Applying to buy annual leave

The application process to buy up to an additional one week’s annual leave is open from Monday 27 July to Tuesday 1 September.  

Between these dates, you can apply to buy additional annual leave via the following link:

• Buying and Selling Annual Leave - PowerApps

All fields on the form must be completed before the form is submitted. Once submitted, the form will be sent to your line manager for approval.

Annual leave that is purchased, must be used this financial year (before Wednesday 31 March 2027).

Payment for the additional days will be deducted in six monthly instalments from the employee’s salary, from October 2026 through to March 2027.  

Please note, that within one annual leave year, only up to one week’s additional leave can be bought. If you purchased additional leave in February for the 2026/27 leave year, you may already have reached the maximum allowance of one additional week.  

Approving the purchase of leave requests

Approval to purchase or sell additional leave will be authorised by your direct line manager.

As a line manager, you will be notified of any new approval requests by ‘Power Automate’ in your MS Teams channel. The notification will include a link, which when clicked, will take you through to the page where you can approve the request.

It is the line manager's responsibility to ensure that the submission is correct and in line with the staff member’s contracted hours/PAs. Line managers will also be responsible for recording the purchase of any approved additional annual leave requests, ensuring that any required adjustments are made to the annual leave entitlement for staff members concerned.

Line managers must review all requests and confirm approval by no later than Monday 21 September. 

Payment for approved requests

Colleagues who submit their applications will receive any additional leave that they purchase this annual leave year (April 2026 - March 2027).

Payment for the additional days will be deducted in six monthly instalments from the employee’s salary, from October 2026 through to March 2027.

Colleagues who submit their application to sell annual leave will receive payment in their April salary.

Video guides

Buying annual leave on behalf of a colleague

Reviewing managers guide

Buying annual leave user guide

Questions and answers

Do all staff have the opportunity to buy up to an additional one week of annual leave each holiday year?

Colleagues working at bands 1 and 2 may still purchase up to 37.5 hours of additional leave (pro-rata for part time staff) , but the way in which it is presented in their pay slip will look different.

For resident doctors, the impact of any additional leave must be considered by Health Education England (local office) and you must have written approval from the TPD/Dean before submitting an application. Applications that do not have prior written approval will not be approved.

If I bought annual leave in February for this leave year (April 2026 - March 2027), will I also be able to purchase leave in August/September? 

Colleagues can only purchase up to one week of additional leave within one annual leave year. If you purchased additional leave in February for the 2026/27 leave year, you may already have reached the maximum allowance of one additional week. 

I am on a UHB sponsored visa, am I eligible to purchase annual leave?  

Eligibility to purchase additional annual leave may be affected by visa sponsorship requirements and associated immigration rules. UHB-sponsored colleagues, particularly those participating in other salary sacrifice schemes (such as the Benefits Platform for Home Essentials), should carefully consider whether any reduction in salary could affect their ability to meet the salary requirements of their visa sponsorship before applying to purchase additional annual leave. 

My staff do not have access to the online form, how can they apply to purchase their leave?

Managers will need to complete the information on behalf of colleagues who do not have access to a computer/internet during work. The same consideration and approval will be required.

When will annual leave purchased in February be deducted? 

Deductions will be made in 12 monthly instalments from the employee’s salary, from April through to the following March. 

When will annual leave purchased in August/September be deducted? 

Deductions will be made in six monthly instalments from the employee’s salary, from October through to the following March. 

What rate will purchased annual leave be paid at?

The rate of pay will be calculated based on the staff member's basic salary as at 1 April 2026 for those on Agenda for Change, and on standard contractual pay as at 1 April 2026 for medical and dental staff (in accordance with their rota template/job plan). 

I want to purchase annual leave, how do I calculate the cost?

The cost of purchasing leave will vary between colleagues depending on their working hours and salary.

A calculator has been provided on this page to allow you to check the anticipated costs of purchasing additional leave throughout the holiday year. Please note, the figure provided should be used as a guide only.

When can I take the additional leave?

Additional purchased annual leave should be taken during this leave year (April 2026 - March 2027), and managed with your line manager, as per the current leave procedure. 

For medical consultants and SAS grades, this additional leave cannot be taken during on-call or hot weeks, and must be taken during elective weeks. The quantum of work delivered will be reduced and therefore there will be a requirement to review the impact of this on the service plan. On-call should not be impacted by the leave being taken in elective weeks.

What if I change my mind?

The opportunity to buy annual leave is time limited. After the deadline has passed, colleagues will no longer be able to buy or sell additional leave until the next opportunity. Furthermore, once a request has been submitted and approved, employees will be unable to withdraw their request.

For any direct queries in relation to the purchasing of annual leave, please contact:

• SellBuyAL@uhb.nhs.uk

A member of my team who is leaving has purchased annual leave. How do I process this on the termination forms?

Managers are advised to keep the purchased hours separate. You will need to pro rata the base annual leave and then add back in the purchased. Payroll will collect, in full, the remaining balance of the purchased annual leave and process for payment any outstanding leave documented on the leaver form. If you have any queries, please contact Payroll directly.

What happens if I choose to purchase additional annual leave and the deductions from my salary take my pay below the National Minimum Wage (NMW)?

We want all colleagues, regardless of banding, to be able to benefit from this scheme. To enable us to continue our compliance with the national minimum wage, colleagues working at bands 1 and 2 may still purchase up to 37.5 hours of additional leave (pro-rata for part-time staff), but the way in which it is presented in their pay slip will look different. Instead, this will be deducted through their pay as ‘authorised unpaid leave’ in their pay slip for payroll purposes. Colleagues at bands 1 and 2, should apply to purchase additional annual leave via the above link.

Colleagues they will not see any additional deductions in their payslip, but the hours paid will be reduced to reflect this. This will result in reduced tax and national insurance deductions, similar to those who will receive this benefit via annual leave deductions.

Line managers who have approved requests for colleagues at bands 1 and 2 should add any purchased leave to the colleagues' annual leave entitlement via the ‘adjustments’ tab in Optima. This should not be recorded as ‘unpaid leave’ on Optima.  

The deduction is considered non-pensionable, which means that the amount being deducted from pay does not have any impact on your pension calculations and pensionable earnings remain unaffected.

Please note, there is no option for an employee to opt out of NMW.

If I choose to purchase annual leave, will there be any impact on my pension?

The deduction is a gross deduction, which means that it is taken from your pay before any taxes are applied. As a result, both your taxable income and your National Insurance (NI) contributions are lowered. However, the deduction is considered non-pensionable, which means that the amount being deducted from your pay does not have any impact on your pension calculations. In other words, while your gross pay may be reduced due to this deduction, your pensionable earnings remain unaffected.