Why is the NHS so generous with their employee leave

[Ionlywentandbloodydidit]

Maybe I’m just jealous plain and simple.
I work really hard in a patient facing private sector clinical role ( not transferable to NHS) , long hours, huge amounts of stress and responsibility just like NHS workers . Four weeks holiday , no sick pay , no time off for GP, dentist appointments etc . Not just me , this is completely normal in my industry.
The NHS is on its knees , I see it every day , I’m privately employed but am also registered with NHS as a performer ( it’s complicated ) .
I have several friends who work within the NHS as nurses, midwife’s etc . They are all mostly on eight weeks holiday per annum , regularly on leave for months at a time on full pay for various reasons such as two months for a miscarriage, six months for the death of a very elderly parent or a bad back or stress etc.
They will all receive a good pension .
I’m so intrigued ( and envious I admit ) at how the NHS can be so generous with tax payers money.
Im ashamed to say I’m beginning to resent my NHS friends some of whom are quite brazen with it, especially when I also see first hand how long waiting lists are for consultations / ops for my own patients / family etc .

I’ve worked for the NHS forever and yes some people do take the p!ss. However in our Trust, the sickness policy has become much tougher and there are consequences to repeat occasions or for those on long term leave. This is of course very difficult and stressful for those who have perfectly reasonable reasons for not being at work (ie if you had Covid you were not allowed to come in but still marked as sick even if you felt ok). So you get people coming in when they are potentially infectious and maybe play down symptoms which means more people off sick.
I am part time and I plan any appointments outside of hours.
Compassionate leave is 3 days for a close relative.
Carers leave does not exist. That is taken as AL.
Mat leave is standard though you accrue AL over this time which I think is detrimental to the service.
AL is historically generous but that is the only perk as I see it now.
A nursing colleague has just finished 18 months of aggressive cancer treatment. She has been obliged to attend meetings with her manager and sometimes HR throughout. In the last few months it was suggested that she resigned or go on employment leave. She did really well with most of her treatments, better than the average patient. She has years of experience, loyalty and service behind her.

Maybe other Trusts are different.

I'm clearly working for the wrong Trust. 22 years in and this does not reflect my contract or working conditions.

Haha!

Not an academic but in a related role. I'm over here feeling quietly smug about my 45 days of annual leave and 6 months full pay for sick leave.

As far as I can tell, TRS shows what you'd get if you retired today, based on how long you've paid into the pension so far. It doesn't assume you'll keep paying in until retirement and predict what you'll get at retirement age. What it shows seems pretty useless to me.

This is correct.

Somewhat intrigued as to what sort of clinical facing job OP does that isn’t transferable as that’s the answer, transfer. Yes there is some abuse of sickness etc within the NHS , but you definitely wouldn’t get six months off after a bereavement, would be off sick and yes maybe the sickness benefits etc are much better than the private sector, but, here’s the thing,there is absolutely nothing to stop those who constantly complain about the public sector, from getting a job within it

8 weeks leave 🤣.
That's just a lie. It's 5 weeks, rising to 6 weeks after 10years continuous service.

You feel taxpayers money is wasted giving people employee rights that you would like? And really you know should be rights for all employees?

change track and get an nhs job?

It depends what scheme you’re in. The newest one is far less generous than the older ones. You are probably in an older one.

Hot desking! How’s that being a poor employer. Pay for parking , again what’s the issue with that?

this wasn't my experience in the 12 years I was a mental health worker in the NHS, cannot recollect anyone in my large team and the associated wards we worked on being off for vast swathes of time. How do you know that the woman who had 2 months off after having a misccarriage did not need it? i had a month off when I miscarried twins as I was physically unwell and emotionally not in a good place to do my job. I am sure you have transferable skills so why not apply for an NHS job and avail yourself of all the perks.

& the extra leave etc increases the longer you stay in the NHS, you don't get that from Day 1 - & important to remember recent & current governments are doing everything they can to break the NHS so it certainly isn't an easy job, whatever role you have.

There are undoubtedly people in the NHS who abuse the sickness, but a awful lot don’t, I worked for 35 years in the NHS, longest period of sickness was two weeks after an operation, barely ever took odd days off for the believed sick days the private sector seems to believe are an automatic right in the NHS, please don’t tar everyone with the same brush

Well that's also incorrect.

It's 5.4 weeks (27 days), then 5.8 (29), then 6.6 (33). plus BHs of 1.6 weeks (8 days).

I think we need to stop with the can’t get rid of lazy workers. I have been the line manager who dismissed 2 professional NHS staff and another resigned when called to a disciplinary. Her sickness record went onto a reference request , I know because she rang to complain and I had to tell her I hadn’t filled out the document sent to HR.
Im aware that other managers in the NHS have done the same.
if you have done more than 10 years continuous service you get 33 days plus 8 Bank Holidays, which maybe where 8 weeks come from. I can only say that there must have been other issues with bereavement and miscarriage.
To reverse things, a friend working in the private sector commented on his paltry leave allowance, his line manager responded that he was entitled to 2 weeks a year paid sick leave and he should ensure he took much of it.

Come work in the NHS - it's so much fun! We're on a total recruitment freeze for the financial year to the point they've not replaced literally dead colleagues and we're just expected to cover. Haven't had a functional printer for 10 months (and we're a service that needs it and can't go digital for our client group), the heating's broken and won't be repaired so we have to huddle around one oil plug in radiator with the heating power of an optimistic fart and we're generally treated like shit.

I stick it out because my colleagues (the not dead ones) are fab, and my client group doesn't really get served by the private sector.

Just remembered, I did have a colleague who had a lot of time off, she had luekemia, she had to stop working and she died a few years ago. Would you have begrudged her some sick leave?

& I worked for NHS & paid into MY pension for 25 years & get £760 a month.... there's a huge number of factors involved. Banding, whether full time or part-time, when you take it....shrugs....

@Ionlywentandbloodydidit you are definitely not being unreasonable! I'm NHS and I have a colleague who "works from home" one day a week; management say they cannot take this day away from them because this person has been doing it since COVID times. I know for a fact this person does NOTHING for 8 1/2 hours when they "work" from home (they told me to my face they do washing / dog walk etc and they have no real work to do at home). I flagged this TWICE with my line manager and then my big manager; LM brushed it off and BM said that they had asked for proof as to what this person does from home, but said person cannot prove it. So, it's just been left. And CF colleague gets paid for a 9 hour day when they do buggar all. It's infuriating!

I have just retired from NHS after 37 years service. The last few years were part time. My retirement lump sum is £39k with an additional £565 per month. If that is what others class as a gold plated windfall, then so be it. To me it doesn't seem that much. I would certainly not be able to retire at all, if it wasn't for the financial security provided by my husband.
I didn't want to retire at all but sadly I'm completely burned out to a level where it impacted on my physical health. I was working at least 10 hours a week unpaid overtime just to shore up our understaffed service.
I honestly wouldn't recommend an NHS career to anyone now.

And how much do you get paid for your private sector role vs a comparable role in the NHS….?

Terms and conditions are normal for public sector but I agree that some employees abuse the system regarding time off for x, y or z.

Everybody should get at least 6 weeks holiday, join a union or move to NHS.

You really can’t see why someone who works as a midwife might need quite a long time off after a miscarriage….?

I know several people who work for the NHS. They all have a very similar work ethic. Not surprisingly, they were recruited by people with the same work ethic.

We had an office that used to be a store room and had asbestos, they used to have to come and take readings! two plug in heaters. Old hospital and the building was falling apart. Like you I worked with some amazing people, sraff and patients