Annual Leave Policy

Annual Leave is provided for under the terms of the Organisation of Time Act 1997. 

This Annual Leave Policy provides employees of Dublin City University with information on their annual leave entitlements, the processes for applying for annual leave, and details of Public Holidays.

All employees of the University, whether they are full-time, part-time or temporary, are entitled to annual leave.

DCU values the well-being of all employees and all employees are entitled to time away from the workplace for the purposes of rest and relaxation.

1. Annual Leave Year

The leave year is from 1st January to 31st December and annual leave must be organised within this period. It will be normal practice for staff to take all their allowance during the leave year and only in exceptional circumstances a carry-over of up to 5 days’ maximum may be allowed, where it is approved by the Head of School/Unit and by the Director of Human Resources. Carryover in excess of 5 days’ annual leave will not be permitted.

2. University Closure Days

The University will close for a number of days over the Christmas period. Closure days may change from year to year to reflect the University’s operational needs. Currently the University closes for five days at Christmas. Staff will be informed of the exact dates at least three months in advance. The leave entitlements outlined in points 4 (a) and 4 (b) are inclusive of closure days.

3. Annual Leave Entitlement

As part of the Government’s reform programme for the Public Service, an agreement on revised annual leave arrangements between Public Service Management and the Public Services Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions from 2011 sets out revised annual leave entitlements for existing staff and for staff that are promoted or newly recruited.  This Agreement was translated (following a binding Labour Court decision) into a Department of Education and Skills Circular (DES) Annual Leave Circular issued on January 31st, 2014. As the Circular deals separately with annual leave arrangements for existing staff and for new or promoted staff a difference in annual leave entitlements applies.

New and promoted non-academic staff are defined as those appointed or promoted from 7th January 2014 onwards.

Please review points 4 (a), 4 (b) and 8 below to determine your individual leave entitlement.

4 (a) Annual Leave entitlement for Staff Employed before 7th January 2014

*Entitlement inclusive of 5 closure days

4 (b) Annual Leave entitlement for Staff Employed from 7th January 2014

*Entitlement inclusive of 5 closure days

5. Procedure for taking Leave

All staff should request and record Annual Leave through their CorePortal. To find help on applying for and approving annual leave requests on the CorePortal, please visit the Core support page.

6. Approval

A request for annual leave must be approved, prior to the leave being taken, by the Head of School/Unit. The Head of School/Unit may wish to speak to the staff member about the leave application to explore the viability of granting leave at that particular time.

7. Maximum Leave Entitlement

A maximum annual leave entitlement of 32 days applies for existing non-academic staff and 30 days for new and promoted non-academic staff. These maximum entitlements are inclusive of closure days and additional leave (service) days.

8. Permanent Promotion

Staff permanently promoted will have an annual leave entitlement based on their respective grade as outlined in point 4 (b).
If upon permanent promotion the annual leave entitlement is less than the entitlement at the previous grade, the staff member in question will be able to keep their entitlement as per the previous grade.

9. Temporary Promotion

Staff on a temporary promotion who receive an acting allowance will receive an annual leave entitlement equivalent to the higher grade for the duration of the acting arrangement. When the acting arrangement ceases, annual leave will be in line with their substantive grade.

10. Part-time Hourly Paid Staff

Hourly paid staff are paid 8% of the hours that they work in a leave year, subject to a maximum of 4 working weeks per year. Hourly paid staff who have worked at least 40 hours in the 5 weeks ending on a day before the public holiday are also entitled to public holiday benefits.

11. Public Holidays

In addition to annual leave, staff members benefit from the following public holidays:

• Christmas Day
• St. Stephen’s Day
• St. Patrick’s Day
• Easter Monday
• The first Monday in May, June and August
• The last Monday in October
• New Year’s Day

Staff members will also benefit from Good Friday. While it is not a public holiday it is counted as an additional day.

12. Sickness and Annual Leave

Certified sick leave during a period of annual leave, if notified immediately, will have the effect of cancelling authorised annual leave. Annual leave will not then be resumed until the staff member returns to work or provides evidence of fitness to return to work. Uncertified sick leave during annual leave does not cancel authorised annual leave. A medical certificate is required where an employee wishes to commence annual leave immediately following an absence, or for any absence immediately following annual leave.

This Policy should be read in conjunction with the Annual Leave Policy Toolkit.

For general queries on Annual Leave contact: askhr@dcu.ie

For queries on Annual Leave records on Core contact: coretime@dcu.ie

This policy will be reviewed every 3 years.