Please circulate to other managers in your school/division asking them to disseminate information as appropriate. You may also wish to bookmark this site for future reference.
Tuesday 30th April, 2:30-3:30pm
In the lead-up to Mental Health Awareness Week and Bristol Walk Fest, the central EDI Team and the Student Inclusion Team have arranged a walk with Bristol Steppin Sistas for staff and students of colour, of all genders, at the University. This is an opportunity for staff and students to take some time for themselves, get out into nature, and connect with others. The walk will be run by Sophie Brown, the founder of Bristol Steppin Sistas, and will take place on Clifton Downs. You can find out more about Bristol Steppin Sistas in this video.
There are 30 places available for this event. To register your interest, please complete this Microsoft form and we will send an email to confirm your place. This email will contain further information about the location of the start of the walk. If you have any questions or queries, please contact edi-team@bristol.ac.uk
You will be aware that our annual leave policy allows for a maximum of 5 days (pro rata 1 week of leave) to be carried over from one annual leave year to the next.
We know that people are working hard and as a first principle it is important to encourage everyone to take their leave entitlement to support their wellbeing. Whilst staff should always be encouraged to take annual leave at regular intervals during the year, it is recognised that there may be occasions when this can be difficult to manage for staff and managers alike.
We are aware of some particular challenges this year in relation to the changes to the Structure of the Academic Year where it may be more challenging for groups of staff in certain areas to take all of their annual leave for 2024 during this year, particularly the summer months.
We want managers to support staff to have a break this year wherever possible but if they can’t use all their leave, they can now carry forward additional days if they fall into one of the following staff groups:
For staff in these groups, we will allow a maximum carry over of 10 days (pro rata if part time) into 2025 with the proviso that any additional carried forward leave should be used by Easter 2025. Any request to carry over additional annual leave will need line manager approval and monitoring to ensure the leave is taken by Easter 2025.
For some staff in areas outside of those listed above, there may be an additional requirement to work flexibly during the transition period as we move towards a new structure for the academic year. In this circumstance the usual mechanisms remain available to manage this such as TOIL or overtime where this is agreed as necessary in advance.
It should be noted that academic staff can take annual leave during term time but in doing so should comply with the following:
Academic staff with undergraduate teaching responsibilities will not, without the Head of School’s agreement, take annual leave during term time. Academic staff who have agreed to teach other courses outside term time will not take annual leave during the period of the courses on which they teach. All absences (including sickness) from the University during such teaching periods should be notified to the School through the agreed procedures.
Extract taken from the University Workload Agreement, section 5.1{c}
