Useful Documents - Leave of Absence for Teachers

We reproduce below Leicester Education Authority's current Leave of Absence policy.

Administrative Memorandum, No.33
Appendix A - Reasons For Leave of Absence
Appendix B - Summary of Administrative Memorandum
Appendix C - Major Religious Festivals (1995)

Children & Young People's Services

Leave of Absence for Teachers

other than personal illness

Administrative Memorandum, No.33

Revised June 1995

In schools with delegated budgets, the power to grant leave with or without pay rests with the Governors, in line with LEA policies.

There are certain absences where Governors are required to observe statutory obligations (e.g. time off for trade union duties, in relation to health and safety functions/training and for maternity leave), and other absences which are covered by national or local agreements.

This Administrative Memorandum covers the following: -

Leave of absence for urgent personal reasons/other miscellaneous reasons (school funded).
Leave of absence for Public Duties/Union Duties (cover centrally funded).
Other absences (long term sickness, maternity/adoption/paternity, suspension) (salary costs centrally funded).

1. Leave of absence for urgent personal reasons/miscellaneous other reasons (school funded).

1.1

In the case of paid leave of absence granted by the Headteacher/Principal or Governors in respect of any of the reasons listed below, the cost will be met from the school's/college's delegated budget (ie. Salary and any supply cover costs).

1.2

The suggested maximum number of days are strongly recommended by the Local Authority.

The Headteacher/Principal, (or in the case of Headteacher/Principal the Chair of Governors) may grant paid leave of absence for up to 5 working days in any academic year for urgent personal or other miscellaneous reasons (listed below). Such approval should be reported to the Governors at their termly meeting.

Such approvals should be reported to Governors at their termly meetings. In exceptional cases the Governors may extend leave by a further 5 working days in any academic year.

Serious illness of a close relative.
Death of a close relative
Wedding of a close relative (normally restricted to one working day's absence)
Graduation ceremony of son/daughter (normally restricted to one working day's absence).
Moving house (on day of the move) (normally restricted to one working day's absence).
Interviews for other posts (In some cases the interview may be more than one day)
Actual periods of examination (NOT study leave) for improvement of a teacher's qualifications, including reasonable travelling time.
Teachers visiting other schools/colleges or accompanying pupils on educational visits, or undertaking in-service training.
Observance of major non-Christian Festivals by persons who are members of the faith concerned.
Annual training in respect of service in non-regular Forces.
Selection of a teacher to represent his/her county or his/her country as a national or international event, or similar cases if the representative nature of the events indicate County, national or International standing.
Attending as a delegate at Church Synods (or equivalent bodies for other religious denominations), Trade Union Conferences, Local Government Conferences, Committee membership of a body of national standing in education.
Attending, as a member of a Governing Body, meetings of Governors where the Governing Body on which the teacher serves, normally meets during the school day.
Attending special events connected with official twinned towns in Leicestershire.

Further information with regard to the categories described in above is given in Appendix A.

1.3 Unpaid Leave

The Headteacher/Principal and/or Governors may grant additional unpaid leave having due regard to the needs of the school/college.

1.4 Paternity Leave

Paternity leave for a male teacher on the birth of his child may be granted up to 5 days (N.B. supply cover costs resulting from paternity leave will be centrally funded up to 5 days).

2. Leave of absence for public duties/Union duties (centrally funded)

A number of teachers serve as Magistrates or Members of District Councils or on other public bodies and this may involve some absence from school/college.

2.1 Members of District Councils

Teachers who are intending to stand as members of District councils, where the duties of the office and attendance of meetings will involve absence from school/college, must inform the Director of Education immediately, in writing of their intention, so that they can be made aware of the limitations and requirements of the scheme for leave of absence. The letter must also state that the Headteacher/Principal and Governors have been informed, and must give as accurate an estimate as possible of the periods of absence likely to be involved and their frequency.

Absences, within the approved scheme, paid or unpaid, must be agreed by the Headteacher/Principal, or in the case of the Headteacher/Principal the Chair of Governors, and such absences for public duties which involve the whole of a session, either morning or afternoon, must be reported on the Monthly Service Return. Absence for part of a session will be treated pro rata, and must also be recorded on the Service Return.

