Permission System

What the system is for

Teaching and administration only work when the university knows who is present. The permission system is the route by which a member of staff asks to be absent — for an hour, a day, or a longer period — and the route by which that absence is approved and recorded before it happens.

The principle is simple. Permission is asked for in advance, in writing, and granted by the person responsible for covering the work. An absence that was never requested is recorded as an absence, whatever the reason behind it.

The kinds of request

• Short permission — leaving campus during working hours and returning, or arriving late for a stated reason.
• Annual leave — one or more days taken from your entitlement.
• Sick leave — supported by a medical report, submitted as soon as you are able where the illness was sudden.
• Compassionate and family leave — for the events that the regulations recognise.
• Official duty — attending a conference, examination board or training on the university's behalf. This is not leave, but it is still requested, because a class still has to be covered.
• Unpaid and study leave — longer absences, which need a decision above department level.

What a request contains

1. Your name, your department or office, and your post.
2. The kind of permission, with exact dates and times.
3. The reason, in a line.
4. How the work is covered — who teaches the class, who answers the office, and what is rescheduled rather than dropped.
5. Any supporting document that kind of request requires.

The fourth item is what most returned requests are missing. A request with no cover arrangement is not a request, it is a notification.

How a request is approved

It goes first to your immediate head — head of department for academic staff, head of the office for administrative staff — who checks that the cover works. From there it goes to the dean or the relevant director. Longer and unpaid absences go on to the university administration for a final decision. Human resources records the approved permission against your file.

Wait for the approval before you make arrangements you cannot undo.

Practical notes

• Submit routine requests in good time. A same-day request should be genuinely unforeseen.
• In an emergency, telephone your head first and submit the written request as soon as you can.
• Keep your copy of what was approved. That record is what settles any later question about attendance.
• Do not assume a colleague will cover for you. Ask them, then name them in the request.

For the form itself, and for how a particular case is treated, ask the human resources office.