FAQ – Home Leave Travel (HL)

For additional information please read the POPP on Home Leave .

Q. How do I apply for Home Leave?

A. You apply for Home Leave in Atlas eServices / My Leave.

• Click the Home Leave icon in eServices / My Leave.
• Enter the dates, click 'Calculate Duration'. You should enter the full period away from the office, then HR will adjust your Home Leave period when applying travel time. 
  
• Enter your travel itinerary for you and your family if applicable. Remember to enter both the itinerary to the place of home leave and also the return travel to the duty station. For each traveller there will therefore be two lines.

There is no need to attach documentation at this point.

Before you apply it is very important that you selected the right HR Focal Point in My Leave. Your HR Focal Point should be your HR Focal Point from Global Shared Services Unit (GSSU) or JPO Service Centre in Copenhagen.

When you submit your Home Leave it is first approved by your supervisor. When the supervisor approves, an automatic email request is forwarded to your HR Focal Point for final approval. Once your HR Focal Point approves you will automatically receive an email informing that it has been approved.

Note: Remember to keep your ticket stubs. Upon return from Home Leave you need to certify your Home Leave took place of authorized and upload proof of travel. In addition you should keep originals of the proof of travel for a period of two years or until the next Home Leave travel. See below on how to certify a Home Leave.

Q. How long time has to pass before I can take Home Leave again?

Provided you have 24 home leave points, at least 12 months should elapse between the return date from one Home Leave and the next Home Leave. If you are serving in a duty station with a 12-month Home Leave cycle (D or E duty station with no Rest & Recuperation) at least six months should elapse between one Home Leave travel and the next one. 

In addition, a minimum of three months is normally required between entitlement-related travels (e.g. reverse education grant travel, Home Leave, R&R, Reassignment, etc.). However, for those duty stations with a six or eight week R&R travel frequency, the normal minimum three-month interval for entitlement-related travels (for example from a R&R travel to a Home Leave) is reduced to six or eight weeks. 

Q. My contract is ending in five months, can I go on Home Leave?

You will need a minimum of six months remaining before the expiration of your contract, or three months remaining before the expiration of your contract if serving in a duty station with a 12- month HL cycle (D or E duty station with no Rest & Recuperation). 

Q. How do I know home many Home Leave points I have?

A. You can click the Home Leave icon in eServices/My Leave. In the right corner you will find your current Home Leave points. 
Please note that the Home Leave points for a given month is granted at the end of the month. 

Q. What is travel time for a Home Leave?

A. When you enter the period of the Home Leave, then enter the full period away from your office. Then when HR approves, the period will be reduced with Travel Time for each leg of the travel. It is only the Home Leave period less travel time that is charged to the Annual Leave balance. 

You receive: 

a) One day for each journey of less than 10 hours;

b) Two days for each journey of 10 hours or longer but less than 16 hours;

c) Three days for each journey of 16 hours or more. 

In addition, travel time is applied to working days. So if you travel on a Sunday, and the journed is less than 10 hours, then you receive one day of travel time on the Monday. Which means that you will only be charged on your annual leave balance from the Tuesday. 

Q: How is Home Leave paid?
A: Effective 1 September 2018, Home Leave will no longer be paid via voucher payment, but via payroll according to the salary distribution. As a result, and to ensure requests are processed timely, we encourage staff members to submit Home Leave requests at least 2 months prior to travel.
Tip: if you want a specific amount in an account, we recommend requesting salary distribution with a fixed amount. For example, if you have specified that USD 5,000 should be paid to bank 1 and the remaining amount should go into bank 2. Then, any amount that is paid beyond salary will go into bank 2 or vice versa. This way you can control which bank additional payments should go into. The additional amount could be payment of education grant, education grant travel, etc.

Q. What is the advantage of the HL lumpsum?

A. The principle behind the lump sum entitlement is to enhance personal choices for staff with minimal organizational involvement.  Since the staff member is purchasing their own ticket, arrangements are left to the discretion of the staff member. 

Q. How do I cancel a Home Leave

A. At anytime can  you cancel a Home Leave, even if approved. If you cancel a Home Leave, then you will automatically receive back the 24 HL points as well as the Annual Leave days charged.

There can be different reasons for cancelling a leave.

• Cancel a leave because you did not take it:

Go to eServices/My Leave/View Absence Request History - click 'Edit' for the leave you want to cancel and click 'Cancel' – now it is cancelled, and your Supervisor and Leave Monitor will be automatically informed. Any HL points or AL days charged will be credited back.

