You and your family

We support you and your family in a variety of ways, including a generous annual leave entitlement, blended and flexible working, and an onsite nursery.

Annual leave

We recognise the importance of taking time to rest and recharge and provide generous annual leave to all staff, as follows:

  • All staff: 25 days + seven University days 
  • Academic staff: an additional five days
  • You also have the option to purchase up to five additional days of leave every year.

Sickness absence

We have a sickness policy which aims to strike a reasonable balance between the pursuit of our operational needs and the genuine need of our staff to take time off work because of ill health or injury.

University closure days

We provide seven “University days” which are taken as follows: three days at Easter; three days at Christmas; one additional day.

Blended working

We strive to create an environment where people feel empowered to work where they can best deliver the impact required in their role, and therefore offer blended working in many roles.

Flexible working

We strive to create an environment where people feel empowered to work when they can best deliver the impact required in their role, and therefore offer flexible working arrangements in many roles. This is particularly useful for working parents.

Family leave

We have a number of policies in place to help staff balance work and family caring responsibilities. These include a generous maternity leave policy and paternity and shared parental leave policies. We are committed to supporting our staff in these circumstances and to encouraging an appropriate environment of support and understanding.

Staff with family care responsibilities are eligible for up to five discretionary day's additional annual leave. This helps to deal with those family emergencies which often arise.

Adoption, foster to adopt and surrogacy

We are fully committed to helping working parents balance the needs of work and family life, and appreciate the importance of providing choice for parents in how they arrange parental care during the first year of a child's life or following their adoption.

Nursery

Bright Horizons’ Guildford Day Nursery and Preschool provides our staff with flexible, on-site childcare. The nursery is open between 8am and 6:30pm, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays), and offers all the following:  

  • Full and part-time places 
  • Open for children from three months to five years 
  • Free settling-in sessions 
  • Ofsted Registered ‘Good’ 
  • Onsite chef prepares all meals  
  • All-inclusive fees (formula, meals, nappies, wipes and creams included) 

Sabbatical 

The Sabbatical Leave Scheme has been developed as an essential feature of the University’s commitment to strengthening the skills, knowledge and expertise of our academic staff. All academic staff have the right to apply for sabbatical leave. Applications from staff on teaching track will be considered on their merits.

Global mobility

Should you be required to work outside of the UK, due to the nature of your work, or for personal reasons, the University will support you to do this as safely and compliantly as possible.