SAMPLE NHS CONTRACT

28th April 2010

Dear Name,

OFFER OF APPOINTMENT

Further to your interview for the post of, Staff Nurse, Theatres within the Clinical Support Directorate, I am pleased to confirm our offer of this appointment.

Please note that all midwives and nursing staff (excluding band 5 nurses in ITU) joining the Trust in a substantive role will also have a record created for them on the Staff Bank.  This will ensure that should you wish to work any additional shifts at Staff Bank rates you will be able to without the need to submit any further paperwork. The Staff Bank Terms of Engagement have been enclosed with this starter pack for your reference. However being a member of the Staff Bank does not mean that you will be under any obligation to take on any Bank shifts that are offered to you.

Should you decide that you do not wish to be signed onto the Staff Bank at this time for any reason please indicate this to your designated HR Administrator when you submit your starter paperwork. 

Salary and allowances

Your current pay band is Band 5 giving a salary range of £21,176 to £27,534 per annum.  In addition, you will receive a high cost area supplement of 20% of basic salary, subject to a minimum payment of £4,036 per annum and a maximum payment of £6,217 per annum.  Your starting salary is £21,176 per annum. 

Hours of work

You will be required to work 37.5 hours per week excluding meal breaks.

Annual leave and public holidays

Annual leave entitlement is 27 days per annum on appointment, rising to 29 days for staff with 5 or more years' reckonable NHS service, and to 33 days for staff with 10 or more years' reckonable NHS service.

In addition, you are entitled to 8 days general public holidays.

Part-time staff are entitled to the above allowances on a pro-rata basis.

Conditions/clearances

This offer is subject to the following clearances.  In the event that you do not receive satisfactory clearance this offer will be withdrawn:

1. Health clearance

If you have not already done so, please return the completed Occupational Health Questionnaire in an envelope marked Private and Confidential to the Occupational Health Department, Lower Ground Floor, xxx Hospital as soon as possible.

You must contact the Occupational Health Department to make an appointment PRIOR to taking up your position, or to update your health information if you are a current employee.

You will not be permitted to work until you have received satisfactory Occupational Health Clearance.

2. Confirmation of eligibility to work in the United Kingdom, and proof of visual identity

Please ensure that you make an appointment with me in person prior to your start date.  Please bring along the original documents as detailed below.

2.1 National Insurance number

Please provide proof of your National Insurance (NI) number.  Such a document can be either a P45, a P60 or an NI number card. 

Please note that if you do not currently have an NI number, you are legally obliged to formally apply for one, please contact me before you start work to apply for your national insurance number. It may affect your pay if you do not have a NI number when you start.

2.2 Right to work in the UK/Work permit

You are required to provide proof of your right to work in the UK, either through production of a current EU passport or documentation endorsed by the Home Office confirming your right of residence in the UK.

If you do not have the right to work and live in the UK, please urgently provide me with details of your current visa/work permit status.

You will not be permitted to work unless you have obtained a valid work permit/visa and valid leave to remain in the UK.

For further advice please contact the Human Resources Department.

2.3 Proof of Identity

Your identity must be reliably verified in person through presentation of a current passport. You must also provide two forms of proof of address such as a drivers licence, recent utility bill or bank statement.  

3. Criminal Records Bureau - Employment checks

3.1 Starting work before the return of a disclosure

Working with Children

If you have been offered a position whose normal duties involve working with children an enhanced CRB Disclosure with a check against the ISA's Children's List must be obtained prior to commencing work. It is illegal to appoint a prospective employee into such a post until the outcome of the disclosure/ISA check has been received by the Trust.

Working with Vulnerable Adults

For all other posts that involve working with vulnerable adults you will be required to complete a CRB disclosure with a check against the ISA's Vulnerable Adults List.

All checks are undertaken by the Criminal Records Bureau and you should have already completed a form after your interview for the post. If you have not done this it is essential that you complete a form and make an appointment to see me as soon as possible in order to return your completed disclosure application, along with originals of the following documents: Current Passport, Driving Licence (if you hold one), Birth Certificate, Marriage Certificate (if applicable), documented proof of your National Insurance number (see 2.1 above), together with proof of your current address (in the form of a utilities bill, bank statement etc).

Please complete Sections A to D and section H of the Disclosure Application Form in block capitals using black ink (do not complete sections E - F and G). If you tick Ms. or Dr. in section A1, please ensure you fill in section C20 even if your Surname is the same from birth. Please ensure that you detail all your postal addresses in full (including postcodes) for the last five years. 

