Can I transfer previously accrued annual leave?

andiescottie

Hi all!

To cut a very long story short I have been working as a staff nurse for the past 6 years at a hospital in an Nhs trust. 3years ago i developed psoriatic arthritis. As a result I now have a significant disability, and am unable to continue working as a nurse.
I have been off sick for the past 17 months. During this time I have been going though various treatments in a desperate attempt to slow down the progression of my arthritis, (still ongoing) but unfortunately to no avail. I have had to fight with my employer to ask for an oppportunity to try for any other type of job within the trust.
No offense intended to anyone: but I am only 30 years old (although my body thinks I am 90) and I do not want to stay at home and beg for benefits. I have had a paying job since I was 8 years of age, so work and my independence are important to me. My employer wanted me to agree to mutual termination of my contract due to illness. I wouldnt agree to that for several reasons. I am now disabled, have very few real transferrable skills, and now a long sickness record...who else would employ me??!!

So after a good 6 months of fighting to be given a chance, I have finally been offerred a position as a receptionist. :j
When I was working as a staff nurse i had reduced my hours to 16 hpw. My new job will start at 16 hpw with a view to increasing this as my condition allows (i feel like i am now a full time patient lol).

My question is....
Will I be able to transfer any previously accrued annual leave to my new job?

I would appreciate any help or advice you can all offer.
Many thanks,
andiescottie

andiescottie

By the way I wrote my "shortened" version of events to:
1. try to show that my NHS employer isnt exactly helpful
2. to give other people in a similar situation some hope to keep fighting!

Many thanks,
andiescottie

LittleVoice

Hi

When you ask about transferring "previously accrued annual leave", are you asking whether your annual entitlement (number of days/hours) will be at the level it would be had you continued in your nursing role or are you asking whether you will be able to claim those holidays which you would have been entitled to during your 17 months' sickness absence but did not take?

andiescottie

Hi again.
I am asking about the annual leave I have accrued over my 17 months off sick....and the annual leave I had accrued from the 8 months previous to that...ie from the start of that working year 2006. Will find out how many days i have accrued today.
Many thanks,
andiescottie:D

dellybelly_2

Hi andiescottie,

I'm sorry to hear of your health problems, well done for trying to keep your independance and fighting your corner.

I work with the NHS in NI and my understanding of the transfer of annual leave is that you may only transfer up to 5 days annual leave from one year to the next by arrangement with your line manager and those 5 days must be used within 1 calendar month (April). Unless you have a very understanding/reasonable line manager, I very much doubt that you'll be allowed to transfer across the leave.

I hope I'm wrong and that you get somewhere with this. Good luck!

As far as I can see, you are looking to transfer leave from April 2006. I would think that you've lost any accrued annual leave from that year - it really is a case of use it or lose it.

andiescottie

Hi dellybelly!
Thanks for your reply I really appreciate any advice.
I too work within the NHS in NI, wasnt sure if I should have put that in or not. The reason I think that I may be able to carry over my annual leave is that when I was diagnosed with the arthritis, I was off sick for a year, and was allowed to carry over my accrued annual leave (obviously not stat days). My very unhelpful manager has been transferred to elsewhere within the belfast trust. A new manager has been appointed for 3 months. I dont know wether...
1. I should ask the new manager?....she has a lot on her plate already
2. Ask personnel?
3. Ask at all?

Many thanks,
andiescottie:D

tanith

I know its slightly different and as someone else says it may be up to a kindly manager but I was in similar circumstances and it turned out couldn't be redeployed into a suitable job so I took Ill-health retirement... I was already 57 so of course it was not so much of a wrench for me... but I was able to accrue all my untaken leave for almost 2yrs that I was off sick and awaiting the retirement thing to be sorted and I was given it all as pay in a lump at the end of this time... just wanted to say thats its a possibility but I think not a certainty that you could get back all your accrued leave.. it will be down to your line-manager to work out how much is owed and he will inform HR of the amount ... good luck ... I would definately ask your line manager to work it out ... did you not keep a record of how much you had taken? I used to keep a diary and wrote down every single Leave application and also kept my leave slips as proof...

Conor_3

You can only carry over accrued leave if it is in your contract of employment. There is no automatic right to carried over leave. It's usually a case of use it or lose it with most employers.

tote_alley_stressed

Hi, sorry I can't help in answer to your posting but any advice by anyone would be of help to me too as I have been off work for 19 months and are hoping for a return to work within the NHS. The thing is my manager has already given up on me and I am having a meeting later this month to have her tell me so. Chances of redeployment - minimal - early retirement? - Occupational health have said that this isn't even an option - so I go to the next capability meeting with what? My union have been so helpful - not

dellybelly_2

andiescottie wrote: »

Hi dellybelly!
Thanks for your reply I really appreciate any advice.
I too work within the NHS in NI, wasnt sure if I should have put that in or not. The reason I think that I may be able to carry over my annual leave is that when I was diagnosed with the arthritis, I was off sick for a year, and was allowed to carry over my accrued annual leave (obviously not stat days). My very unhelpful manager has been transferred to elsewhere within the belfast trust. A new manager has been appointed for 3 months. I dont know wether...
1. I should ask the new manager?....she has a lot on her plate already
2. Ask personnel?
3. Ask at all?

Many thanks,
andiescottie:D

andie - sorry it took me so long to answer you. I've been offline for a few days. I understand that you were off sick for a year and given that you'd been allowed to carry over leave before has that not then set a precedent?

I would definitely ask your manager and personnel - there's absolutely no harm in asking but prepare yourself for the worst so you don't be disappointed. Are you a member of a union? Maybe you should check with your union rep. They might be able to help you but I think most of them are still wrapped up on AFC:rolleyes: . It's always worth a go.

Excellent advice from tanith by the way.

dellybelly_2

tote_alley_stressed wrote: »

Hi, sorry I can't help in answer to your posting but any advice by anyone would be of help to me too as I have been off work for 19 months and are hoping for a return to work within the NHS. The thing is my manager has already given up on me and I am having a meeting later this month to have her tell me so. Chances of redeployment - minimal - early retirement? - Occupational health have said that this isn't even an option - so I go to the next capability meeting with what? My union have been so helpful - not

I'm sorry to hear of your trouble tote ally stressed but have you tried expressing your concerns with Occupational Health. Since you work within the NHS - they MUST be seen to be trying to help you get back to work and view your ill health with compassion. I know of 2 different nurses who were re-deployed into a nursing/admin role because of health issues and of others who were shifted to days shift only because of health issues.

If you check the Department of Employment's website (not too sure what it is) you'll get great info on your rights at work.

As for your union - why not shift to one of the others, I think their rep might be ameanable towards you if they thought the were going to get another member out of it. Or torture your local rep or the main union office. Sometimes you have to be very vocal and annoying to get the support you deserve.

Good luck with your meeting and remember that you have rights too!

DB