Can I exchange my A/L for cash in the NHS?

[ilikeyoursleeves]

I have loads of annual leave to take my the end of March due to accumulating it all on mat leave and unless I'm off for weeks I'll lose it- does anyone know if I can exchange A/L or 'sell' it for cash? Thanks

I thik my trust has a scheme where you can sell your a/l to other people if they want it. I've never done it so unsure of who co-ordinates the scheme and if you have to find a person or whetehr HR sort it out for you. May be worth asking HR.

Never heard of 'selling' annual leave in the NHS (have worked in it for 18 years). Speak to HR - you should be able to carry some over to the next financial year. Also suggest you start taking some A/L now!! Even if its the odd week / day or something! Otherwise, I'm afraid I think you've lost it all - boooo! Good luck!

no you can't sell it

in my nhs trust you can carry a max of 5 days over

you might be able to cheat a bit by converting it to time-in-lieu which can also be carried over (our max is 8 hrs)

do you calculate your AL by hours? If so, see if you can ship away by taking the odd 1-2 hrs eg. long lunches/early finishes if its difficult to fit whole days in

if some of what you have left is for working bank hols, then that is extra and can be carried over indefinetly

hope that helps !

I have been paid for some untaken annual leave, but it was exceptional circumstances and a one off. It is possible, but it would depend on whether there is money in the budget to cover it.

Really your manager should be aware of how much you have left and be talking to you about how you are going to take it.

true surfermum, it shouldn't get to that point where someone might lose AL

I've just had a look on my trust's website and where I work you can definetly sell up to 2 weeks of leave.

Blimey, well thats a new thing to me, SKSS! Not very good for the whole 'work life balance' doo dah really.... still, I guess its good for situations like these...

we were allowed to convert ousr to money last yr but that was a one off because we were so short staffed

We can only carry 5 days, wish I could sell mine as I have masses accumulated due to a major release last June and then everyone else involved taking July and August off, leaving me to man the fort, and then I started a new job in September and so couldn't take leave ... fast foward to December and I still had the entire lot to take plus 5 days from last year

So am now just booking random weeks off, have accidentally booked half-term when I should be rejoicing in the fact that this year for the last time we don't need to go on holiday during school holidays.

We're not even allowed to carry 5 days over, we have to take it all by the end of March or lose it

There's also this mad system where you are not allowed to take more than 1 week between Jan and March, yet you accumulate more than a week in this time. If you stuck to this and left their employment at the beginning of January you would end up owing them money for holiday taken which you hadn't yet accumulated

Thanks all, I will call HR and investigate. I've only got 2 months left to take it all so think I'll book me a few weeks off in March maybe Plus yes my AL is by the hour cos I'm PT so I might try and go in later / leave earlier or something....

Join the bank/temporary staff, take your annual leave but work on the bank either in your own job if they'll let you, or in an other department. That way you're using up your leave and getting paid extra too. Most convenient if you can swing doing it in your normal job.

I thought it was a good idea

Well I've contacted HR and yes I can convert leftover A/L for cash! You do it by claiming 'payment in lieu' as long as your line manager agrees to it although we are investigating where the money will come from. I am allowed to carry over 5 days plus have a few days off in Feb and a week in March, then 3 days to claim as lieu so it's worked out OK.

whatsthebloodypoint I never saw your message, I've never heard of the 'bank' but doubt I could do that in my job, thanks for the suggestion.