Guidelines for Granting of Leave

Circular

General Principle

School Management Committees (SMCs)/Incorporated Management Committees (IMCs) may grant the following types of leave for teachers and non-teaching staff in accordance with the conditions provided by the relevant Code of Aid, the Employment Ordinance and the instructions the Permanent Secretary for Education (PS(Ed)) may from time to time issue:

(a) Leave for Teaching Staff

sick leave (paid or no-pay);
maternity leave (paid or no-pay);
paternity leave (paid) ^{Note 1};
special tuberculosis leave (paid or no-pay);
special leave for a maximum of 2 days per school year (paid);
study leave endorsed by the PS(Ed) in advance (paid);
leave for juror or witness service (paid);
leave for a maximum of 14 days per school year for special events like representing HKSAR in national/international conferences or events such as the Asian Games and the Olympic Games; or being invited to present paper or speak at national/international conferences ^{Note 2} in connection with education; or participating in training and camping exercises of Civil Aid Service, Auxiliary Medical Service or Auxiliary Police Force (paid); and
any other types of no-pay leave (applicable to IMC schools only) ^{Note 3}.

(b) Leave for Non-teaching staff

Laboratory Technicians and Specialist Staff ^{Note 4}

annual leave (paid);
sick leave, special tuberculosis leave and maternity leave (paid or no-pay);
paternity leave (paid) ^{Note 1};
study leave endorsed by PS(Ed) in advance;
leave for juror or witness service (paid); and
any other types of no-pay leave (applicable to IMC schools only) ^{Note 3}.

Other Non-teaching Staff

Various types of leave in accordance with the Employment Ordinance, Codes of Aid, and guidelines issued by the EDB from time to time.

Please refer to the Codes of Aid for details.

2. Schools should formulate policies and principles in processing leave applications in consultation with staff to ensure impartiality and consistency. However, the procedures involved in handling leave matters should be kept to the minimum.

Leave Entitlement for Teachers and Non-teaching Staff

3. SMCs/IMCs of aided schools may refer to the relevant Code of Aid for the leave entitlement for teachers and non-teaching staff. They may also refer to "Leave Entitlement for Staff in Aided Schools" and "Approving Authority for Granting of Leave" at the Appendices of Chapter 7 of the School Administration Guide (SAG) and Appendix H of the Supplement to SAG (applicable to IMC schools only) posted on the EDB Homepage for relevant information on granting of leave. If necessary, they may consult the Labour Department on leave entitlement provided under the Employment Ordinance.

Leave that Requires Prior Approval of PS(Ed)

4. Prior approval of PS(Ed) is required in respect of granting the following types of leave to teachers, laboratory technicians, and specialist staff:

no-pay leave (excluding no-pay sick/maternity/special tuberculosis leave) [not applicable to IMC schools];
study leave which has not been endorsed by PS(Ed); and
other types of leaves which are not specified above.

Points to note in processing no-pay leave of teachers

5. Before granting no-pay leave to teachers, SMCs/IMCs are advised to ensure that teachers applying for no-pay leave are duly informed of the provisions in the Codes of Aid and the following:

(a) Promotion purposes

No-pay leave will not be counted for promotion purposes.

(b) Grant/Subsidized Schools Provident Fund (G/SSPF)

With the approval of PS(Ed), a teacher’s G/SSPF Account may be kept open for the period in which no-pay leave is granted. The period of no-pay leave including no-pay sick/maternity/special tuberculosis leave will not be counted for continuous contributory service.

For incremental purposes, such leave shall be subject to such instructions from PS(Ed) may from time to time issue. Adjustment of the incremental date will be required if the period of no-pay leave exceeds 15 days continuously. If a teacher takes 16 to 45 days no-pay leave continuously, his/her incremental date should be deferred by one month. If the teacher takes 46 to 75 days no-pay leave continuously, his/her incremental date should be deferred by two months, and so on.

