Policies

Statutory rights to time off
Other authorised time off
Time off for dependants

Appendix 1: Absence form

General

Employees are required to inform the employer as soon as practicable of their absence, the reason for it and how long they expect to be away from work. There is no minimum service period for an employee to qualify for this right. Employees must ensure that any time off (other than in the case of sickness) is authorised in advance by the Chair. Employees should complete an Absence Form on their first day back at work.

Medical and dental appointments

Employees are requested to arrange any medical or dental appointments outside working hours. Where this is not possible, employees must obtain permission from the Chair before taking any time off. Wherever possible appointments should be arranged for first thing in the morning or last thing at night to minimise disruption to council business.

Statutory rights to time off 

Employees have the right to request time off work in the following circumstances:

Antenatal care

Pregnant employees are entitled to take reasonable time off with pay during working hours to receive antenatal care. With the exception of the first appointment, the council may require an employee who wishes to take time off for this purpose to provide medical certification of her pregnancy and an appointment card, with the exception of the first appointment.

Family friendly leave 

This includes maternity, paternity, adoption and parental leave and time off for dependants, details of which are set out in the relevant policy documents. TBC

Time off for public duties

An employee is entitled to ask for time off work for specified public duties. The permitted amount of time off is that which is reasonable in the circumstances. There is no statutory right to be paid for this time off. The public positions for which there is a right to time off are as follows:

•   Justice of the Peace;
•   members of a local authority, e.g., local councillors;
•   members of a statutory tribunal;
•   members of a police authority;
•   prison visitors;
•   members of health bodies, e.g., NHS trusts, health authorities, etc;
•   members of education bodies, e.g., managing or governing bodies of local authority educational establishments, grant maintained schools, etc
•   members of the Environmental Agency 

Jury service

Employees are entitled to time off work for jury service. Employees should notify the Chair immediately on receipt of the jury summons, giving full details. Employees will not normally be paid for this time off, and are advised to claim the expenses to which they are entitled from the Court. These will normally include compensation for loss of earnings.

Time off in redundancy situations

Employees under notice of dismissal for redundancy and who will have at least two years’ service on the date that notice expires, are entitled to a reasonable amount of paid time off to look for other work or to make arrangements for their retraining. 

Other authorised time off

Time off for religious observance

Employees should make any requests for time off for religious observance to the Chair as early as possible. Although employees have no legal or contractual right to religious leave or time off to pray, the council will consider all such requests sympathetically. Time off for religious observance must be taken from the employee’s rest periods or annual holiday entitlement. Alternatively, at the Council’s discretion, the employee may work additional hours in 
lieu of the time taken off. If the employee wishes to take the time off as annual holiday, he or she should make the request in accordance with the council’s annual holiday procedures. 

Bereavement leave

The council permits employees up to one week’s leave with pay following the death of an immediate relative. This is in addition to an employee’s entitlement to take reasonable unpaid time off following the death of a dependant.  

Study leave

If an employee is required to take a course of training or study by the council, necessary leave for this will be paid. If an employee requests to take a course of training or study, leave and payment will be at the discretion of the employees’ line manager.

Time off for dependants

Employees are entitled to take reasonable unpaid time off to deal with sudden or unexpected problems with a dependant. A dependant is a partner, child or parent who lives with the employee as part of his or her family or any other person who reasonably relies on the employee for care or assistance.

Reasonable time off will be granted in the following circumstances:

•   for the birth, sickness, injury or death of a dependant;
•   to make arrangements for the care of a sick or injured dependant or to make arrangements to deal with an unexpected disruption to care arrangements
•   to deal with an unexpected incident involving the employee’s child during school hours.

The right is only to deal with emergencies and to put care arrangements in place. This means that in the case of a dependant’s illness, for example, the employee is not entitled to time off for the duration of the dependant’s illness.

This is a non-contractual policy and procedure which will be reviewed from time to time.

Date of policy: March 2023
Approving committee: HR Committee
Date of committee meeting: TBC
Policy version reference: V1110323
Supersedes: N/A
Policy effective from: TBC
Date for next review: TBC 

Appendix 1: Absence Form

Deeping St Nicholas Parish Council 

Absence Form 
 

Reason for absence......................................................................................................

Signed by Employee: ………………………………………………………………….

Print name: ……………………………………………………………………………....

Date: ………………………………………………………………………………………...

Absence authorised?  YES / NO*

If No, reason for not approving absence: …………………………………………………...………………………….

Signed by Chair: ……….………………….………...…………….……………....

Print name: ……………………………………………………………………………...

Date: ……………….……………………………………………………….………….....

*delete as applicable