members from [Team/Department] may take leave at the same time.
- Get additional sign-off from [Senior Role] for leave requested during peak operational periods.
[Organisation Name] may decline leave requests for operational reasons or, in exceptional cases, require staff to take leave on specific dates with reasonable notice.
Bank Holidays and Operational Shutdowns
- Bank holidays work as follows: [Taken on the day / Included in total entitlement and booked individually / Worked with time off in lieu]. Staff who work bank holidays as part of their normal pattern receive [Arrangement].
- If [Organisation Name] closes between [Dates, e.g., Christmas and New Year], staff must save [Number] days of leave to cover the shutdown.
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Carry-Over and Payment in Lieu
- Take annual leave within the leave year you earn it.
- You may carry over up to [Number] days into the next leave year with written approval from [Role]. Use carried-over leave by [Date].
- Carry-over rules apply if you could not take statutory leave due to sickness or family-related leave, following statutory guidelines.
- We do not pay in lieu of statutory annual leave, except for accrued, unused leave paid when employment ends.
Sickness and Family-Related Leave
- Staff who fall ill during booked leave can request to reclassify those days as sick leave. You must follow standard absence reporting procedures and provide proof of sickness. You can rebook any reclaimed leave for a later date.
- Annual leave continues to accrue during sickness absence and statutory family leave, including maternity, paternity, and adoption leave.
Joiners and Leavers
- New employees accrue annual leave from day one and can book leave following [Booking Rules / Manager Discretion].
- Leaving staff receive payment for accrued, untaken statutory leave in their final pay.
- If a leaving employee took more leave than they accrued, [Organisation Name] will deduct the excess from final pay where contracts or written agreements allow.
Records and Policy Review
- Log all leave balances, approvals, and carry-over records in [System] and keep them for [Period].
- [Role] audits leave balances [Frequency] to flag staff at risk of losing unused leave.
- [Role] reviews this policy [Frequency], or whenever regulations or operational needs change. Next review date: [Date].
FAQs on Annual Leave Policy
What is an annual leave policy?
An annual leave policy sets the framework for requesting, approving, and managing paid annual leave within your organisation. It covers all employees and workers, including part-time and fixed-term staff.
Having it written down means the same rules apply to everyone, so managers are not making judgement calls case by case under pressure.
What does an annual leave policy include?
This template covers entitlement and the leave year, booking and approval procedure, bank holidays and operational shutdowns and carry-over and payment in lieu.
Every section is written to be filled in. The bracketed placeholders mark the decisions that are yours to make, such as timescales, approval owners and retention periods.
How to implement an annual leave policy with Whale
Copy this template into Whale and work through the bracketed placeholders so it reflects how your organisation actually operates.
Assign it to the teams it applies to so it sits where people work rather than in a shared drive, and set a review date so it gets revisited on schedule instead of quietly going out of date.
Use our templates to fast-track your documentation
Customize this template and 100s of others for free in Whale, the fastest way to get your team aligned.
