Written answers
Wednesday, 21 November 2012
Department of Public Expenditure and Reform
Public Sector Reform
Alan Farrell (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the number of days annual leave that employees are permitted to carry over to a following year; the timescale in which they are required to be taken; if there is provisions within the Croke Park Agreement to impose a cap on the number of days allowed to be carried over; his views on the way a restriction on carry over days may improve services due to the elimination of prolonged annual leave; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51428/12]
Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the Public Service Agreement 2010-2014 is progressing the requirement for a more flexible public service through various changes such as the new standardised leave arrangements that are being implemented across the public service.
In regard to the specific issue of carry over leave , I presume that the Deputy is referring to the carry over of annual leave within the Civil Service. The Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997, governs the carry over of the statutory minimum (4 working weeks) within the leave year in which it is accrued, or with the employee’s consent, within six months of the start of the leave year.
Carry over of leave, in excess of the statutory minimum, may be allowed on the basis of a three year cycle as follows: at the end of the first year of the cycle or of any year in which an officer's leave allowance is the standard allowance, any relevant untaken leave may be carried forward to the next leave year; the carried forward leave should be taken in the second year of the cycle. If this is not possible the untaken balance of the total leave allowable may be carried forward to the third year; at the end of the third year of the cycle, carry-over will be limited to the difference (if any) between the statutory minimum annual leave allowance (4 working weeks) and the officer’s normal annual leave allowance which has been accrued during the third year of the cycle.
Therefore, there are existing mechanisms in place to limit the carry over of annual leave. Within the three year cycle, the carry over of leave can only be permitted once an employee’s annual leave has been declined due to work requirements. Furthermore, at the end of the three year cycle, carry over is limited to the difference (if any) between the statutory minimum annual leave allowance and the officer’s normal annual leave allowance which has been accrued during the third year of the cycle.
I would emphasise that carry over of annual leave should only happen in exceptional circumstances and is not the norm.
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