Annual Leave Recording: Frequently Asked Questions

1. What information do we need to record?

New legislation under the Employment Rights Act 2025, requires employers, effective from 6 April 2026, to keep adequate records of:

  • Annual leave taken by employees.
  • Holiday pay paid to employees.

Departments can keep these records in any format that works for them, but they must:

Failure to comply could result in enforcement action, including unlimited fines for the employer.

2. Does this apply to all staff?

Yes. The requirement applies to all University employees, including:

  • Academic staff
  • Researchers
  • Professional services staff

Exception: Hourly-paid staff i.e. Casual workers paid via CCWS and staff on zero or guaranteed minimum hours contracts

Staff who are paid by the hour usually receive "rolled-up" holiday pay as part of their pay, rather than booking annual leave separately. Their holiday entitlement is recorded through payroll in CHRIS, and these records will also be kept for 6 years.

Note: TES workers should continue to book annual leave in the normal way.

3. What types of leave need to be recorded?

This legislation applies to annual leave only.

It does not apply to other types of leave, such as:

  • Family leave
  • Academic and sabbatical leave
  • Other authorised absences

These should continue to be requested and recorded through the usual processes.

If you are on secondment, information can be found in the Secondment Policy.

4. Could leave records be audited?

Yes.

The Employment Rights Act 2025 introduces a new enforcement body called the Fair Work Agency, which will oversee workers' rights, including annual leave records.

The agency will be able to:

  • Inspect workplaces
  • Enter business premises
  • Review records and documents
  • Request information and evidence
  • Require people to attend interviews and answer questions

Employers that fail to meet the requirements could face enforcement action, including unlimited fines.

5. What system should we use to record annual leave?

The current systems for recording annual leave vary by department. Departments can continue to use their existing arrangements, including:

  • CHRIS (the University’s HR and Payroll system)
  • Local systems
  • Excel spreadsheets
  • Word documents
  • Other manual processes

Whatever system is used, annual leave records must be retained for 6 years and managed in accordance with UK GDPR.

6. Departments moving to CHRIS

Some departments will have started using CHRIS for annual leave recording from 1 October 2026 as part of the myHR programme.

These departments should:

  • Continue using their existing method for leave taken up to 30 September 2026.
  • Keep records from the 2025/26 leave year for 6 years.

User guides are available for staff using CHRIS, including guidance specifically for established academics.

If your department has recently decided to adopt CHRIS annual leave recording (as part of Phase 5 of the CHRIS annual leave roll out that will be going live in November), further information will follow as part of communications to all departmental staff, and how they should record their leave before the system is made available to them.

7. How should academics with more than one role record leave in CHRIS?

Senior academics who hold both:

  • A Professorship, and
  • An academic leadership role (for example, Head of Institution, Head of School)

should record all annual leave against their Professorship position only.

This approach has been adopted to keep the process simple and avoid complications arising from different leave arrangements across multiple roles.

When recording leave in CHRIS:

  • Select the Professorship position from the "Position" dropdown.
  • Do not select ‘<All jobs>”.

8. How should staff with more than one role record leave?

Staff who have more than one role, each with a separate employment contract, should record their leave against each individual role, according to the leave system in each department.

9. How much annual leave are employees entitled to?

Annual leave entitlement depends on an employee's role and contractual terms.

Details can be found in University HR guidance.

Additional information on calculating annual leave entitlement for staff who work fewer than 5 days per week, or who start/leave their position during an annual leave year, can be found in the CHRIS annual leave calculation guidance.

10. Can established academic staff take annual leave during term time?

Normally, established academic staff should take annual leave outside Full Term.

Leave during term time is only permitted if it complies with the University's Statutes and Ordinances and consequent local processes for obtaining necessary permissions have been followed.

This requirement is set out in the academic contract of employment.

9. Do departments need to make sure staff take annual leave?

All staff should take the appropriate leave and the opportunities to rest, recover and switch off from work that they are entitled to.

Departments can support this by reminding staff to take any remaining leave before the end of the leave year.

If your department uses CHRIS to record annual leave, they can run reports to confirm:

  • Leave already taken
  • Leave booked for future dates
  • Outstanding leave balances

Departments that do not use CHRIS should continue to monitor leave locally and remind staff to take and record their annual leave where necessary.

10. Do I need to record leave if I also work for a college?

The colleges are separate employers from the University. This means each college must keep its own records of annual leave and holiday pay.

If you are employed by both the University and a college, in addition to following the university’s processes you should check the nature of your engagement with your college and their arrangements for recording leave.

Any permissions required for additional work will be set out in your contract of employment.

Further support

If you have a query that is not covered by these frequently asked questions, please contact your departmental administrator/local HR team.

This document will be updated to reflect any additional questions that arise.