Page 15 - IMO Consultant Guide

The Consultant Guide

Leave

Annual Leave

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Consultants appointed prior to 1 April 2012 are entitled to 31 days of annual leave. Consultant who
had a start date of 1 April 2012 or any date thereafter are entitled to 30 days of annual leave.
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The annual leave year runs per calendar year, 1 January – 31 December. You are not permitted to
‘carry’ any unused leave over to a leave new year aside from in very exceptional circumstances with
prior employer approval. The maximum duration that annual leave can be carried is six months.
You are also entitled to nine Public Holidays. If you are required to work on the date of a Public Holiday,
you will receive the appropriate over-time rate for this and one of the following:

i) A paid day off within the month
ii) An extra day of annual leave
iii) An extra day’s pay

Annual leave is not transferrable between posts in different hospitals. If you are leaving a post and
have outstanding annual leave or public holiday allowances, you will receive renumeration in respect
of this leave.

Study Leave
You may be granted study leave for the following purposes:

1) Continuing education or attending clinical meetings of societies appropriate to your speciality
of not more than 7 days. This excludes any travel time.
2) Attending any courses or conferences approved by the Minister for Health and Children.
3) World Health Organisation and Council of Europe Fellowships.

This leave may be approved, provided that your employer is satisfied that they are relevant to your
work. Your employer may request proof of enrolment (official letter from the awarding body) in an
educational course or a copy of an invite to any conferences. Procedures should be checked locally in
regard to how to apply and the required notice period. Ideally, an application should be made to your
employer as soon dates for any of the applicable events under the leave are confirmed.

This leave is not guaranteed and may be denied by the employer where it is not operationally feasible
to apply.

Maternity Leave

This leave applies to permanent, fixed term/specified purpose and part-time contract holders.

The Maternity Protection Acts (1994 & 2004) entitles a pregnant employee to twenty-six consecutive
weeks of maternity leave and a set of ante natal classes (other than the final three classes). HSE
employees are entitled to paid maternity leave. Basic pay plus any normal fixed allowances will be
paid, less the maternity benefit received from the social welfare (currently, €245 per week provided
you are covered by Social Insurance and have sufficient contributions). If you work part-time on
irregular hours your pay will be calculated based off an average of the last thirteen weeks of pay less
the maternity benefit.

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