NHS Scotland Annual Leave Policy – Agenda for Change Staff

Posted on:

Further to communications issued in April 2025, advising of a revised approach to the deduction of public holidays for staff that work non-standard shifts as per DL2024(07).  The policy has been revised as it was recognised that the wording was confusing.  The DL has now been superseded by PCS(AFC)2025/6 NHS Scotland annual leave policy for Agenda for Change staff.   This version updates the approach to long shifts on public holidays to ensure that it is in line with paragraph 13.5 of the Agenda for Change Handbook around irregular shifts. It has also been updated to take full account of the implications of the reduced working week in terms of converting annual leave and public holiday allocated in days into an hourly entitlement. 

For leave year 2025-26 onwards, when deducting public holiday hours, if taken, the length of the shift (i.e. the number of paid hours off work) should be deducted from the staff member’s allocation of public holiday hours. Where a staff member works a non-standard shift pattern, the number of public holidays which fall within that staff member’s shift pattern may vary. For this reason, if a staff member does not use their full allocation of public holiday hours in a given year, the remainder should be added to their allocation of annual leave. Conversely, if the number of paid hours off work on public holidays in a given year exceeds a staff member’s allocation of public holiday hours, the excess should be taken from their annual leave hours allocation.

See attached examples of application.

Full details can be found in the circular NHS Scotland annual leave policy for Agenda for Change staff

The NHS Scotland annual leave and public holiday calculator reflects the updated policy and the reduction in the working week.  This calculator should be used to calculate entitlement and can be found at Annual leave calculator | NHS Workforce Policies

Any enquiries should be logged on HR Service Now HR Portal – NHS Lanarkshire HR

Action Required:

  1. Cascade message to all line managers.
  2. Managers to review 2025-26 annual leave and public holiday entitlement to ensure in accordance with PCS(AFC)2025/6.  Review the application of the three public holidays which have already occurred and amend entitlement accordingly and update OPTIMA (eRostering).
  3. Carry over of Public Holiday hours from 2024-25 as per DL2024(07) will not be clawed back.