CRB applications are taking on average between 4-6 weeks to process by the CRB, so you should take this into consideration when handing in your notice and agreeing a start date. You are able to track the progress of your CRB application at www.crb.homeoffice.gov.uk. 

4. Professional Registration & Qualifications 

Please bring your original current professional registration certificate and proof of qualifications, such as your degree certificate, to your appointment (if applicable).

5. I.T. Log on and Email Account

All staff who require access to the IT system must have an internal email account. Please read the IT Acceptable Use Policy (located in your starter pack) and complete the relevant forms enclosed in the pack.

Failure to provide any of the documents requested above may delay your start date with the Trust.

Date of commencement and joining requirements

Please contact xxx - HR Administrator to make an appointment prior to your start date by 22nd May 2010. Please bring to your appointment your original documents as detailed above, failure to provide any of the documents requested may delay your start date with the Trust.

Please contact your Manager and agree a starting date.

I would be grateful if you could return the enclosed second copy of this letter to the HR Administrator, confirming that you wish to accept this appointment.

Please report to the HR Department (Office 8) at 9am on your first day.

1. NAME OF EMPLOYEE

    xxx

2. NAME OF EMPLOYER

You are employed by xxx Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

3. JOB TITLE

You are employed as Staff Nurse.

4. PLACE OF WORK

Your normal place of work is xxx Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.  In order to ensure the Trust's ability to respond to changes in the needs of the service, you may be required to work at a different location following consultation with you, and giving you reasonable notice in the circumstances.

During the course of your employment you will not be required to work outside of the UK.

5. DATE OF COMMENCEMENT OF EMPLOYMENT

Your date of employment in this post is to be confirmed.

6. PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS EMPLOYMENT

For the purposes of statutory entitlements under the Employment Rights Act 1996, your period of continuous employment dates from the day you joined xxx Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, which is to be confirmed.

Continuous previous service with an NHS employer will count as reckonable service in respect of NHS agreements on redundancy, occupational maternity leave and pay and occupational sick pay.  For these purposes your period of continuous service is subject to confirmation.

7. DURATION OF CONTRACT

This appointment is for an indefinite period or until you reach normal retirement age.

8. REMUNERATION

Your basic salary is paid at Band 5 on the following pay scale (1st April 2010):

• Minimum     £ 21,176 per annum
• Maximum     £ 27,534 per annum

Your starting salary is £21,176 per annum.

The following supplements will be paid in addition to your basic salary:

• High Cost Area Supplement - £4,036 per annum

Your increment date is subject to confirmation.

You will be paid monthly in arrears by the 25th day of the month, by direct credit transfer.

If your work in standard hours, excluding overtime and work arising from on-call duties, is carried out in unsocial hours you will receive pay enhancements.  The NHS Staff Council will review and devise new harmonised pay arrangements with effect from 1 April 2006.

If you are required to be on call as part of your duties, you will be paid as follows:

9. INCORRECT PAY

The Trust is obligated to ensure that you are paid correctly.  You are also required to check that your pay is correct and in accordance with your contract of employment.  You are required to repay to the Trust any overpayment of salary, sick pay, holiday pay, expenses, fees and allowances.

10. DEDUCTIONS FROM PAY

The Trust reserves the right to make deductions from your salary or require you to make a payment to the Trust in any of the following circumstances:

• for the purposes of repaying loans made to you
• any monies due to the Trust from you
• when your salary or expenses or any other payment to you from the Trust has been overpaid
• when you have received more holiday or sick pay than your entitlement
• whenever you have requested in writing, that the Trust should make a deduction or be entitled to a repayment

The Trust also reserves the right to withhold payment or deduct pay for unauthorised absence.

11. HOURS OF WORK

The hours of work for the post are 37.5 per week, exclusive of breaks.

If you are entitled to protection of working hours as a result of assimilation to Agenda for Change NHS Terms and Conditions of Service, your hours of work will be in accordance with sections 46.30 to 46.32 of the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook.

The maximum hours for any post are 48 hours per week, averaged over a 17 week period.  If you wish to work in excess of the maximum hours stipulated you must sign an opt out agreement stating that you waive your right to have your working time limited in this way.  The Trust must be aware of all the hours you work regardless of whether this is for the Trust or with any other employer.  You are required, therefore, to notify your manager of any such hours worked over and above 37.5 hours per week.

12. ENTITLEMENT TO HOLIDAYS

Annual leave entitlement is calculated on the basis of aggregated NHS service, and is as follows.

