Free HR template for UK employers
Annual leave policy
An annual leave policy is there to make it clear what your team is entitled to and how to arrange time off in a fair and consistent manner. Having a policy that your team can refer to brings visibility to the system and helps avoid conflict.
How to use the template
Once you have downloaded the annual leave policy template please have a detailed read through and fill in any blanks.
It’s vital to check the template carefully and make any changes necessary to align it with your existing policies and procedures.
You must be certain that you’re complying with relevant employment law. If in doubt we suggest getting help from an employment law specialist.
What’s included?
This annual leave policy covers annual holiday entitlement, how to arrange it with the agreement of your manager, carry over to the following year and how it interacts with other absence types.
It also has a statement on what happens at the end of employment, this will need aligning to your employment contracts.
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The policy wording
Annual leave policy
Taking time off to rest and recuperate is important. You should spend time with your family and friends, have a holiday or just put your feet up. We all need a healthy work-life balance.
That’s why everyone gets an annual holiday allowance.
This Annual Leave Policy explains how to agree holidays with your manager, how we deal with requests in a fair and consistent way, and answers some important questions about your holiday allowance.
Our holiday year runs from [specify your holiday year e.g. 1 January to 31 December].
You can find your holiday allowance in your contract of employment.
During your first and last year of work, your allowance is reduced proportionately. This reflects the proportion of time you worked during that year.
Please request and organise your holidays well in advance, so that we can plan for your absence and arrange for your work to be covered.
If you’re off work without getting your manager’s approval, we’ll treat it as unauthorised absence.
[If you use Timetastic]
We use Timetastic to organise all time off work, and we’ll give you the login details you need. In Timetastic you can request time off, see if it clashes with anyone else in your department, and keep track of how much holiday allowance you have left.
[If you don’t use Timetastic]
Describe your system for requesting time off here.
200,000+ people book their time off here
Set it up for your team before the next request lands.