Imperial's leave year runs from 1 February to 31 January. The university provides generous annual leave benefits. You receive 25 days of holiday leave per leave year in addition to mandatory leave dates. You can also purchase up to 10 additional days each leave year and carry over up to 5 days from a previous leave year.
To request holiday leave, log in to the university's absence management system, TeamSeer. Your line manager must approve the request before you can take these days off work.
Your full Annual leave quota includes holiday leave and mandatory leave:
- Holiday leave days are personal days you arrange to take off by prior arrangement with your line manager.
- Mandatory leave days are statutory public holidays and University Closure days. The university is closed on these days, and you are not required to come to work. Find out this year's University closure days.
Annual leave days
Annual leave entitlements are explained below and set out within the appendices of your core terms & conditions. You can view your available holiday leave days by logging in to the absence management system, TeamSeer.
Annual leave guidance
- You must obtain the prior approval of your line manager before booking or taking leave.
- Departments and divisions may notify staff in advance of periods when leave may or may not be taken in accordance with local operational requirements. Every effort will be made to accommodate personal circumstances and for agreement to be given to leave requests.
- If you fail to return from leave on the agreed date, you may be in breach of your contract of employment. If you're unable to return on the agreed date, you must contact your line manager as soon as you become aware of any difficulty. You should also prepare to provide documentary evidence to support any continued absence from work.
Contact the staff hub for further advice if required.
- Staff are encouraged to request leave as far in advance as possible to facilitate the effective planning of leave arrangements.
- Managers are also responsible for ensuring that staff take leave throughout the leave year. This ensures that staff aren't forced to take leave in the last few weeks of the leave year or find they're unable to.
- If staff fail to return from leave on the agreed date, they may be in breach of their contract of employment. Staff unable to return on the agreed date must contact their line manager as soon as they become aware of any difficulty. They must be prepared to provide documentary evidence to support their continued absence from work.
Contact the staff hub for further advice if required.
Entitlements
- The leave year
- Holiday leave
- Mandatory leave
- Annual leave accrual during periods of absence
- System Guidance
The university leave year runs from 1 February to 31 January.
Leave must normally be taken within the leave year. With the agreement of your line manager, staff may be permitted to carry up to 5 days leave (pro rata for part-time staff) into the next leave year. This rule also applies when staff have been absent during the leave year. No payment will be made in lieu of leave not being taken.
The Holiday Leave entitlement for staff employed on standard terms & conditions and linked to a Job Family is 25 days. You can see your full leave quota and summary, including how much holiday leave you have left in a leave year, by logging into the availability and absence management system, TeamSeer.
Holiday leave may be taken at any time in the year, subject to prior agreement by line managers.
New starters
During the first year of employment, staff are only entitled to take paid leave that has been accrued unless otherwise agreed with their manager. Holiday leave is calculated based on the number of months you will work in the leave year.
Part-time staff
Part-time staff are entitled to the same rights as full-time staff on a pro rata basis. To ensure a consistent and fair approach to Holiday Leave, part-time staff will be given a pro-rata holiday leave entitlement of the full-time equivalent based on the total number of hours that they work per week.
The entitlement will be quoted in either days or hours, depending on the staff member's working pattern. Part-time staff will be expected to deduct the appropriate number of days or hours from their entitlement for each holiday leave day taken in the same way that full-time staff do.
Your available holiday leave can be viewed by logging into the availability and absence management system, TeamSeer.
Leaving Imperial
For staff leaving the university, holiday leave is calculated based on the number of months you will work or have worked in the leave year.
Staff should take any outstanding leave during their notice period. Where circumstances prevent leave from being taken, staff will receive pay in lieu, subject to PAYE and NI deductions.
If staff have exceeded their entitlement, the university will deduct an equivalent number of days' pay from any pay due on the termination of employment. Otherwise, it will seek to recover the money owed after employment has ended.
Carrying over holiday leave
Leave is normally taken within the leave year. However, prior agreement with your line manager may allow staff to carry up to 5 days' leave (pro rata for part-time staff) into the next leave year. This rule also applies when staff have been absent during the leave year. No payment will be made in lieu of leave not being taken.
The mandatory leave entitlement for staff who are employed on standard terms and conditions linked to a Job Family is 16 days. This consists of the 8 statutory public holidays observed by the university, plus 8 University Closure days. The university closes on all Mandatory Leave days. Mandatory leave cannot be accrued.
New starters
You are entitled to the mandatory leave days that occur during the leave year that you work.
Part-time staff
Part-time staff will be given a pro-rata mandatory leave entitlement based on the total number of hours they work per week. The entitlement will be quoted in either days or hours, depending on your working pattern.
If your pro-rata mandatory leave entitlement exceeds the number of mandatory days you must take, you may add the balance to your holiday leave entitlement. Conversely, if your normal working day falls on a Mandatory day and you have an insufficient pro-rata Mandatory Leave entitlement to cover these days, you will be required to take the balance from your Holiday Leave entitlement.
Leaving Imperial
Staff who leave the university will be entitled to the mandatory leave days that occur during the leave year they are employed. No payment will be made for mandatory leave upon termination of employment.
Staff required to work on a mandatory leave day.
Most staff will not be required to attend work on statutory public holidays or University Closure days. Where staff are required to work on these days, they may add the equivalent time to their holiday leave entitlement.
Maternity leave
Staff are entitled to receive annual leave during maternity leave. See our maternity leave pages for more information.
Sickness absence
Staff will accrue holiday leave entitlement as normal during sick leave. As mandatory leave cannot be accrued, staff are not entitled to it during periods of sick leave. See our sickness absence pages for more information.
Extended special leave
For extended leave of absence, sabbatical leave and unpaid leave, paid statutory annual leave may accrue.
See the Special Leave [pdf] policy for more information.
TeamSeer is an online planner accessible via the University's single sign-on login. Staff members can submit requests for annual leave, sickness leave, and other types of leave, which are emailed to their manager for approval.
The following guidance is available to view: