Other types of leave

Note that leave for Ph.D. studies should be applied for as study leave in Primula web.

Leave that must be granted (13 Ch 2 § Villkorsavtal/ Villkorsavtal-T)

An employee has the right to leave for another employment – provided s/he has a permanent position and is offered another time-limited position in a governmental agency. In that case, the employee has the right to leave of absence for up to two years. The employee must have been employed at the permanent position for more than 12 months before the beginning of the leave. A probationary employment period is included in the qualification criteria according to LAS 6§. To gain a new period of leave, the employee must return to their position for at least 12 months. Should the time-limited position be extended, the re-qualification scenario is not valid.

The limitation to two years of leave is not relevant for other governmental employment that may be time-limited to longer than two years according to The Higher Education Act. In that case, the employee has the right to a longer leave of absence.

Leaves that may be granted (13 Ch 3 § Villkorsavtal/ Villkorsavtal-T)

The employer may grant longer leaves of absence even in other cases. The normal case is six months – a longer period if the employer deems that special reasons exist. Such instances can include employment with a municipal, county or private agency (time-limited or permanent). Uppsala University specifies this according to 13 Ch. 3§ Villkorsavtal/ Villkorsavtal-T in the local collective agreement: The employer (head of department/equivalent) may in addition to what is regulated in 13 Ch. 3§ Villkorsavtal/ Villkorsavtal-T grant a leave of absence for a maximum of six months, provided that this can be done without disadvantages to the agency’s activities.

In addition, leave may be granted for a longer period of time when this would be to the agency’s advantage.

Employment with or without pension benefits?

From 2007, the National Government Employee Pensions Board (SPV) has requested clearer information from governmental agencies regarding right to pension benefits for employees who are on leave for employment elsewhere.

The agency must state whether the person is on leave for employment elsewhere with or without occupational pension benefits.

The employee must state on their application for leave of absence whether the new employment is with or without occupational pension benefits. Such information may be had from the new employer.

Use the form Ansökan om ledighet annan anställning (4.0.2 Word, 41 kB.) .

Leave for other employment - professors

A professor’s leave for another employment extending in total over one year must be decided by the Vice-Chancellor. An application must be submitted at two months before the beginning of the leave, at the latest.

Steps

• A requested leave is approved or denied and reasons are submitted from both head of department/equivalent and dean or vice-rector.
• The case is sent to the payroll specialist who registers the case in the payroll system as preliminary.
• The case is prepared by the HR division and presented to the vice chancellor, who makes the final decision.
• The payroll specialist sends the decision to the department/equivalent.
• The department/equivalent distributes the decision to the professor concerned.

If an approved leave is subsequently followed by a request for extension, the previous decision must be appended to such a request.

Ansökan om ledighet annan anställning (4.0.2 Word, 41 kB.) should be used.

Leave for another employment – Teachers, TA staff

Leaves for another employment for teachers and TA staff that extends over a year in total is granted by the HR director. An application must be made two months before the leave begins.

Steps

• A requested leave is approved or denied by the line manager/equivalent.
• The case is sent to the head of department who approves or denies the case if it concerns a year or less. When the application concerns leave for more than a year, the case is sent to the HR director.
• The approved application is sent to the payroll specialist who registers the leave in the payroll system.
• If the application is denied, it is returned to the department/equivalent and the employee.

Ansökan om ledighet annan anställning (4.0.2 Word, 41 kB.) should be used. In addition, the Higher Education Act (1984:111) §5 regulates possibilities for leave for employment abroad in certain specified cases.

Important considerations when assessing long-term leave applications.

When considering applications for leaves of absence, it is important that the head of department/equivalent assess the situation from a long-term perspective. There might be situations when it may be to the advantage for the department to approve of a leave for another employment during an extended period of time. It may be valuable that the person represents the university in the other position, or that the university will gain valuable experience from another agency when the employee returns.

Extended leaves for other employments must be weighed in each case against the inconvenience that may occur for the agency. In most cases, there are reasons for being restrictive in granting long leaves for other employments. Furthermore, the collective agreements supports this restrictive standpoint.