6. For no-pay sick/maternity/special tuberculosis leave, schools should send a notification of the granting of no-pay leave to the respective Senior School Development Officer of the respective Regional Education Office for seeking PS(Ed)’s approval for keeping open of G/SSPF account and for the adjustment of salary incremental date, if any. Such letter should also be copied to Finance Division of the Education Bureau for necessary arrangements. For other types of no-pay leave, IMC schools should follow the same procedures as for no-pay sick/maternity/special tuberculosis leave mentioned above; schools which have not yet established an IMC should, as required by the Codes of Aid, send an application to the respective Senior School Development Officer of the Regional Education Officer for seeking PS(Ed)'s approval.

Sample of the application/notification of granting no-pay leave to school head/teachers
(For application/notification of laboratory technicians and specialist staff, schools may adapt the above samples where appropriate.)

7. Schools should take own responsibility to fulfill all statutory requirements including meeting any possible expenditure arising from all types of no-pay leave of teaching and non-teaching staff, such as expenses arising from statutory holidays and/or annual leave (if applicable). Starting from the 2012/13 school year, schools may use the surplus of Operating Expenses Block Grant (OEBG)/Expanded Operating Expenses Block Grant (EOEBG) for the payment of statutory holiday/annual leave arising from the following types of specific no-pay leave ^{Note 5} for their staff remunerated under Salaries Grant, on the condition that the application of no-pay leave is supported with valid documentary proofs:

no-pay sick/maternity/special tuberculosis leave (referred to as no-pay sick leave);
no-pay study leave for attending education-related courses;
no-pay leave granted due to poor health condition with medical documentary proof; and
no-pay leave granted for alleviating the redundancy problem of an individual school/schools under the same Sponsor (prior confirmation from the School Development Officer concerned is required.

For no-pay leave other than the above listed, schools should continue to take their own responsibilities to fulfill all statutory requirements including meeting any possible expenditure out of non-government funds. Schools may refer to the latest EDBCM on "Operating Expenses Block Grant, Expanded Operating Expenses Block Grant and Composite Furniture and Equipment Grant for Aided Schools" and the User Guides of OEBG/EOEBG uploaded on EDB Homepage for details.

Leave Records

8. Schools should keep leave records of their staff as required by the Codes of Aid and are requested to send in leave record of teachers yearly in August each school year for PS(Ed)’s endorsement. PS(Ed) will signify his approval to the leave by endorsing the relevant leave records provided that PS(Ed) is satisfied that the SMC/IMC concerned has considered each application in accordance with the conditions provided by the relevant Code of Aid, the Employment Ordinance and the instructions PS(Ed) from time to time issue with supporting documents.

Sample of annual summary of leave record of teachers

9. For non-teaching staff, the leave records are not required to be sent to PS(Ed) for endorsement. Schools are reminded to keep proper and up-to-date leave records of their non-teaching staff.

Sample of annual summary of leave record of non-teaching staff

10. To facilitate schools’ proper leave recording of their teaching/non-teaching staff, samples of leave record of individual staff are also provided below for schools’ reference:

11. For proper management of leave matters, schools should keep the leave records of their staff up-to-date. These leave records should be available for inspection by officers authorized by PS(Ed) or the inspectors of schools as and when required. When a staff leaves the employment of a school, the Certificate of Service prepared by the school for the staff should state, among other things, the period(s) of no-pay leave taken (if any) and the sick leave balance.

Note

Please refer to EDBC No.16/2015 for details.
Conferences organised at provincial/municipal level or below would not be regarded as national conferences, and prior approval from PS(Ed) is required for teachers taking such leave.
In granting no-pay leave to staff, IMC schools should consider each application rigorously with due regard to: (i) the staff concerned is to tackle an affair which cannot be avoided and cannot be handled by a substitute, and (ii) students' learning should not be unduly affected.
Specialist staff include educational psychologists, speech therapists and school social workers of ordinary and special schools and the following categories of staff of special schools: physiotherapists, occupational therapists, occupational therapist assistants, nurses, wardens, assistant wardens, houseparents-in-charge, houseparents, programme workers, boarding service masters/ mistresses I, boarding service masters/ mistresses II and brailling staff.
Prevailing procedures should be followed in approving no-pay leave to staff in schools. Schools should retain all supporting documents for payment arising from the above specific no-pay leave for record and inspection, if required.