The Department of Biological Sciences complies with the rules and regulations in the Act Relating to Holidays, the Basic Collective Agreements, and the UiB Employee Handbook.
As you know, we are in a period of cutting costs.
- Due to the current financial situation, the department will as a general rule not allow transfer of holiday to 2025. This is because unused holidays and flex time are accounted for as a cost in this years accounts, adding to the total deficit. Transfer of holiday can only be agreed as an exception, in the case that part(s) of your planned holiday falls within a period of sick leave/absence. All transfer of holidays with this justification must be agreed with and approved by the head of administration.
- Employees can take out paid holiday in advance from the following year, corresponding to their accumulated earned holiday pay for this year (2,083 paid holiday days per whole month of work), a maximum of 10 holiday days.
You register your holiday in the Self-Service Portal, see this page on the UiB employee pages for link and info or in the DFØ app:
- To edit holiday that has already been registered, go to the “Request for absence” window and choose the period in question from the list
- To register a new period of holiday, “Create Request” button (also in the “Request for abs wind) in the bottom right corner. Here you choose the holiday option (paid or unpaid) from the top pull down menu to register a new period of holiday
New employees
New employees who wants to have paid holiday during their first year at UiB, can take advance holiday corresponding to how many paid holiday days he/she has earned. If a person started working 1 March, then he/she will have 10 days of paid holiday by the end of July (5 months of work x 2,083 paid holiday days = 10,4 days of paid advance holiday).
You apply for advance holiday by filling out this form : Søknad om forskuddsferie – Skjema.pdf (sharepoint.com)
We particularly advise PhD candidates to take as much advance holiday as possible, from the year that they start their position. It is often difficult for PhDs to find time for five weeks of holiday in their final year, when completing their dissertation. PhD candidates have the freedom to organize their working days according to their own wishes and needs, but this also means a responsibility to plan for holidays well in advance. Routinely making use of advance holiday can make the final year easier and help to avoid situations where PhDs must take all their holiday during the final months of their employment. It is possible to take out a maximum of 10 days of advance holiday each year.
Termination of employment
1 June to 30 September is the main holiday period according to the Act Relating to Holidays. At the Department of Biological Sciences the following routine is practiced, unless you have a written agreement with the Head of Department:
- Employees who leave after 31 July, must have had at least 3 weeks of holiday
- Employees who leave after 15 October must have had at least 4 weeks of holiday
- Employees who leave in December must have taken all their holiday (usually 5 weeks)
If the date for termination of the employment is early in the year, there will be some flexibility.
Rights and obligations according to the Act Relating to Holidays
Employers are obliged to ensure that employees are permitted 25 working days’ for holiday leave each year. Employees, on the other hand, are obliged to use their available holidays each year. If the employer and employee cannot agree on when the holiday should be taken, the employer have the right to decide. However, the employee can still demand that at least three weeks of his/her holiday is to be used in the main holiday period, from 1 June to 30 September (this does not apply to employees who start after 15 August in the holiday year).
If the employee has unused holiday days left at the end of a year, the employer has not fulfilled their duty according to the Act Relating to Holidays. The Head of Department will therefore instruct employees to take and to register their holiday every year.