• Cancel a leave because you want to amend the leave:

Sometimes you need to cancel a leave, because you want to amend an already submitted or approved leave:

• Go to eServices/My Leave/View Absence Request History - click 'Edit' for the leave you want to cancel and click 'Cancel'
• Go to eServices/My Leave/View Absence Request History - click 'Edit' for the Cancelled leave – change whatever you need to change – click 'Submit' to re-submit the leave

• Cancel a leave because you want to change HR Focal Point or Supervisor name:

It can be necessary to cancel a leave if you want to change a Supervisor, HR Focal Point or Leave Monitor name. You cannot change a name if you have any 'pending' leaves – meaning leaves that are not approved. In that case you need to cancel all leaves that do not have the status 'Approved' to 'Cancelled':

• Go to eServices/My Leave/View Absence Request History - click 'Edit' for the leave you want to cancel and click 'Cancel'
• Go to eServices/My Leave/My Leave – change the name in the Approver User List – remember to click 'Save' when you entered the new name.
• Go to eServices/My Leave/View Absence Request History - click 'Edit' for the Cancelled leave – change whatever you need to change – click 'Submit' to re-submit the leave – now it will go to the right people.

Q. How is the amount of the HL lumpsum determined?

A. The lumpsum amount is based on the least costly, unrestricted economy fare on the most direct route irrespective of the availability of seats or the ability to issue a ticket outside the country of origin.  As a general rule, the standard for unrestricted economy is 'Y' class. In the event an unrestricted economy class fare in 'Y' class is not offered by the carrier(s) servicing the most direct route, the least restrictive economy fare class will be used. Child fare is applicable to children from 0 to 12 years old and adult fare is applicable to adults and children older than 12.

The most direct route is defined as the shortest journey time from origin to destination with the least number of stop-overs.  E.g. Non-stop flights would be given priority over connecting flights.

Only published airfares are used when determining the unrestricted economy fare amount.  UNDP contracted fares and negotiated discounts are not applied when determining the lump sum amount.  

When a staff member opts for a lump sum payment, versus having the organization assist with the home leave, they are entitled to receive a lump sum equivalent to 75% of the base fare (exclusive of taxes and surcharges).  

Q. Home many HL points are required before I can go on HL?

A. Normally you would require 24 Home Leave points to be eligible for Home Leave. You can view your Home Leave points in eServices/My Leave - click on the icon for Home Leave and your Home Leave Points will display in the top right corner.

If below conditions are met you can go on Advanced Home Leave.

In the case of the first HL you need at least 6 months of service remaining before the expiration of contract beyond the date you will have accrued 24 points, or 3 months if you are serving in a duty station with a 12 month HL cycle. 

Advanced Home Leave may be approved by the HR Administrator in the country office or GSSU_HR/BES when at least 12 points have been accrued. A negative point balance shall be recorded in such case, up to a maximum of minus 12 points. The balance cannot exceed minus 12 points. To become eligible for the next HL, you must overcome the negative point balance and then reach an accrual of 24 points.

Advanced HL shall be approved subject to all the conditions for the entitlement subsequently being met, or the staff member will be required to reimburse the costs of the HL entitlement.

 Q. How do I certify the Home Leave upon return to the office? 
A. You should certify your Home Leave no later than 30 days upon return to the office: 

1. Go to My Leave / View Absence Request History, click 'edit' for the Home Leave
   
2. Upload a copy of the travel documentation (make sure the file length is less than 50 characters and do not contain 'special' characters like ñ, é or à)
   
3. Tick the tick box for the certification and click the button 'Certify&Approve'
   
4. Close the window, do not save or submit again. 
   

 Q. I have recently been on R&R, how long time will I need to wait before I can take Home Leave? 
A. If you travel on R&R then it normally requires a 3 months interval before you can go on Home Leave, Family Visit or Education Grant Travel, counted from the return of the R&R.  

However, for those duty stations with a 6 or 8 week R&R travel frequency, the normal 3 month interval is reduced to 6 or 8 weeks. For duty stations exceptionally approved for a 4 week R&R interval, then 6 weeks are still required. 

In the POPP for R&R you can read the details of the required interval before you can go on Home Leave. 

 Q. I used to receive 2 points per month, but now I receive 1 point. Why is that? 
A. In July 2016 there was a change to the accumulation of Home Leave points. Previously you would receive 2 points per month if you were in a duty station classified by ICSC as C, D and E. However, following the implementation of the revised compensation package for internationally recruited staff in July 2016, then it is only for staff in duty stations classified as D and E and where there is no Rest & Recuperation travel that will receive 2 points per month.

Q. My family is living in my established place of home leave, are they eligible for home leave?

A. No, there is no 'reverse' home leave for family. Eligible dependents cannot be authorized to travel for home leave from their home country to another country.

Q. I am located in a Non-Family duty station, can my family go on home leave if they are not located in my home country?  

A. There is no entitlement to home leave if you are in a Non-Family duty station. Even if your family is living in a different country other than your home country.