For example:

• It may not be without problems for the agency when the employee returns after a long leave of absence.
• The leave (without pay) will carry some costs anyway, since the university covers some pension costs to ensure the index-linked value of the employee’s retirement pension – in some cases c. 30 000 SEK annually.
• Long-term temporary positions is a disadvantage for the agency. Such employment conditions may make it difficult to retain staff for a long time.
• The university risk having two employees, since after two years of substitute employment, the substitute will automatically gain a permanent position, according to 5 § LAS .
• Additionally, if the substitute position concerns a teaching position and continues until the LAS rule comes into force, the Higher Education Act, the university’s employment regulations and the guidelines for employing teaching staff are all broken, since they all prescribe public notice of positions and recruitment using expert reviews (see also AD 2004:58, Sveriges universitetslärarförbund / Lunds universitet)

The possibility to grant leave according to Villkorsavtalet 13 Ch 3 a § “Leave may be granted to support a longer working life” was added in connection with the new retirement pension agreement, PA 16.

This leave without pay may be applied for by employees aged 65-68. This leave might be an alternative to continuing to work part-time when a granted partial pension expires at the age of 65. You may also apply for old-age retirement pension to compensate for the reduced income from the partial pension.

The employer’s position on granting leave will be based on a comprehensive assessment of the agency’s needs and the wishes of the employee.

If other reasons for leave exist and support for leave is not regulated in any rules or agreements, 10 b § of the regulations of leave of absence [tjänstledighetsförordningen] may be used. The regulation states that leave may be granted an employee for special reasons, provided the agency is not incommoded.

Leave for trade union representative assignment is regulated in both the law (Law (1974:358) regarding a union representative’s position in the workplace, FML) and in a central agreement between the labour market parties (SAV-cirkulär 1984:A39).

The person locally appointed as a union representative has the right to leave of absence for the time necessary to complete the union assignment. The representative will often have a certain deduction of work hours for the union assignments (decided in annual agreements between the HR Division and the local trade unions) and the union work should generally be completed within this time. No wage deductions are made for the union-allocated time and the different departments/workplace will be reimbursed for the union time from the university’s joint budget.

Steps

An application for leave of absence should always be submitted for trade union assignments so that the employer may assess whether the leave should be approved with retained pay. The employee should support the need for leave by e.g. showing the summons to the meeting.
If the union assignment concerns activities in the workplace (= the university), the union representative can be approved leave with pay. Examples of activities are information events, negotiations, participation in committees or training necessary for the assignment. It is also possible to get leave without pay for e.g. internal union issues such as union meetings, training that does not directly concern the union representative assignment as well as participation in a union activity that does not relate to the university.

In addition to what is stated in the law and in the agreement regarding trade union representatives, according to I Villkorsavtal/ Villkorsavtal-T (9 Ch, 2 §) a union representative has the right to pay during leave for union representative assignments for a maximum of ten days in a calendar year. This may include assignments such as chair person or secretary in a central or regional union organisation, representative during a conference, accountant etc. In such cases, the department/equivalent is compensated through the university joint budget. In other cases, the department/equivalent covers the cost.

Serious illness or death

This type of leave relates to serious illness and death within the closest family.

The Villkorsavtal/ Villkorsavtal-T states that an employee may be granted leave with pay for “the necessary time, no more than ten working days per calendar year”.

“The necessary time” can vary from case to case. However, Uppsala University works on the principle that leave with pay is granted for each of the occasions listed in Villkorsavtal/ Villkorsavtal-T, 9 Ch, 2 §. This means that full wages are paid for one day in direct connection with the death of the relative, one day for funeral, one day for entombment, one day for estate inventory and one day for the division of inheritance. In addition, leave with pay is granted for the necessary travel time.

The head of department/equivalent may grant leave without pay for a longer time than stated above. The application for the leave of absence must contain information on the reason for leave and the relationship to the person concerned as well as whether time for travel has been needed.

The closest family includes husband/wife, child, son- and daughter-in-law, grandchild, parents, grandparents, parents-in-law, siblings and – concerning funerals - aunt, uncle, cousin, brother- and sister-in-law as well as niece and nephew. For serious cases of illness within the closest family, leave with pay may be granted for one day. “Serious illness” normally denotes life-threatening conditions of illness or emergency illnesses that demands assistance by the employee. Another alternative is to apply for benefit Benefit for care of closely related persons [närståendepenning] from Försäkringskassan.

