How to talk about types of holidays and other time off work

Employees may want to take some time off for different reasons, or they are entitled to a holiday from work. Below you will find some vocabulary describing different types of holiday and time off work.

 STATUTORY HOLIDAY is fixed by law

MATERNITY LEAVE is a period when a woman is away from work to have a baby (but is still paid)

PATERNITY LEAVE is a period of leave given to a father when his partner has a baby

UNPAID LEAVE is when an employee receives no money

SICK LEAVE is when an employee is ill and cannot come to work

CASUAL LEAVE is given to an employee to help him/her deal with personal affairs

GARDENING LEAVE  is a period of leave during which an employee is not allowed into the company offices, usually after being dismissed

SABBATICAL is a period of paid or unpaid time off work for the purposes of research, study or travel, usually used by teachers, professors

PUBLIC HOLIDAY is when all employees in the country are allowed to take a day off (BANK HOLIDAY - UK, LEGAL HOLIDAY - US)

UNAUTHORISED ABSENCE FROM WORK is when an employee is away from work without permission and without a good reason (AWOL - absent without leave)

TIME OFF IN LIEU (TOIL) is when an employee gets time off from work instead of pay for overtime







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