Work-life balance
The University is committed to supporting our staff in achieving a healthy work-life balance. Find our policies around flexible working, leave and absence, home and family.
A good work-life balance benefits your health and wellbeing, which also helps you be more productive and satisfied at work.
We recognise that our employees may have family, personal and public duties that can sometimes impact their working lives. All staff will have the occasional need to be absent from work to attend to personal or domestic emergencies.
We have developed a set of policies to help you balance your career with life outside work, offering support and flexibility at all stages of your life. You can find summaries and a full list of our work-life balance policies on this page.
Staff can visit the work-life balance intranet page for full details of these policies.
Work-life balance is for everyone, no matter what gender, age, pay grade, personal circumstances, or the number of hours you work.
Leave and absence
Our holiday allowance and other options for time away from work include:
- 25 days of annual leave of your choosing for all pay grades
- 7 additional University closure days
- 8 public (bank) holidays
- Paid leave for public duties and volunteering
- Career break scheme
- Time off for medical appointments
Flexible working
Our working week is typically 35 hours. Flexible working options include:
- Working from home for part of your working week
- Part-time hours and job shares
- Flexible working hours (starting and finishing at different times on different days)
- Term-time, seasonal, annualised or compressed hours.
You can ask to change your arrangements as your circumstances change.
Home and family
We have a group of policies around home and family life, including:
- Generous maternity, adoption and surrogacy leave options
- Time off to attend antenatal and adoption appointments
- Option to take paid shared parental leave
- Up to two weeks paternity/partner leave
- Foster leave for long-term placements
- Leave to support fertility treatment
- 5 days paid dependants/carers leave
- Emergency domestic leave to make immediate arrangements on the day if you have a fire, burglary or other domestic emergency.
If you have questions, contact us for a confidential chat on hr-confidential@bristol.ac.uk or 0117 123 4567.
Work-life balance policies
Subject | What we offer | hidden keywords |
---|---|---|
Adoption and surrogacy leave and pay |
|
maternity, home, family |
Annual leave and public holidays |
|
bank holiday |
Antenatal and adoption appointments |
|
maternity, home, family |
Bereavement leave |
|
compassionate |
Career break scheme |
|
Gap year, leave |
Carer / dependant leave |
|
parent, home, family, children |
Childcare voucher scheme and tax-free childcare |
|
nursery, children |
Emergency domestic leave |
|
|
Engagements outside work |
|
|
Fertility treatment |
|
maternity, pregnant |
Flexible working |
|
nursery, childcare, hybrid, flexibility |
Foster carers |
|
child, adoption, home, family |
Jury service and attending court as a witness |
|
court, public duties |
Maternity leave and pay |
|
baby, child, home, family |
Medical appointments |
|
illness, hospital, sick |
Menopause |
|
|
Parental bereavement leave |
|
compassionate, death |
Parental leave |
|
home, family |
Partner / paternity leave |
|
maternity, home, family |
Public duties |
|
holiday |
Returning carers scheme |
|
maternity, academic |
Shared parental leave |
|
Maternity, paternity, home, family |
Study leave and leave of absence |
|
development |
Volunteering |
|
Voluntary work, holiday, |
Volunteer reserve forces |
|
Royal, armed forces, military, army, maritime, naval, marines, auxiliary air, holiday |