Band 4 Notice Period NHS

[Anon5260]

Good evening all,

I need some advice. I started a band 4 assistant practitioner role today. However, at lunch time, I heard back from a company I recently interviewed with an offer to start in two weeks. I checked my contract for band 4 role and saw that the notice period is 4 weeks! I emailed the company explaining this but they unfortunately need me to start urgently so if I can’t start in 2 weeks they’ll have to offer to role to another candidate. With today being my first day in the band 4 role, is there any chance my notice might be shorter due to a probation period or something, or will it be the full 4 weeks stated in my contract? Any advice is much appreciated.

You’ll need to look up your probation terms and contract on trust net or whatever for your specific post and trust. It could be one week, but it will vary.

If the date is because you need to start a course or something, you could ask the nhs to release you early.

You'll need to check what your probation period notice period is - usually it should be less - I would be surprised if it was more than a week, but each Trust is different. Congratulations on your new role.

Hi. Thanks for the reply. Where would I find that? I’ve been having a look through my contract but cant see anything about a probationary period. Would it help if I told you the trust?

Hello! Thank you for the kind message. Where would be the place to find that? I’ve checked my contract but see no mention of a probationary period. Would it be online? I can tell you the trust if I’m allowed to give that information on here?

You should have access to the trust intranet and all the policies should be on there.

Thanks, I’ll have a look tomorrow then.

Lots and lots of NHS roles have no probationary period.

Ah, so the other two are wrong? Not sure what to do now.

I have worked for three NHS trusts and all have a probation period. You should have been told what your probationary period is, it can be up to six months. You should have been sent all your contracts and documents that have information. Your trust will have a system you can log in to with all the people services / hr documentation. Speak to your line manager.

Sounds like you’ve got the credentials and know what you’re talking about. I took another look at my contract and here’s what it says:

20. Termination of Employment 20.1 employment. You are required to give the Trust notice in writing or your intention to terminate your The following notice periods apply: Band Notice period 1-4 4 weeks 5-7 8 weeks 8a and above 12 weeks 20.2 The length of notice that the Trust must give you to terminate your employment is dependent upon your continuous service. The current statutory entitlement is one week’s notice for every completed year of service with the Trust, up to a maximum of twelve weeks. 20.3 In accordance with the Trust’s Maintaining Standards in a Just and Learning Culture Policy your contract may be terminated without notice or payment in lieu of notice by the Trust in the event of your dismissal for gross misconduct. 20.4 The Trust reserves the right to make payment in lieu of notice should it so wish, or require you to remain away from work during your notice period, whichever may be appropriate.

No mention of a shorter notice for probation, so I’ll query it with my manager tomorrow.

@Anon5260I would go in and talk to your manager first thing tomorrow morning. Your official notice period may be 4 weeks, you may or may not have a probationary period but quite honestly if someone came to me wanting to leave after one day I’d be helping them out of the door ( in the nicest possible way, but I’d have no confidence that you would stay, and I’d hate to ‘force’ someone to stay in a job they didn’t want!)- if I’m quick enough there may be another candidate I’d interviewed that still wanted a job.

Agree, speak to manager and be honest. They may well be able to speak to the reserve candidate to get them in post.

The only way you’ll know about notice and how they want to handle it is by speaking to them. We’ve had band fours that have gone very quickly and some that have worked their four weeks. It’s a discussion at this point.

@Jannergirl @FurForksSake
Thank you both for the advice, I appreciate it. I will bite the bullet and have the conversation with my manager tomorrow. It won’t be pleasant but it has got to be done.

They’ll be professional, it happens and for the most part the sooner you say the easiest it’s dealt with. Congratulations on the jobs!