Off on Holiday

You can find out how big your personal holiday quota at TU Graz is per year and how much of it you have already used up in SAP Fiori in the ‘Absences’ app. You can also apply for your next holiday leave here. Please make sure you do this in good time, as your leave must be approved by your manager before you take it. After approval, you will receive an e-mail notification from SAP Fiori and will also see the approval in the app. Now nothing stands in the way between you and your holiday. Your days off – holiday leave can only be taken in whole days, not by the hour – are automatically transferred to the time recording system.

Don't wait too long to use up your annual holiday and treat yourself to some well-earned rest! This is because if you ‘save up’ your holiday entitlement for too long, it expires. For employees covered by the ‘Collective Agreement for University Employees,’ holiday entitlement expires two years after the end of the holiday year in which it was accrued. For civil servants and contract workers, leave expires one year after the end of the leave year in which it was accrued.

Just in case

Things don’t always go according to plan and it may be necessary to cancel a holiday. You can do this directly via SAP Fiori up to the start of the planned absence, but please obtain the consent of your manager in advance. For a later cancellation, please contact the Personnel department by e-mail at arbeitszeitnoSpam@tugraz.at and put the approver in CC.

If you fall ill during your holiday and your illness lasts longer than three calendar days, your holiday is interrupted. In this case, please report the sick leave via SAP Fiori and upload a doctor's confirmation of sick leave.

TU Graz employees can find more information on the TU4U intranet:

• Notifications and applications: Recreational leave
• FAQs from the OU Personnel on holiday entitlement and working hours
• Apprenticeship training holiday (in German)

Inform colleagues

Please set up an automatic reply with an out-of-office message in your e-mail programme so that nobody has to wait in vain for a reply from you during your holiday. This allows you to let colleagues know when you will be back and what will happen to their concerns in the meantime; for example, whether e-mails will be forwarded automatically or whether the person covering for you can be contacted in urgent cases. Practical templates for absence notifications can be found in the Corporate Wording Guide of TU Graz.

Also record a suitable greeting message on your telephone's voicemail box so that callers are informed of your absence.

Tip: For other, possibly shorter types of absences (e.g. business trips), it is also advisable to activate an out-of-office message in the e-mail programme and to record a message on your voicemail box.

Make cheap calls abroad

If you are travelling abroad with your TU Graz work mobile phone, you should find out in advance about any roaming charges that may apply. Roaming within the EU is included in the tariff for TU Graz work mobile phones. Please note, however, that roaming charges apply for non-EU countries such as the UK and Switzerland.

If you are planning a trip abroad outside the EU and would like to use your TU Graz mobile phone for phone calls, text messages or internet, you can avoid unwanted additional costs by using the available roaming packages. Even if you just want to be reachable, you may incur high costs for calls received outside the EU. The available roaming packages and further information can be found in the TU4U under: Work mobile phone and data card (in German)

To book the roaming packages, please contact the Purchasing Service at handynoSpam@tugraz.at. Please state the relevant telephone number, the desired package and the required usage period (at least one month) in your enquiry.

‘It's best to register the roaming package a few days before you start your journey to ensure that you can be reached without interruption.’
Andreas Gößler, Purchasing Service

TU Graz employees can travel inexpensively

All employees of TU Graz benefit from numerous corporate partnerships and the associated favourable conditions that the Works Council for Administrative Personnel has negotiated. These include many benefits for your holiday, such as discounts for travel agencies, hotels and spas, camping and car hire. TU Graz employees can find the relevant offers in TU4U at: Discounts for all TU Graz employees (in German)

‘It's worth taking a look at these offers. TU Graz employees can make a lot of savings here.’
Herbert Penker, chairman of the Works Council for Administrative Personnel

Recharge your batteries on holiday; save energy at work

Check at your workplace that all devices are switched off before you go on holiday: Are the computer and the screen switched off? Is the light still on? Together we can save energy at TU Graz.

Finally, there is only one thing left to say. Have a nice holiday!

You can find this article and other articles to browse through in TU Graz people #93, the magazine for TU Graz employees and interested parties.