Annual leave update
Text of email sent to branch members by branch secretary Tim Goodall on 21 August 2020 Management at the University of Leeds continue to be unnecessarily harsh about annual leave – saying that the normal carry forward arrangements can only happen in ‘exceptional circumstances’ this year (up to 5 days is usual custom and practice). We believe this is contrary to law – the government’s Working Time (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 state that unused leave can be carried into the next 2 leave years where the impact of coronavirus means that it has not been reasonably practicable to take it in the leave year “as a result of the effects of coronavirus (including on the worker, the employer or the wider economy or society)”. The recent announcement that staff who are obliged to quarantine after holidays abroad and can’t work from home are liable to have to use holiday from next year or unpaid leave (see https://coronavirus.leeds.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/108/2020/07/Travel-overseas-for-personal-or-recreational-reasons-all-staff-email-sent-30-July-2020.docx) is also unfair and unacceptable. We know that many of you are understandably angry about these edicts, particularly when they add to the stress of work and personal situations which are already difficult. We cannot understand why our management fails to be more … continue reading