Sussex staff will be given an additional Minimum Service Day on Friday 2 January 2026 in recognition of everyone’s hard work and dedication during a very challenging 2025. As such, the first working day after the winter break will be Monday 5 January 2026. 

You can see the full list of scheduled Minimum Service Days on our term dates webpage. 

As this is an additional, non-contractual day, staff will not be required to use the MyView absence booking system and no re-adjustment of staff annual leave entitlement will be needed. 

Staff who were not going to work on 2 January due to their normal working pattern (i.e. it is a non-working day), will need to agree an alternative day locally with their line manager. Staff who are unable to take the additional day on 2 January due to work requirements will need to either tack it on to the start or end of the winter break (preferred) or arrange a convenient time with their line manager. 

Further guidance on the 2 January Minimum Service Day 

Part-time staff whose normal working pattern would mean them working on the newly-announced Minimum Service Day will receive the day off, without the need to use any of their annual leave allowance to ‘make up’ the hours for the day. 

If you would not normally work on this day, you will have the day tacked on to the start or end of the winter break leave period. If this is not possible due to operational requirements, or if the next day is a day where you would not normally be working, then you should seek to agree an alternative date with your line manager, bearing in mind the corresponding working hours information below. 

If you are required to work on 2 January due to the operational requirements of the service or School you work in, then, again, the additional day should be tacked on to the end of the winter break and your return to work would be on 6 January 2026, or taken before the winter break starts. If this is not possible, either due to working patterns or operational need, please seek agreement from your line manager for an alternative date. 

For part-time staff, where the working patterns for 5 January (or 23 December if taking the leave before the winter break) do not match the working pattern on 2 January (i.e. where the normal working hours across those days are different), days off corresponding to the normal working hours for 2 January should be granted at another time. Line managers are asked to accommodate these requests wherever possible or agree to an alternative.