Online annual leave - open for bookings from today!
Thursday, 01 October 2015
As part of the Efficiency & Effectiveness programme of work, online absence recording functionality in Employee Self-Service (ESS) and online annual leave bookings for the 2015/2016 leave year have been switched on today for the first group of Schools/Departments. Access is online, available anywhere and at any time, and on any device, allowing employees to see leave records and balances at a glance.
ESS can be found here: www.ess.reading.ac.uk. Please take some time to check and ensure that your personal details are correct when you first log in with the new “before you get started” guide to help.
The new online leave system is simple and easy to use for both employees and managers. For those that manage others, you will receive e-mails asking you to authorise/action any leave requests. Any carry-over accrued from the 2014/2015 leave year will be added to the system in the next few weeks. Your holiday balance will show in days if you work the same hours five days per week, and it will show in hours if you work different hours and/or fewer than five days per week.
Given the size and complexity of the University, online leave booking availability is being rolled out in three phases. Most staff can access the booking system from today. This includes Henley Business School; the School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Sciences; the Institute of Education; the School of Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy; the VC’s office and UEB. Staff included in the first phase will be able to make bookings and check holiday balances within ESS. Staff in the second phase, including MCE and remaining schools, will be able to use the new system from 1 December 2015. In the third phase, the service will be rolled out to employees in Estates & Facilities in early Spring 2016. Following the initial rollout, detailed communications will be sent to staff before the service is applied to your area.
Help and support
A series of webpages and more detailed quick reference guides are available on the HR Website to provide support to staff. If you have any questions about the new recording process, your data in Employee Self Service or what to do about recording other types of absences, please contact your reporting manager or Departmental/School Administrator in the first instance or hr@reading.ac.uk. There are also a number of workshop sessions being held over the forthcoming weeks to learn more about how to use ESS, which all employees are encouraged to attend. Please see People Development for dates and times.