Every member of staff has a ‘manager’ named within PeopleXD (in some cases more than one manager is listed). For departments using the leave and absence module, the ‘manager’ is the individual who is responsible for approving holiday/leave requests, and recording instances of sickness absence.
Should the manager wish to delegate responsibility for approving leave requests to another member of their team they will need to request that an additional ‘manager’ is set up within the system (via their HR contact). They should formally nominate an individual to this role, and submit the name to the Head of Administration and Finance or HR Manager for approval.
The HAF/HR manager must ensure that the nominated individual:
- is an appropriate person, as ‘managers’ within the system are also able to view sickness absence data which is “special category data” as defined by the General Data Protection Regulations. They will therefore need to understand the requirements for handling special category data, and the need to ensure that information is held and processed completely securely;
- has read and understood the Staff privacy policy;
- understands the University’s holiday arrangements including, but not limited to:
- Section 3 of the relevant staff handbook Staff handbooks | HR Support (ox.ac.uk) (for support or academic-related staff) which sets out the arrangements regarding annual leave the separate guidance for managers Holiday entitlement | HR Support (ox.ac.uk) for example relating to the requirements that all leave must normally be taken within the holiday year and cannot be paid in lieu other than when employment ends, booking leave for religious observance, booking leave from within a period of sick leave
- the arrangements for recrediting holiday when it has been affected by sickness
- is able to handle requests fairly and is able to involve the actual line manager in decision making where necessary or relating to any conflicts arising (for example where several people wish to book holiday at the same time and not all requests can be approved);
- is able to appropriately handle any confidential information that is disclosed to them relating to reasons for leave, or other information within the system;
- understands the requirements relating to absence recording for visa holders;
- understands any local arrangements and policy relating to holidays.
Teams should have a transparent allocation system where individuals within a team understand any requirements for cover, understand the rationale for their leave requests being handled by someone who is not their usual designated manager, and have a right to request to speak to their formal line manager in confidence about such requests.
Line managers and their nominated deputies should also ensure that there is a system for key members of the team to recognise promptly if the absence of a member of their team is due to holiday or sickness or whether the absence is unauthorised so that the relevant guidance can be followed. See Unauthorised absence | HR Support (ox.ac.uk).
