POLICY & PROCEDURE RECKONABLE NHS SERVICE FOR ANNUAL LEAVE

Transcription

1 POLICY & PROCEDURE RECKONABLE NHS SERVICE FOR ANNUAL LEAVE Reference Number: 126/2008 Author / Manager Responsible: Peter Eley, Assistant Director of HR (ER) Manager: Lynn Vaughan, Director of HR Deadline for ratification: (Policy must be ratified within 6 months of review date) January 2011 Review Date: July 2010 Ratified by: TCNC & Management Board Date Ratified: January 2008 Related Policies Flexible Working & Leave Policy & Procedure Page 1 of 7 Review date: July 2010

2 INDEX Section Page Consultation and Ratification Introduction Policy Procedure Consultation Checklist Page 2 of 7 Review date: July 2010

3 CONSULTATION AND RATIFICATION SCHEDULE Name and Title of Individual Date Consulted HR Team October 2004 Trust staff via AfC website October 2004 Jenny Evans January 2008 Lynn Vaughan January 2008 Name of Committee Date of Committee TCNC Policy Sub-group / AfC T&Cs Group 15/9/04 TCNC Policy Sub-group / AfC T&Cs Group 7/10/04 AfC Project Board 5/10/04 TCNC 1/11/04 Management Board 24/11/04 TCNC 1/12/04 TCNC HR Policy & T&Cs Sub-group (Review) 21/2/07 Page 3 of 7 Review date: July 2010

4 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Throughout this Policy & Procedure the Royal United Hospital, Bath, NHS Trust is referred to as the Trust. 1.2 This Policy & Procedure applies to all Trust employees and is be used in conjunction with the NHS Council Terms & Conditions. 1.3 National Requirements - The Agenda for Change (AfC) Agreement and Agenda for Change: NHS Terms & Conditions of Service Handbook set out the basis under what type of NHS Service should be recognised for determining annual leave entitlement, however as confirmed in paragraphs 12.1 and 12.2 of the Agenda for Change: NHS Terms & Conditions of Service Handbook, the Trust is given discretion to decide exactly what service should be recognised and as how this service should be validated and verified. This policy confirms this local Trust agreement. 1.4 This Policy & Procedure supersedes all previous policies, procedures and local arrangements in relation to what service is recognised for annual leave. 1.5 This policy & procedure has been reviewed after one year in operation. POLICY 2.1 The Trust believes that it should set out clear, fair and practical guidance on what service is recognised and how it is actioned in order that it meets it requirements on equity for all staff and in relation to paragraphs 12.1 and 12.2 of the Agenda for Change: NHS Terms & Conditions of Service Handbook. 2.2 The Trust has consulted with its Staff Side representatives through the TCNC Policy Sub-group / AfC T&Cs Project Group on this issue and has agreed the following arrangements for which service will be recognised and how it will be validated / verified. 2.3 The Trust has agreed that the following will be recognised as NHS Service: Cumulative years of service worked for the NHS or the Health Protection Agency (or Public Health Laboratory Service) or under NHS conditions of employment, including service after a break in continuous service. Page 4 of 7 Review date: July 2010

5 Cumulative years of service worked for the NHS or the Health Protection Agency (or Public Health Laboratory Service) or under NHS conditions of employment, (including service after a break in continuous service) will be counted for bank staff on one year worked to one year of service where the staff have worked over a minimum of 488 hours in a year. Cumulative years of service worked on an academic / university contract will be counted on an exceptional basis where it can be demonstrated that the post in which the postholder was employed was carrying out NHS service work. These can be agreed only by the HR department. 2.4 Local Authority and Private Sector service will not be counted as NHS service. 2.5 All service must be verified. There will be no cut off date beyond which service will not recognised provided that all service is verified. Methods of verifying service are set out in the procedure below. 2.6 It is the responsibility of the member of staff and not the Trust to get evidence of their service so that their service can be recognised. Leave will not be backdated beyond the existing leave year. PROCEDURE 3. HOW NHS SERVICE SHOULD BE VERIFIED. 3.1 All NHS Service needs to be verified if it is to be counted by the Trust as reckonable service for annual leave. Unverified service will not be counted as reckonable service for annual leave. 3.2 The onus is on the member of staff to get evidence of their service. 3.3 The Trust will accept the following methods as verification / validation of previous NHS service: Staff Transfer Form Employment contracts and pay slips Pension / superannuation records P60s P45 if combined with pay slips etc. Page 5 of 7 Review date: July 2010

6 References from appropriate staff with an appropriate level of accountability for the post-holder. 3.4 New Joiners to the Trust will normally be sent a Staff Transfer Form with their offer letter. They should pass this to their current / previous Payroll Department prior to joining the RUH. Their Payroll Department will normally complete the form and return the form to the RUH HR Department. A copy of this form will be taken and placed on the personal file of the member of staff and the original sent to Payroll. The calculated NHS Service will then be used to calculate the annual leave entitlement of the new joiner. 3.5 Where the new joiner is unable obtain a Staff Transfer Form confirming their previous service due to the records of the previous Trust not going back far enough or being complete then they should present their HR Co-ordinator / Advisor with appropriate documents / evidence as set out above in paragraph 3.2. If acceptable this documentation will be copied and placed on their personal file and the Employee Database revised. The calculated NHS Service will then be used to calculate the annual leave entitlement of the new joiner. 3.6 For existing Trust staff there will be a regular validation exercise, carried out in line with the Data Protection Act (1999) which will check all the information held on the Employee Database for all Trust staff. This will include cumulative NHS Service and provide the opportunity for staff to correct this information if it is not accurate. Staff correcting their details should provide evidence set in paragraph 3.2 above to confirm their previous service. Page 6 of 7 Review date: July 2010

7 CONSULTATION CHECKLIST Author; please attach this to each copy of the policy being sent to a meeting for comments. Dear Chairman, please would you review this policy at your committee and return any amendments / comments to by. Title of meeting Date of meeting Name of policy Name of author Are there any elements of this policy which present operational issues that require further discussion? If yes, please provide a contact name for the author. Yes No N/A Is the policy referenced? Does the policy include a training plan? If you are the appropriate forum, have the necessary resources been agreed to implement this policy? Is there a plan for policy implementation? Does your meeting recommend further consultation with groups or staff other than listed at the front of the policy? Other comments from meeting. Policy accepted without further comment. (Please circle) Policy needs further amendment. (Please circle) Yes / No Yes / No Chair of Staff-side, TCNC: Name of Chair Signature Date Chair of Management side, TCNC: Name of Chair Signature Date Page 7 of 7 Review date: July 2010