In addition you are entitled to eight days general public holidays (60.0 hours)

Part-time staff will have their annual leave and general public holiday entitlement calculated in hours on a pro-rata basis.

The annual leave period runs from your start date with the Trust.  When you leave the Trust you will paid for any outstanding annual leave due at the termination date.  If you have taken annual leave in excess of your entitlement your final salary will be adjusted accordingly.

13. SICKNESS ABSENCE

If at any time you are prevented by ill-health or injury from reporting for work you must let your manager know before the time at which you are expected to commence duty.  You must maintain regular contact with your manager during your absence to advise them of your situation and the date when you are likely to be able to return to work.

On return to work after absences of between four and seven calendar days you are required to complete a Self-Certification Form.  From the eighth calendar day of absence you are required to obtain a medical certificate.

During absence due to sickness you will be entitled to receive the following pay:

Failure to comply with the conditions set out above will result in the absence being treated as unauthorised.  Unauthorised absence will be unpaid and may be subject to disciplinary action.

14. NOTICE OF TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT

In order to terminate your employment you are required to give, and entitled to receive the following notice, except that after five years service you are entitled to receive one weeks notice for every year of service up to a maximum of 12 weeks:

In certain circumstances where the Trust cannot give the required notice, payment will be made in lieu of notice.

15. PROFESSIONAL REGISTRATION

If you are appointed to a post that requires professional or state registration, you must ensure that you remain registered and produce the appropriate evidence on request.  Failure to gain or retain appropriate registration may result in summary dismissal.

16. QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

Your employment is dependent upon you having the qualifications and experience stated in your application for employment.  If it is discovered that you do not have the stated qualifications or experience, or you become disbarred from an appropriate regulatory body or authority, you may be summarily dismissed.

17. PENSION SCHEME

You are entitled to become a member of the NHS Pension Scheme.  Pension contributions of 6% of your salary will be deducted unless you decide to opt out.  If you wish to opt out you must sign the pensions opt out form provided to you.  The Scheme is contracted out of SERPS.  Further information can be obtained from the Pensions Officer.

The normal retirement age is 65.  Details of exceptions to this can be found in the Guide to the NHS Pension Scheme or by referral to the Pensions Officer.

18. GRIEVANCES

In the event that you are dissatisfied with any decision of the Trust (other than relating to your basic rate of pay) you should take up your grievance in the first instance with your manager.  Should you remain dissatisfied you may take the matter up with management via the Grievance Policy and Procedure, details of which can be obtained from your manager.

19. DISCIPLINARY ISSUES

The Trust has an agreed Disciplinary Policy and Procedure that applies to all staff, details of which available from your manager.

20. CRIMINAL RECORDS

You are obliged to inform your manager if, during your employment, you:

• are bound over or convicted of a criminal offence in the UK or in any other country;
• are charged with a criminal offence, whether in the UK or another country, that is not yet disposed of receive a police caution, final warning or reprimand;
• become the subject of any investigation or proceedings by any body having regulatory functions relating to health/social care professionals including such a body in another country;
• become disqualified from the practice of a profession following fitness to practise proceedings by a regulatory body in the UK or in another country.

You should note that having a criminal record, police caution, final warning or reprimand is not automatically a bar to continued employment.  Each case will be considered on its merits following discussion with you.

21. MEDICAL EXAMINATION

The Trust may require you during the course of your employment to submit to a medical examination by a Medical Practitioner nominated by the Trust.

22. PERSONAL EFFECTS

Should you incur loss of or damage to any of your personal property on Trust premises by burglary, fire, theft or otherwise, the Trust cannot accept liability.  You are therefore advised to provide your own insurance cover.

23. COMPETITION

During the course of your employment with the Trust you shall not, without the previous consent in writing from your General Manager or Head of Department, engage in any activity in competition with the Trust or which may cause harm to the Trust.

24. CONFIDENTIALITY

You shall not divulge or communicate to any third party whatsoever (other than in so far as it may be necessary to do so in the performance of your duties or with the approval of your manager) or use, take away, conceal, destroy or retain for your own or another's advantage or to the detriment of the Trust, any of the trade secrets, accounts, financial or trading information or other confidential information which you may receive or obtain in relation to the businesses, finances, dealings, employees or patients of the Trust.  If you are required to obtain, process or use information, you should do so in a responsible and lawful way, and act in accordance with the Trust's Confidentiality Code of Conduct.  Breaches of confidence in relation to data will result in disciplinary action, not excluding summary dismissal.  You are also advised that such breaches may result in civil and/or criminal proceedings.  This restriction shall continue to apply after the termination of this contract save to the extent that such information is, or becomes other than through a breach of this clause, within the public domain.

