Sabbatical leave entitlement: carry forward of service to LSE

The School’s sabbatical leave regulations (revised regulations, as approved by the Appointments Committee 13 June 2001) provide for service in another university or college immediately preceding service with the School to be taken into account in computing the period of service required as qualification for sabbatical leave, provided that not less than half the qualifying service required in any instance shall have been served at the School. The regulations indicate that service in another university is used as a top up device and is not counted on a year for year basis.
The School fully appreciates and upholds the value of sabbatical leave for individual career development, and as a consequence for the enhancement of its academic reputation. It also appreciates that sabbatical leave can be an important factor in determining whether an individual accepts an offer of appointment at the School – particularly in view of the increasingly competitive recruitment market in the run-up to the next RAE.
However, there are a number of issues to be addressed in relation to carry forward of previous service from another institution to LSE. Human Resources is aware that over time, there have been a number academic appointments where an agreement regarding carry forward of previous service has been agreed informally at the appointment stage but not recorded on file or in the individual’s contract letter. There have also been occasions when individuals have received an undertaking that previous service will be honoured on a like-for-like basis, or, that entitlement to a sabbatical term(s) from the previous institution will be honoured, or that a sabbatical may be taken sooner than the regulation regarding qualifying service prescribes.
The following procedure applies to ensure proper recording of any agreement to carry forward service to LSE at the appointment stage:
1. Individuals should be informed that the School allows carry forward of service from an institution immediately preceding service with the School at the point at which an offer is made.
2. The Head of Department (or appropriate School officer making the offer) should ascertain whether the appointee has service which they wish to carry forward to LSE and if so, the amount. If someone other than the Head of Department makes the offer, the Head of Department should be consulted before any agreement regarding carry forward of service is confirmed to the successful candidate.
3. The amount of any service to be carried forward to LSE should be entered on to the RF9 (Request to Appoint Form) so that it may be included in the formal contract letter.
  
  Recruitment will be responsible for checking that the sabbatical issue has been raised with the successful candidate and that the relevant information is recorded on the RF9 and contract letter.
The normal expectation will continue to be that service in another university or college immediately preceding service with the School will be taken into account in computing the period of service required as qualification for sabbatical leave, and that not less than half the qualifying service required in any instance shall have been served at the School. Service in another university will continue to be used as a top up device and will not be counted on a year for year basis.
However, in exceptional cases and subject to the agreement of the relevant Head of Department, the Vice Chair of Appointments Committee may agree that for Lecturer/Senior Lecturer/Reader appointments,
- sabbatical entitlement will be honoured on a like for like basis,
- that entitlement to a sabbatical term(s) from the previous institution will be honoured, or,
- that a sabbatical may be taken sooner than the regulation regarding qualifying service prescribes.
Where the above applies to a professorial appointment, the Director will agree terms subject to the agreement of the relevant Head of Department.