NHS continuous service - moving trusts

[MakeMineALarge1]

I have posted in employment issues as well, but this gets more traffic

Can anyone help me who works in the NHS
I have done 9 yrs in my current trust, 2013 to current, I have a new post in a different trust - from 17th October - I intend to finish work w/c 3rd october - my last day will be the 8th
Have a week off
Then start my new job on the 17th but does this count as a break in service? for annual leave and pension purposes? ie will I lose those 9 years?

within the nhs continuous service stays so I’ve changed trusts four times and have kept my continuous/reckonable service.

Mat pay is impacted as is redundancy with short breaks but annual leave sick leave etc arent!

What did your HR team say in response to your query @MakeMineALarge1 ?

Thank you,

I am having a week off between jobs as I am not sure when in my new trust I will get the oppertunity to have AL so I am not sure how I stand because for that week I will not be employed?

@SavoirFlair I only thought about it at 6am this morning (haha) I have emailed my new trust but to be fair it was at 0700 so they probably won't be in.

nhsbsa-live.powerappsportals.com/knowledgebase/article/KA-23759/en-us

It's defined here I think.

I think it looks like it would be a break so I would be changing my start/finish date because giving up sick pay and the extra 4 days of holiday a year you'll be getting seems like that would be a bad deal.

Are you having a week off as annual leave? Or a week off unpaid between leaving and starting the new role.

If a week off unpaid then it is not continuous service, as I understand it.

@Felford it was going to be unpaid, I might have to change my dates with my current employer

I had two weeks unpaid between last time I moved trusts and it didn’t count as a break in service, which was confirmed by HR.

You can have up to 3 months off before it counts as a break in service. It won’t affect the number of days off you have per year, but will affect how many days you can take off this year. When you leave your current Trust, they will pay you for any leave you have accrued up until your last day if it is untaken. Then when you start with the new Trust you’ll have a pro rata amount of leave to take.

You need to check with HR at the new Trust as they would be responsible for reporting your start of service date to your next Trust, should you move again in the future. That is what matters.

For reference, I have moved between NHS Trusts a few times and have always been advised not to have a gap of unpaid leave. The contract had to start the next day, so I generally left on a Friday and started on a ‘Saturday’ so I at least had a weekend off. I last moved in 2014 though, so things may have changed.

It will just be your redundancy that is affected. Could you change your start date?

I have emailed my new trust and am awaiting their responses, I only thought of it at 0600 this morning (??? ) if needs be I will extend my notice at my existing trust

This is the official response I received from my HR;

CONFIRMATION OF PREVIOUS NHS SERVICE
Please refer to the form received with this letter which shows the service in the NHS that we have been able to confirm for you.
We have used this information to amend our records.
Where there has been a break, or breaks in service of less than one week, service is deemed to be continuous and this is the CSD 1 week date on the enclosed form.
Where there are any breaks in service and these are less than 3 months, a notional date has been calculated and this is used to calculate any occupational maternity entitlement.
This is the CSD 3 month date on the enclosed form.
Where there have been breaks in service and these are less than 12 months, a notional date has been calculated and this is used to calculate any redundancy entitlement, once two years continuous service has been achieved.
N.B. this won’t ap ply if you have previously been made redundant or have flexibly retired.
This is the CSD 12 month date on the form and is also used for occupational sick pay entitlement.
All NHS service is reckonable for the purpose of annual leave entitlement.
Service prior to joining (name of trust removed for privacy) is added up and entered onto the system as aggregate years and days.
The system then recognises that there is previous service to take account of and calculates the relevant annual leave entitlement and any anniversaries accordingly.
If you have any additional NHS service that you feel we have not taken into account, you will need to provide documentary evidence of this such as pay slips or previous contracts.

I can't make head nor tail of the above 🤣

All service (even non-continuous) counts for annual leave purposes BUT a break of a week or longer resets your redundancy entitlement so I would strongly advise against it.

6 days or less would be fine.

(Source: used to work in NHS payroll)

The important bit is this:

The system then recognises that there is previous service to take account of and calculates the relevant annual leave entitlement and any anniversaries accordingly.

It will take all your continuous service into consideration and I’ve even known people personally who’ve taken more than a week and it’s still been counted. However, for your own peace of mind, maybe get something in writing if you’re that worried. Or, book annual leave from your current employer as your new employer will be obliged to honour it (unless you’ve already told them you’ve got nothing booked)

I have already agreed a start date with my new employer

I will see if I can take the week in question as unpaid leave or hours owing from my existing employer

It's not called continuous service any more - it's previous service. So even if you had a year between NHS roles, your previous 9 years would count for annual leave & sickness purposes. You never lose your previous service as it were.

But, you won't take you annual leave allowance with you. You will have 6 months worth in Job 1, and then 5 months worth in job 2. (You only get annual leave allowance for full months worked, so starting mid month, you won't earn any for that month as it were)

Taking redundancy or retiring invalidates this and returns you to 0. But simply leaving doesn't.