Page 57 - EQA Employee Handbook

SECTION4: BENEFITS

4.1 ANNUAL LEAVE
Unless greater holiday provision is made in your individual contract of employment, you will be
entitled to 21 days holidays on an annual basis (excluding public holidays) or as outlined below.

The company holiday year runs from January to December. Annual holidays are 21 days, a maximum
of 5 days of which are allocated to the Christmas break and 1 day in respect Good Friday.

All requests for annual leave must be submitted to your Manager by email. Staff are expected to take
their holiday entitlement at times convenient to their work. The holiday entitlement should be taken
after obtaining the permission of their manager.

Preferred holiday periods will be respected as far as possible within the framework of the firm’s work
programme and operational needs. Once individual holidays have been agreed they should be
updated electronically on the staff holiday calendar. The final decision in allocating annual leave rests
with management.

4.1.1 Calculation of Holiday Entitlement
Where employees have worked less than a full year or less than 1,365 hours in that leave year, the
employee will be entitled to one-third of a working week for each month in the leave year in which he
or she works at least 117 hours, or 8 per cent of the hours actually worked in a leave year (subject to
a maximum of four working weeks leave).
All employees who have worked for eight months or more, working at least 117 hours per month, will
be entitled to an unbroken period of two weeks holidays.

All Annual Leave will be approved at the Company's discretion. However, the Company will agree
holidays with the employee bearing in mind work/operational requirements, opportunities for rest
and recreation and family responsibilities of the employee.

4.1.2 Illness during Annual Holiday
If you fall ill during a holiday and submit a medical certificate covering the day(s) in question, you will
be granted alternative days off in lieu.

4.1.3 Applying for Annual Leave
To apply for holiday leave, you must:

• Submit an annual leave request by email to your Manager.

• Discuss the matter with your Manager as far in advance as possible. Ideally, you
should give six weeks’ notice of your request to take annual leave.
• Annual Leave is granted on a first come first served basis while also reviewed on the
basis of the operational requirements of the business.

• Should be aware that at certain peak trading times it may be necessary to limit the
number of people taking holidays at any one time.

• Should any employee who has had their leave denied due to operational
requirements then go on unauthorised absence this will be treated as a disciplinary
offence and the employee may be subject to disciplinary proceedings.

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