Annual leave

Your annual leave entitlement

You can see how many days annual leave you are entitled to on your contract. You build up annual leave entitlements as soon as you start work. The HSE annual leave year runs from 1 April to 31 March.

The number of hours you work each week determines how much annual leave you get.

The Working Time Act 1997 sets out 3 different methods for calculating annual leave. You are entitled to whichever method gives you the highest amount.

Most health service employees get more annual leave than the minimum set out in the Working Time Act. If you work part time, your leave is calculated on a pro‑rata basis. This means you get a portion of the full‑time entitlement for your grade, based on the hours you work.

Taking annual leave

You can take a continuous period of 2 weeks off if you work more than 8 months in a leave year. Your line manager approves your annual leave, taking into account service needs, family responsibilities, and opportunities for you to rest.

You can manage your leave requests on HR and Payroll Self Service.

Carrying over leave

You may not be able to take all your annual leave before the leave year ends on 31 March. For example, if your manager can't allow you to take annual leave at certain times.

If this happens, you may be permitted to carry over some of your leave. Carrying over leave is for exceptional circumstances. Your line manager must approve your request to carry over leave.

You must take this 'carry over' leave within the first 6 months of the next leave year. At a minimum, you should take your statutory annual leave during the current leave year. This is important for your health and safety.

You can carry over your leave on HR and Payroll Self Service.

Sick while on annual leave

You may get annual leave days restored if you were sick while on annual leave. To do this, you must give your line manager a medical cert for the days you were sick.

Other leave types

Certain types of leave do not affect your annual leave entitlement.

This applies if you are on:

For leave types listed above, you will continue to build up annual leave entitlements in the same way as if you were in work.

Leaving your job

If you leave your job or retire, you should take any unused annual leave and any days owed for public holidays during your notice period.

You can only be paid for unused annual leave in exceptional cases, such as retiring on ill‑health grounds. There is also an exception for NCHDs.

We will pay you for any public holiday that falls immediately after your last week of work, as long as you have worked for the 4 previous weeks.

How to apply

Apply for leave on HR and Payroll Self Service.

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