Paid leave of absence for members of district councils, in approved cases, will be on the following basis: -

Leader or Deputy Leader, Mayor or Chairman of a large district council (population exceeding 250,000)
Maximum of 20 days per annum with pay
Leader or Deputy Leader, Mayor or Chairman or a small district council - or Chairman of a Committee of any district council.
Maximum of 18 days per annum with pay
Members of councils not holding any of the above offices.
Maximum of 15 days per annum

Where five or more days paid leave is granted for special purposes of a kind not mentioned in Section 1 (e.g. trade union duties) the basic maximum leave for the public duties mentioned above, will be reduced to 15, 13 and 10 days respectively. Where less than five days paid leave is granted for special purposes, the total amount of leave, for both public duties and special purposes, will not exceed the appropriate basic maximum. Any leave authorised under Section 1 (i.e. for urgent personal reasons/miscellaneous other reasons) will be in addition to leave for public duties.

2.2 Magistrates

Any teacher wishing to serve as a Magistrate must apply in writing to the Governors of their school so that they can be made aware of the limitations and requirements of the scheme for the leave of absence.

Applications via the Governing Body will be dealt with on an individual basis, according to the requirements of the Lord Chancellor's Office, subject to negotiation with the teacher concerned on the basis that absences will not exceed a maximum of 18 days per annum. Where Governors support the application and following acceptance by the Lord Chancellor's Office the Director of Education should then be informed.

Employee who are granted time off to carry out their duties as Justices of the Peace (JPs) should claim the financial loss allowances which can then be deducted from the employee's full pay.

Time-off for JP duties should be recorded on the blue monthly return (leave of absence other than personal sickness), to enable the Payroll section to make the appropriate deductions from salaries/wages. If an employee is absent for half a day, this should be clearly indicated on the service return (i.e. a.m. only/ p.m. only).

The present financial loss allowances which may be claimed are: -

Attendance of up to 4 hours (i.e. half a day)	£22.36
Attendance of more than 4 hours (i.e. full day)	£44.72

The equivalent sums will be deducted from salaries/wages for each half day or day of absence and these deductions credited centrally. A protocol outlining the steps to be taken will be forwarded to schools/colleges under separate cover.

2.3 Parliamentary Elections

Teachers offering themselves as candidates for Parliamentary and local authority elections do not receive salary for absences while campaigning from the date of the writ to the day of the election. Employees standing as candidates for parliamentary/local authority elections are granted leave with pay on the day of the poll only.

2.4 Jury Service or attendance as a witness

Any teacher called for Jury Service or as a witness on behalf of behalf of the Crown, Police or Defence, or for either side in a civil case will be granted leave to attend, for the period required by the Courts. If, however, during the period of any summons to attend, the Court releases the teacher for a day or a half-day, he/she will be expected to return to school/college. All teachers required to attend for Jury Service or as a witness, should claim through the Court, the allowance for the loss of earnings. 1/365th of the Gross Annual Salary should be claimed for each day of service, subject to the maximum allowance payable. The County Treasurer will deduct an amount equal to the allowance received from the teacher's full salary and these deductions will be credited centrally to offset supply cover costs. A protocol outlining steps to be taken will be forwarded to schools/colleges under separate cover.

2.5 Union Duties

Leave in connection with recognised union duties is covered by a separate facilities agreement which provides limited centrally funded supply cover. These arrangements are notified to the appropriate associations who must inform the Unit Manager (Personnel) of any claims against this budget.

3. Other Absences (for which salary costs are centrally funded)

3.1 The existing arrangements for meeting the costs of:-

long term sickness of teachers
maternity leave of teachers
suspension of teachers involving prolonged enquiries will continue.

3.2

The costs of absence on maternity leave will be met centrally - the incidence of such absence is uneven across schools and could place a disproportionate burden on an individual school budget. It is also possible for women who wish to do so to extend maternity leave on an unpaid basis for up to one year, in agreement with the Principal, subject to meeting the terms of this scheme.

3.3

Cover for long-term sickness will also be held as a discretionary exception because such absences do not occur evenly across school, and because the costs could have a disproportionate effect upon individual school budgets.

The definition of long-term sickness is: -

Secondary schools	after 25 working days continuous absence
Primary schools below 50 on roll	after 5 working days continuous absence
Primary schools between 50 and 200 on roll	after 10 working days continuous absence
Primary schools above 200 on roll	after 20 working days continuous absence
Special schools	after Day 1

Teachers away on long-term sickness, who return and who are away again from the same cause within the next 6 weeks will have that further absence counted for the purposes of long term sickness. Claims should be made on a half-termly basis on the form LTS1(a) to the Unit Manager (Personnel).

3.4

Suspension of teachers in consultation with the Director of Education which involves prolonged investigation of the allegations is treated in the same way as long term sickness, i.e. the salary of the suspended teacher will be picked up centrally after the specified number of days as in 3.3 above.

The information contained in this memorandum is summarised in Appendix B