Special leave
Special leave allows management to pursue an appropriate response to a variety of situations, which are not covered by other types of leave available to members of staff, including amongst others:
- the necessary and unexpected need for a member of staff to provide care to any person who reasonably relies on the employee for assistance on an occasion where the person falls ill or is injured;
- an employee who suffers a bereavement; and
- members of staff who perform civic and public duties.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic extra reasons for special leave were added to account for staff absence. With the reduction in absence due to COVID-19 in 2022/2023, the need for these reasons for special leave reduced, and for part of the year COVID-19 special leave was only available to those who tested positive for COVID-19. Any other absence due to COVID-19 is now recorded as sick leave.
In the monitored period a total of 62882.2 hours of special leave were taken, compared with 96457.8 hours the previous year, broken up by Directorate as shown below:
| Directorate | Special leave hours |
|---|---|
| Corporate | 11644.4 |
| Golden Jubilee Conference Hotel | 1241.8 |
| Heart, Lung and Diagnostic Services | 25506.5 |
| National Elective Services | 24489.5 |
| NHS GJ Total | 62882.2 |
The top ten reasons for special leave are shown in the table below:
| Reason for special leave | special leave hours | % special leave |
|---|---|---|
| Coronavirus - covid positive | 31843.2 | 46.3% |
| Coronavirus - long covid | 9350.9 | 13.6% |
| Phased return | 6991.8 | 10.2% |
| Phased retiral | 3621.7 | 5.3% |
| Bereavement | 3521.7 | 5.1% |
| Compassionate | 2833.7 | 4.1% |
| Carer | 2753.6 | 4.0% |
| Emergency / domestic issues | 1560.8 | 2.3% |
| Medical or dental appointment | 1421.6 | 2.1% |
| Career break | 1162.5 | 1.7% |
