fixed term contract while on career break from substantive post.

[ladylush]

HR savvy people needed here I think. I have 13 years continuous service with a NHS Trust, pension, maternity entitlement etc. Want a new job but many of the ones that interest me are short term contracts e.g.12-18 months. So was thinking maybe my employer would consider a secondment or allowing me to have a career break etc. Thing is, if I got pregnant whilst on this career break/secondment would my maternity rights be affected?

personally I don't see why the NHS should support you trying out another job? If you want to change jobs then just do it? I think that while you are on a creer break you would not be entitled to maty pay etc via NHS scheme - would have to reply on rights from your short term post. (not been in HR for years by the way)

personally I don't see why the NHS should support you trying out another job? If you want to change jobs then just do it? I think that while you are on a creer break you would not be entitled to maty pay etc via NHS scheme - would have to reply on rights from your short term post. (not been in HR for years by the way)

I'm assuming that the secondments you are considering would be NHS? Either internal to the trust you already work for, or another trust?

I don't think that would affect your maternity rights in terms of pay or pension rights as you would still be working for the NHS. But you couldn't expect a fixed term post to be held for your return from maternity leave, so you would be returning to your substantive post.

You wouldn't get maternity pay on a career break, but would be able to return to a post on the same grade as the one you left. Not guaranteed your old job back. That would have been the position at the Trust I worked for.

If you're staying within NHS then it wouldn't be a career break - you could just ask for a secondment?

From our policy

13.1. Staff will retain the same entitlement to Maternity Leave as that accrued prior to going on a career break. Only reckonable service while on a career break will count towards additional entitlement.
13.2. While on a career break staff will not normally be entitled to Maternity Pay as full pay is calculated on the average of the eighth week period from the 22nd week to the 15th week prior to the expected date of confinement.

It depends whether it's a career break or a secondment. A secondment would presumably be transferring from your permanent post on a temporary basis to a new job within the NHS. In which case you would retain continuous service and presumably all your nice maternity benefits. Only thing to watch out for is what job you would return to afterwards, if the new job might have finished it would probably be your old job or possibly something else.

A career break is stopping work for a defined period of time. I imagine there is a policy about career breaks which you would have to look at (sorry nervousal, I don't know whether yours is NHS!).

Thanks all - just to clarify, the fixed term contract is with the same trust I currently work for (or an organisation affiliated with my trust)and I'm aware that I would be returning to my old job. I just wondered whether as the new job would still be NHS, whether I would still be entitled to Maternity Benefits.

but if you're moving to another job in the same trust then it wouldn't be a career break? If you are staying with the same employer then its continuous service and you're still entitled to maternity leave.

Just one thing - a new girl recently started with us - moved from another dept. She's moved from part-time to full-time. Didn't tell us she is preg. Been off sick since she officially started 3 weeks ago with preg related illness. (she was only in one morning). Now -I know that she didn't have to tell us and all that - but this is a fixed term post so we can't replace her during maty leave. To be honest she'll find it hard to geta job here after the fixed term is up.

The job is fixed term though so I would be leaving my permanent job to take a fixed term job. So it would have to be a career break so that my perm job was kept open or a secondment.

I could be mistaken here, but I get the impression that you are being a tad judgemental assuming that I am going to take the job and get pregnant. I have more scruples than that! If anything, I would aim to get pregnant toward the end of the term so that the project would not suffer. When I was pg with ds I didn't take one day off sick and I worked til I was 39 weeks pg (on a busy acute ward) working 37.5 hours a week and I had SPD to boot.