Annual leave varies depending on category

[Salonselectives]

I work in academia doing an admin role, I'm categorised as "support staff".

During a retirement event today, I discovered that all support staff are given less annual leave entitlement than all of the other categories of staff. I feel a bit deflated.

In an organisation that champions equality, how is this acceptable? How is it fair that I must spend more time at work and less time with my family? I'd estimate that 90% of the support staff are women, is this discriminatory?

It's pretty common in universities but generally the extra leave days are supposed to compensate for the unpaid overtime that you have to do in higher level management/academic jobs.

Do you work your hours everyday and get paid overtime if you have to work more?

When I went up from a support job to a "professional" job at a big uni I got 5 extra days a year but no overtime/toil for evening/weekend work that was a big part of the role. When I was a lower grade I could take time back which was definitely the better deal.

With closure days at Xmas it's still generous compared to private sector but I do agree it seems unfair. More senior staff got better pensions as well

You say that you work with academia so are the other staff term time only? If so, do you have the benefit of being able to take your leave any time of the year in comparison to staff who have to have their holiday during school holiday times?

@OneHundredOtters I work every single one of my hours every day and more (roughly 10% extra in unpaid overtime each week). My role used to take 3 support staff, due to funding cuts, now there is only me, there is far too much work for 1 person so no prospect of TOIL. The non-support staff don't work their hours let alone do any overtime. Support staff have closure days deducted from their annual leave for Xmas (I don't know if this is the case for other staff too).

@Fleabea All staff work all year round and leave can be taken anytime, students join us for placements.

Deducting closure days seems particularly harsh! Everywhere I've worked (5 unis) they have been included.

It's actually more common than you think in the public sector. I can't comment on other areas of work, but most everywhere I know has more leave entitlement for higher graded staff. Where I currently work basic leave is 25 days plus bank holidays (+ 5 days after five years), middle managers is 30 days plus bank holidays (+5 days after 5 years) and senior managers is 35 days plus bank holidays (+ five days after 5 years). Senior managers don't get flexitine or time off in lieu, everyone else does.

There is extra leave in our organisation for seniority - you start at 25 plus BHs and move up as you get certain grades to max of 30&BHs. (It used to be 32 & BHs but 2 were taken off as "productivity gains" a few years ago - so I went from 32 to 30 on my last jump).

I think the original rationale wasn't to do with gender but that at the senior levels there's a lot of pressure so am those few extra days were needed to respond to that.

And as it happens, those in lower grades also have flexi time that they can build up - work time up this month to take up to a day and a half off next month. So assuming you manage your time effectively, you could get up to an extra 18days off per year that senior staff cannot get. So often it's more senior staff with DCs struggling for school holidays, plays etc.

When I was in HE the staff up to a certain grade got fixed hours but less holiday. They had a flexi timesheet and could take time off in lieu (although in my mind too many allowed themselves to be “indispensable” and worked too long, and some managers were really crap about managing their workload). Those of us in higher grades had more leave - 6 days extra. Some worked many many more hours a week, but others did 9-5 like the support staff. The system is screwed.

I lost a lot of annual leave moving jobs but haven’t worked after 7pm since. It’s been lovely.