Regulation 30(1)

SCHEDULE 4Annual leave

1.—(1) Subject to regulation 30 and the provisions of this Schedule, every member of or above the rank of superintendent shall be granted in each leave year the following period of annual leave namely—

(a)in the case of a member of the rank of superintendent, 31 days;

(b)in the case of a member of a rank higher than that of superintendent who has not completed 10 years' relevant service, not less than 42 days; and

(c)in any other case, not less than 48 days.

(2) Subject as aforesaid and to paragraph (3) every member holding a rank below that of superintendent shall be granted in each leave year commencing after 31st December 1994 the period of leave set out opposite his relevant service as a member in the Table below—

(3) Where the annual leave entitlement of a member, immediately before the coming into effect of this paragraph, in respect of the first leave year commencing after 31st December 1994, exceeded the period prescribed, in his case, in respect of that year, by the foregoing provisions of this paragraph, he shall continue to be entitled to be granted such greater period of leave until such time as he shall have completed such number of years' relevant service as, by virtue of the said provisions, entitle him to an increased period of leave.

2.  In the leave year in which a member is appointed to, is promoted in, or retires from the force or completes such number of years' relevant service as will entitle him to an increased period of annual leave, his annual leave shall be calculated at the rate of a twelfth of the period of annual leave appropriate, under paragraph 1, to the rank held by him for each complete month of service in that rank in the leave year in question, a fraction of a day being reckoned as a day:

Provided that where a member is promoted or completes the said number of years' relevant service while completing a month’s service in the leave year in question, he shall be treated for the purposes of this paragraph as if he had been promoted or, as the case may be, had completed the said number of years' relevant service at the beginning of that month’s service.

3.  In the case of a member below the rank of assistant chief constable, the chief constable may, in his discretion and subject to the exigencies of duty—

(a)notwithstanding anything in paragraphs 1 and 2, where he is satisfied that, in any leave year, the member has not taken the full period of annual leave specified in those paragraphs, grant the member, during the following leave year, additional days of annual leave not exceeding the number of days not taken, so, however, that he shall not exercise his discretion so as to grant more than 5 additional days of annual leave to a member unless he is satisfied that there are exceptional circumstances and that it is in the interests of efficiency to do so;

(b)grant the member not more than 5 additional days of annual leave, to be taken in the last month of the leave year, subject to a corresponding reduction being effected in the member’s period of annual leave under paragraph 1 for the following year.

4.—(1) Subject to sub-paragraph (2), days of annual leave granted under this Schedule may be taken, at the discretion of the chief constable and subject to the exigencies of duty, as a single period, or as single days, or in periods of more than one day, or as half days.

(2) In the case of a member below the rank of superintendent, not more than 3 days of annual leave shall be taken as half days and, where annual leave is so taken, the member—

(a)shall do duty on that day for 4 hours, and

(b)shall not be entitled to be allowed an interval for refreshment such as is mentioned in regulation 20(3).

5.—(1) Where a member has been recalled to duty from a period of absence from duty to which this paragraph applies, he shall be granted, in compensation for being recalled to duty on any day during that period which is a day of annual leave or a day taken off in lieu of overtime—

(a)if he was so recalled to duty for 1 or 2 days (whether or not in the latter case those days formed a single period), 2 days' annual leave in lieu of each such day for which he was so recalled; or

(b)if he was so recalled to duty for 3 or more days (whether or not forming a single period), 2 days' annual leave in lieu of each of the first 2 such days for which he was so recalled, and 1½ days' annual leave in lieu of each such day for which he was so recalled thereafter.

(2) This paragraph applies to a period of absence from duty of 3 or more days, where at least one of those days is a day of annual leave and the other days, if not days of annual leave, are rostered rest days, days taken off in lieu of overtime, public holidays (or days taken off in lieu thereof) or monthly leave days, or any combination thereof.

6.—(1) For the purposes of this Schedule, the following expressions have the meanings hereby respectively assigned to them, that is to say—

(a)“leave year” means that period of 12 months beginning on such date as may from time to time be determined by the Police Authority;

(b)“relevant service” means any service which the member concerned is entitled to reckon for the purposes of pay together with any service which he was previously so entitled to reckon—

(i)in the case of a member below the rank of superintendent, in any lower rank;

(ii)in any other case, in the rank of superintendent (or any equivalent rank held prior to 1st June 1970) or any higher rank;

(iii)as a member of the Ulster Special Constabulary who had the option of attaining permanent status in accordance with the Ulster Special Constabulary Pensions Regulations 1950(1),

except that relevant service shall not include any such service as is mentioned in regulation 45 of the Police Regulations 1995(2) by a member of a police force in Great Britain who transfers to the Royal Ulster Constabulary.

(2) Where a member of an aerodrome constabulary has been transferred to the force by an order under section 30 of the Aviation Security Act 1982(3) then, for the purposes of this paragraph, his service in any rank in that constabulary shall be treated as if it were service in the corresponding rank in the force.