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TIME OFF
June 2009
TIME OFF
TIME OFF TO CARRY OUT PUBLIC DUTIES
An employee has requested 20 days’ leave to carry out public duties as a member of prison visiting committee. Does such a legal right exist, and if so, do you have topay them during the time off?
Added to the list?
Under the Employment Rights Act 1996 an employee has to right to request a “reasonable” amount of time off from work to undertake certain public duties.
What are th4ese duties? The right applies only to those employees who serve as Justices of the Peace and to those who are members of the following:
• Local authority, e.g. local council
• A statutory tribunal, e.g. employment tribunal
• A police authority
• A board of prison visitors or a prison visiting committee
• A relevant health body, eg NHS trust
• A relevant education body, e.g school governor
• The Environment Agency or the Scottish Environment Protection Agency
Is it paid?
But before you panic at the thought of the authorities being able to use employees at your expense – don’t worry. Those who want time off to carry out these public duties don’t have the automatic right to be paid whilst undertaking them. So, providing that their contract does not give them this right, whether or not you decide to pay them is solely at your discretion.
Tip 1. Make sure it’s mentioned in your contracts that any time off for public duties will always be given on an unpaid basis.
Tip 2. You can advise your employees as to how their request will be dealt with in a leaves of absence policy.
Is it reasonable?
But the request for 20 days off is a little trickier to decide. What’s “ reasonable” will depend on several factors. So you would need to look at how much time they really need to carry out their duties, how much time off has already been taken for this reason and what impact their absence will have on your business.
In writing. Always insist that employees who want time off for public duties provide you with full details of their request in writing i.e. the post held and the inclusive dates of absence. They should do this as far in advance as is reasonably practicable. If they don’t comply, you will have reasonable grounds for rejecting their application on the basis that their sudden departure will have a detrimental effect on the running of the business.
Tip. If you have any doubts about the reasonableness of the employee’s request, make enquiries with the relevant body about the time needed to carry out their duties – 20 days could be too much.
Objections
If you do refuse the request, give the employee the option to use any of their remaining paid annual leave to cover the absence. This will help to avoid them saying that you have treated them unfairly and should stop a complaint to an employment tribunal.
Employees have the right to take “reasonable” time off to carry out a number of public duties, but you don’t have to pay them. Make sure this is stated in your contracts. Also, if the request is excessive or is poorly timed use the disruption to your business as a reason to turn it down.
Source: Tips & Advice Personnel 11th June 2009
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