Exceptions from the basic principles above can be made under special circumstances. Decisions about such exceptions can only be made after consulting the HR division.

Care for closely related persons

The law concerning leave for caring for a closely related person [Lagen om ledighet för närståendevård], 1988:1465, contains regulations regarding the right to benefit and leave in connection with the caring of a seriously ill person by a close relative.

An application for Benefit for care of closely related persons is submitted to Försäkringskassan, who will assess the right to compensation and number of days. A medical certificate detailing the condition of the person under care must be appended to the application.

An employee is granted leave for the time s/he receives a benefit for care of closely related persons. You apply for leave without pay in Primula web. The decision from Försäkringskassan should be sent to the Payroll Unit.

If the employer has granted the employee leave for their own move, the employee has the right to receive wages without deduction for one workday according to Villkorsavtal/ Villkorsavtal-T. Leave during part of a day is seen as a full day. The move must encompass a change of registration address.

If you have been summoned for duty in the military/ total defence services, you must notify your employer when the duty will begin and its extent. You must also state when you wish to return to work following the completed service.

The general rule is a retraction of pay.

Refresher training

During this leave, a wage complement is paid out, so that the total compensation, including daily service pay corresponds to 90% of your normal wages. Send your service payslips to the Payroll unit, who will calculate the wage complement.
Villkorsavtal/Villkorsavtal-T 9 Ch. 5 §

Apply for the leave in Primula web. Attach your call-up order to the case.

Reserve officer

Duty as a reserve officer must be notified to the employer in the same way as duty in the military service. During this leave, you receive 20% of the normal pay. The right to wage complement would normally apply to times of high or extreme military readiness.
Villkorsavtal/Villkorsavtal-T 9 Ch. 6 §.

Apply for the leave in Primula web. Attach your call-up order to the case

Other service/training in the total defence

Including civil service, e.g. Home Guard

During this leave, a complete retraction of pay is the general rule.
Villkorsavtal/Villkorsavtal-T 9 Ch. 7 §.

Apply for the leave in Primula web. Attach your call-up order to the case.

Study leave

Study leave should concern training that adheres to a study plan. Thus, your application for leave must be accompanied by your notice of admission to the course so that the employer can decide if you are entitled to the leave. The training must lead to knowledge and contain teaching. Thus, self-study as such is not grounds for leave. However, there are no requirements of tests or exams.

Hobbies of leisure pursuits are not grounds for study leave, even though teaching may be involved. Conferences are not seen as being on study leave. You must have been employed by Uppsala University during the past six months or for a total of twelve months during the past two years at the beginning of the study leave. The leave must be requested two months before it should begin, and the employer has the right to postpone such leave for six months.

Own research

Research (own, without pay). Handled restrictively, not an employee entitlement.

An application for leave must be made based on the percentage of time that you wish to be on leave from your position. The calculation of percentage differs depending on whether you are employed full time or part time.

Leave from a full-time position

A leave from a full-time position must always be calculated based on the full-time position.

Example:
You have a full-time position from which you are currently on leave at 25%. During a limited period, you will work 50%. In this case, the extent of the extra leave should be 25%.

Leave from a part-time position

When applying for a leave from a part-time position, ensure that the correct extent is entered into the application in Primula. Calculate the percentage based on the number of working hours.

Example:
You have a position of 75%, i.e. 30 hours per week, and during your leave you will work at 50% of a full-time position = 20 hours per week. This means that the leave is 10 hours. Your application should be for a leave of 33.33% á 10/30 = 33.33%.

It is possible to apply for a withdrawal of a leave or vacation that has already been approved, by applying for a withdrawal in Primula.

This does not apply to leave for other employment. If you want to interrupt your leave for other employment, contact your head of department/equivalent and your local HR/equivalent. Use the form 4.0.2 Ansökan om ledighet för annan anställning Word, 41 kB. and mark the box Avser återtagande av ledighet and state the dates that are retracted. Give the form to your local HR/equivalent.