25. DATA SECURITY AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT)

It is mandatory that all Removable Devices such as USB Keys, Portable Hard Disk drives or CD - Rom's are encrypted.  The Trust has implemented Checkpoint PointSec Endpoint Security which has a centrally managed policy which enforces that all such devices to be encrypted prior to use. 

Confidential Trust information may not be stored on any Removable Devices unless the device has been encrypted by the Trust.

We discourage the use of personal USB keys and would advise that you use only Trust purchased devices.  The use of camera phones is also prohibited.  Confidential Trust information may only be stored on mobile devices with the permission of your line manager or the Trust's  Information Manager. 

Information must not be stored permanently on mobile devices.  If it is necessary to work away from the Trust, information should be transferred to the Trust server and deleted from the device as soon as possible.

Trust information must not be stored on non-Trust equipment, for example home personal computers, laptops, PDA's or Smart Phones. An exception is the synchronisation of your calendar, task list and address book with non - Trust PDA's which is permitted.

It is essential that before you use any of the Trust's  IT systems you are familiar with and have completed the IT Acceptable User Policy which is available on the Trust's Intranet and from the Trust's  IT Department.

26. RESEARCH GOVERNANCE

The Trust manages all research in accordance with the requirements of the Department of Health Research Governance Framework for Health and Social Care (2001).  As a contract holder of the Trust you must comply with all reporting requirements, systems and duties of action put in place by the Trust to deliver research governance.  If, in the course of your duties, you undertake any form of research you agree to make yourself familiar with the Research Governance Framework and agree to accept the responsibilities associated with your role that are outlined within it.

27. OWNERSHIP OF INFORMATION

From time to time during the normal course of employment you may generate intellectual property (IP) which may have value in the delivery of better patient care. This IP can be in the form of inventions, discoveries, surgical techniques or methods, developments, processes, schemes, formulae, specifications, or any other improvements which may give rise to certain rights such as patents, trade marks, service marks, design rights, copyright, know-how, trade or business names and other similar rights (all of the foregoing rights being referred to as 'Intellectual Property Rights').

Where such IP is created in the course of your employment or normal duties then it will generally belong to the Trust, unless agreed otherwise in writing between you and the Trust. In relation to inventions potentially subject to patent protection this applies only if the duties of your employment would normally have been expected to give rise to inventions or if the nature of your responsibilities and duties are such that you are under a special responsibility to further the interests of the Trust. It is a condition of your employment not to exploit any IP Rights without the specific approval of your Head of Department. In addition you are also required to give the Trust all reasonable assistance required by the Trust in order to give full effect to this clause.

28. EQUALITY

It is the Trust's policy to treat all employees fairly and equally irrespective of disability, gender, race, religion, age, sexuality, marital status, parental status, caring responsibilities and hours of work. The Trust proactively seeks to challenge and eliminate inequality and discrimination and you will be expected to support this approach when undertaking your duties.

29. COLLECTIVE ARRANGEMENTS

The Trust encourages its staff to belong to a recognised Trade Union/Professional Association, and has a scheme of consultation and negotiation in place.  This involves representatives from recognised Trade Unions/Professional Associations in decisions relating to staffing matters, including terms and conditions of employment.  Full details of recognised unions/associations and consultation and negotiation arrangements are set out in the Trust's Recognition Agreement.

The Trust will inform you of any agreements reached through consultation and negotiation with recognised Trade Unions/Professional Associations that affect or amend your terms and conditions of employment with the Trust.

30. DUTIES OF THE POST

You may be required to undertake duties not specified in your job description but which may reasonably be required and which, in the opinion of the Trust, you should be capable of performing.

31. GENERAL

The terms and conditions of your employment are contained within this document, the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook and local policies and procedures.  These documents, in addition to your implied duties and obligations, represent the terms and conditions of your employment with xxx Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

32. VARIATION TO TERMS AND CONDITIONS

The Trust reserves the right to make amendments to your terms and conditions of employment following consultation with you or your representatives, and giving you reasonable notice in the circumstances.

DECLARATION

I confirm that I accept the appointment to the position of Staff Nurse, and agree to the terms and conditions set out above.

Signature of employee

(Name)

Date:

Signed and issued on behalf of xxx NHS Foundation Trust by

Name

Date: