Time Off In Lieu (TOIL) Policy

About this Policy

The Society believes in treating our colleagues fairly and that conversations involving changes to hours worked are conducted openly and honestly. It is recognised that on occasions colleagues and managers may be asked to work additional hours above their contracted hours in order to fulfil business requirements.  Where this happens, the process for “paying for” or “repaying” additional hours must be agreed with both parties before the additional hours are worked.

Where agreement for additional hours is reached between both parties, those hours will either be repaid as Time off in Lieu (TOIL) or paid as overtime in accordance with the following procedures. Where overtime is paid, it will be payable at the rate specified in the colleague’s contract and the colleague’s overtime pay rule. 'Time off in lieu' (TOIL) is time off that is taken instead of overtime pay by colleagues working beyond their contractual hours.

This policy applies to all employees (whether employed on a full-time, part-time, fixed term or permanent basis). It does not apply to agency workers or self-employed contractors. Failure to comply with this policy is likely to result in disciplinary action.

This policy does not form part of any contract of employment and the Society may amend it at any time.

Our travel colleagues may have the opportunity to attend educational visits in their role within the Society and should refer to the Travel Group Educational Policy in this instance. 

 

Time off in Lieu (TOIL)

Any hours worked in excess of a colleague’s contract must be agreed with the colleague’s line manager in advance. There may be occasions where a colleague may not want to be paid for additional hours or where the business requirements make it more appropriate to offer TOIL. In those circumstances TOIL will be accrued at a standard rate e.g. one hour accrued for one additional hour worked. TOIL must be taken within 4 weeks of the date it is accrued, as detailed later in the policy.

An example of where TOIL may be offered is where a colleague is required to stay late or come in early to deal with unplanned workload.  This is not an exhaustive list as it will vary in each trading group but may include a late delivery into store, a customer requiring time after a branch has closed, a need in Childcare to maintain required classroom ratios or customer care or sales calls that overrun significantly past the end of a shift.

 

Who can Accrue TOIL?

Colleagues:  All colleagues are eligible to accrue TOIL under this policy.  All additional hours must be authorised by the line manager in advance of hours being worked. Any hours accrued must be reported as per the applicable trading group’s reporting process. TOIL that has not been recorded in line with this process will not be granted.

The Society also stipulates that no colleague should have any more than thirty hours accrued (where contracted for thirty hours + per week) or sixteen hours accrued (where contracted for less than thirty hours per week). It is the manager’s responsibility to monitor accrued TOIL, where a colleague reaches this threshold, no further additional hours should be offered and accrued TOIL should be arranged to be taken.

Managers:  The Society recognises that there are occasions where additional hours are worked to meet the needs of the business. Where excessive hours are worked and a manager feels they are entitled to compensatory time off they should discuss this with their line manager and, when agreed, hours can be taken. 

 

When does TOIL (when agreed) Accrue from?

When agreed in advance with the line manager, TOIL can be accrued immediately after the end of a planned shift.

It is important to note that TOIL can only be accrued when a colleague’s contracted hours for the week have been fulfilled as ‘worked hours’. Any sickness or unpaid hours do not count towards a colleague’s ‘worked hours’ for the week and will impact whether or not a colleague is eligible for TOIL.

 

Recording TOIL

Where colleagues have worked additional hours and this has been authorised by a manager, the manager must move the additional hours amount into the TOIL balance within the Timecard Widget on Kronos Time & Attendance system. Managers should refer to the Allocating Overtime to TOIL Userguide for assistance when processing overtime.

Colleagues will be able to view their TOIL balance through the system and request to use TOIL hours in accordance with this policy.

It is the managers responsibility to monitor the levels of TOIL accrued in their teams and ensure that accumulations are in accordance with this policy. Managers must monitor TOIL balances that colleagues have to ensure the TOIL is taken within 4 weeks of it being accrued. Where that does not happen, it will automatically be paid to the colleague as overtime. This may have a financial impact on the Society and the manager should manage TOIL to avoid unnecessary additional costs. TOIL accrued is available for overview by the Manager and Operational Managers via the Kronos Reports function (please read the Viewing Accrual Reports Userguide for assistance).

TOIL may be monitored individually at a local level for all trading groups and local level procedures must be followed where agreed in addition to the procedures outlined in this policy. For example, in Childcare they must ensure room ratios are always maintained and therefore staffing levels must be vigorously monitored.

 

How can I get my Time Back?

A request to use TOIL hours must be submitted via the system as a time off request using the ‘TOIL’ pay code and approved by your line manager. Colleagues should notify their manager at least one week in advance of the hours they intend to take as agreed TOIL.

The Society also reserves the right to ask a colleague to take accrued TOIL at times when this meets the business requirements, and this may be at short notice e.g. in Childcare where less children than expected attend the nursery.

Colleagues must take any TOIL within 4 weeks of accrual. Where colleagues are unable to take their accrued TOIL within 4 weeks this may be automatically paid as overtime pay according to the colleague’s overtime pay rule.

The Society recognises that some colleagues may not wish to have any TOIL balance paid as overtime, colleagues should speak to their managers where this may be an issue and managers should make arrangements to ensure TOIL is taken within the 4 week accrual period.  

If colleagues have any queries regarding how to book and take their TOIL hours, they should in the first instance speak to their line manager. 

  

Bank Holidays

In order to meet the operational needs of the Society, some colleagues will be required to work on a bank holiday. Where a colleague is asked to work on a bank holiday, they are entitled to the equivalent period of leave to be taken at another time, following the regular annual leave procedure. Therefore, colleagues will not receive TOIL for working on a bank holiday. Colleagues should refer to the Society’s Annual Leave Policy for more details on a colleague’s annual leave entitlements.

The TOIL policy only applies to any additional hours worked on a bank holiday that exceed a colleague’s contracted hours for the week. This will be subject to the same timescale, for agreeing and taking the time off.      

 

Overtime

If TOIL is not appropriate and overtime is offered, then the following approach should be taken for the payment of overtime.

Overtime will be paid up to the trading groups full time equivalent (FTE) and then the colleague will be paid based on their overtime pay rule (OT0= £0 rate, OT1= basic rate & OT1.5= time and a half rate). Such payments will be processed in accordance with these guidelines by Payroll.

  

Additional Support

If colleagues have any questions regarding this policy or require additional support, you should speak to your line manager. Alternatively, you can contact the HR advisor for your trading group, or email HR.advice@midcounties.coop. For any Kronos related queries please contact the Kronos Workforce Management Team for support by raising a ServiceNow Incident. For payroll queries please contact the payroll administration team at payrollusers@midcounties.coop.

 

 

 

Policy name:	Time off in Lieu (TOIL) Policy	Date of last review:	November 2021
Policy owner:	PSG	Issue number:	PSG-CB-001