Holiday and other leave

Even though most of us at Outwood love our work, we all need time away. For many at Outwood, this means taking school holidays, such as teachers and support staff on term-time contracts. For support staff colleagues who work full-year contracts, this means using their normal annual leave entitlement.

However, there may be times when you need leave for other reasons. You can apply for different sorts of leave, such as family-friendly leave, compassionate leave, and even sabbaticals.

Annual leave (holiday)

Full-year contract staff

We know that taking regular holidays and breaks from work helps you be more energised and motivated. At Outwood, we offer the below leave allowance, so you can take a break, switch off and relax.

Your annual leave entitlement depends on your point on the NJC salary scale and your number of years of service.

Other points to note about our leave policy:

• Outwood’s leave year aligns with the school year: 1st September to 31st August.
• You should request your annual leave on Oracle as soon as possible. We’d prefer you to do this at least four weeks in advance, but speak to your manager to check.
• If you become eligible for a higher annual leave allowance midway through a year, your allowance will be prorated to account for the higher entitlement for the rest of the year.
• Your annual leave entitlement can’t normally be carried forward to the next leave year, unless you were unable to take annual leave due to extreme circumstances. If this is the case, you can carry up to 5 days forward (if you are part-time, this will be pro-rated).
• Employees who have been on statutory leave, such as maternity leave, can carry over their leave entitlement to the following leave year.

Part-time staff

For colleagues who work part-time, your annual leave allowance and bank holidays will be pro-rata.

If you move from full-time to part-time, or vice versa, your allowance for the year will be pro-rated to reflect the change. Any leave already taken will be deducted.

Term-time contract staff

One of the best flexibilities about working in a school is the ability to work term time and have the school holidays off work. We know this can offer great help with childcare, family support, or just giving you regular breaks throughout the year.

Term-time salaries are calculated based on the total number of weeks you work during the year plus your annual leave entitlement. The annual leave is included within your pay and is spread across the year to ensure you receive 12 equal monthly payments. The result is that you receive pay during the school holidays and that all of your annual leave entitlement is considered taken within the school holiday periods.

Sickness absences

If you’re not well enough to work, you should call your line manager as soon as you can and tell them what’s wrong and when you’ll be likely to return. We understand that sometimes you may not be able to make the call yourself. If this is the case, you should get a friend or family member to let your manager know. Make sure you keep your manager posted about how you feel and when you will likely return to work.

When you’re well enough to return to work, your manager will have a ‘return to work’ discussion with you. It’s a chance to talk about how you are, to catch up on anything you’ve missed, and to think about what we can do to help you stay well.

Our staff attendance management policy includes full details of our sickness, absence and notification procedures.

 Attendance management policy

Do I need to show any evidence?

You should self-certify your sickness up to and including seven days using the self-certification form available from HR. You must complete this form and give it to your manager.

If you’re sick for over seven days, you need to get a fit note from your doctor to cover your absence from the eighth day onwards. If you want to keep the original fit note, that’s okay—we can take a copy. We may ask you to get a fit note from your doctor before the eighth day of your absence—but we’ll only do this in exceptional circumstances—and we will reimburse you if there’s a charge for this when you give us your doctor’s invoice.

Your manager should record all your sickness absence on Oracle.

Will I be paid while I’m sick?

Support staff colleagues are entitled to receive sick pay for the following periods:

Teaching staff colleagues are entitled to receive sick pay for the following periods:

Family-friendly leave

We offer various leave schemes to provide real benefits to help you balance work demands with family needs.

We understand that returning to work after a period of leave can be daunting and/or difficult. To support you on your return to work following family leave, please speak with your line manager, school business manager, or HR team. They can offer information and changes to help you settle back in.

For further support, we use a programme called Maternity Teacher Paternity Teacher to help provide independent advice and guidance.

Maternity leave

We know that having a baby is an important and exciting time for you if you’re pregnant or a new mother. We support our new parents from the moment you tell us your good news to when you give birth—and beyond.

You can take up to 26 weeks of ordinary maternity leave and up to 26 weeks of additional maternity leave, totalling one year off with your newborn. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve worked for us, you will also receive occupational maternity pay as a “top-up” to any Statutory Maternity Pay already provided by the Government. We’ll ensure you stay safe and healthy at work while you’re expecting, and you can take paid time off to attend your antenatal appointments. Please contact the HR team to find out more.

IVF and fertility treatment

If you are planning IVF or fertility treatment, we understand that you may need time off work to go to medical appointments. Tell your manager as soon as you find out that your treatment has been approved. They’ll handle things in a sensitive way and treat it as confidential. If adjustments are needed while you’re undergoing treatment, your manager will try to make sure that these are made.

Adoption or surrogacy leave

If you’re planning on adopting or using a surrogate, you can take up to one year of leave to look after your child, just like maternity leave. Contact the HR team to find out more.

Paternity leave

Having a baby or adopting a child is one of the biggest things that can happen in your life. If your partner is expecting, we want to ensure you have the support and flexibility to spend time with your new family. From day one we offer two weeks of paternity leave and pay. Contact the HR team to find out more.

Shared parental leave

Shared parental leave is similar to maternity or adoption leave but shared between two parents, including same-sex couples. You can take up to one year off (in total) after your child has arrived and divide the time up to suit you both. You can take time off together or separately and also potentially share pay.

 Shared parental leave guidance

Parental leave

Even when you’re back at work, caring for a child can take a lot of extra time—whether it’s to settle your little one into a new childcare setting or looking at schools. If you’ve worked for us for at least one year, you can take up to 18 weeks (up to 4 weeks in a year) of unpaid time off to care for a child, including an adopted child, up until their 18th birthday.

Other leave

Medical or dental appointments

Sometimes, you may need time off work for dental or medical appointments. Ideally, these will occur outside school hours, but if that’s not possible, speak to your manager to agree on the time you need.

Time off to train

To take time off for training, talk to your manager. They’ll look at your development needs, the likely impact of your time off on the school and how this can be managed.

Jury duty

If you’re called for jury duty, let your manager know straight away so we can make the relevant arrangements. You’ll continue to receive your normal salary while you’re on jury duty.

Sabbatical leave

Sabbaticals allow our people to take time out of their work lives, spend time with their families and friends, relax, and rejuvenate. We know that this break can improve our team’s productivity, creativity, and wellbeing and increase their morale.

Speak to a member of the HR team to find out more about this exciting perk.

Compassionate leave

We know that the death of someone close can affect people in different ways, and having the opportunity to grieve is essential. If a close friend or relative dies, please let your manager know as soon as you can so they can support you during this hard time. You may also want to contact our employee assistance programme, which offers 24/7 advice and support.

Everyone deals with loss differently. Please speak to your manager if you require further time off; they will do their best to arrange it.

Parental bereavement leave

We understand that losing a child is devastating, and we want everyone to ask for the support they need during this incredibly devastating and difficult time.

Regardless of service, you can take six weeks of leave if a child (under 21) dies and you are the parent, primary or kinship carer. In the unfortunate event that you suffer a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy or lose a child after it is born, you will be entitled to 52 weeks of maternity leave.

Emergency leave

We understand that life can be unpredictable, so whatever the situation, we’ll always try to give you a reasonable amount of leave in an emergency. We trust that you’ll only ask for emergency leave when you really need it.

It’s important that you speak to your manager as soon as possible if you need to take emergency leave. Make sure you keep in touch with them so they know when to expect you back in work.