Question about NHS holiday allowances

[MandUs]

I'm about to start a job with the NHS and am wondering how the holiday allowance works. As a new starter, I will get 27 days annual leave plus 8 bank holidays a year. I'll be working in an acute area that delivers services 24/7, 365 days a year.

So my question is, what happens with my shifts that fall on bank holidays? Will I be able to take other days off instead? As in, I shouldn't think of my holiday allowance in terms of the two categories (annual leave and bank holidays as separate things) but rather one category (35 days a year that I can take off for holidays)?

I hope this makes sense.

Is there anybody here working for ten NHS and can explain it all to me?

In our Trust, the Bank Holidays are just added to our leave entitlement, so yes 35 days

Yes, if you are in an area that provides a service every day of the year, just think of it as 35 days. Often it’s expressed as hours rather than days though

Great. Thank you. I was hoping this would be the case.

your annual leave and bank holiday entitlement is essentially merged together and is hours rather than days. This is to make it fair to all staff regardless of shift patterns or part time. So if you work a bank holiday you wont ‘use’ your pro rats allowance and can then choose to take those hours another time.

It worth working with back holiday though. As it pays extra

Remember to leave yourself enough leave for the rest of the bank holidays in annual leave year. Other wise you can end up in a situation where you're off on the bank holiday and don't have the leave to cover it.

sleepy How would that work? What if I have worked my 3 shifts for the week and a normal day off falls on a bank holiday? Would that be taken from my annual leave even though I've worked my full week's commitment?

Let's say there's a bank holiday on a Friday but my shifts for that week fall on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Would that Friday be deducted from my leave entitlement even though I've worked all my shifts for the week?

So you'd get your leave in hours, something like 262.5.
Whatever your shift pattern is dictates the hours you request, o if you work 12 hour shifts you'd request 12 hours off for a days leave etc.
Bank Holidays are completely irrelevant if you're in a 24/7 area (apart from enhancements), you're either rota'd on or off. You don't need to book hours just because there's a BH IYSWIM.

No, it depends how the shifts fall and what your department does regarding staffing levels on bank holidays.

So say you are scheduled to work Monday-Wednesday but staffing means you are off on the Monday as an extra day (remember bank holidays are minimum/Christmas day staffing) so only work two shifts that week then that extra day comes from your annual leave.

I'll be working in A&E so I'm not sure if they'll have less staffing just because it's Christmas etc.