Policy News - 3 February 2022

The following policies have recently been ratified by the Trust’s Policy Committee.   Please take the time to review those which may be relevant to your role.  

Secondary Employment Policy

The Secondary Employment Policy outlines:

• The declaration process for secondary employment for both current and prospective employees;
• How to prevent employees and/or the Trust contravening legislation on working times/hours including the total hours worked and breaks between work periods and annual leave.
• That employees do not engage in other paid work that may conflict with the interests of, or affect their performance or attendance under their Contract of Employment with the Trust.
• Support for managers and staff in complying with legislation on working time/hours, including total hours worked, breaks between shifts and annual leave.
• Guidance for medical staff with regard to complying with the relevant national terms and conditions, GMC guidance and the Department of Health’s Code of Conduct for Private Practice in relation to private practice / fee-paying services. 

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Flexible Working Policy

The purpose of the Flexible Working policy is to give information and guidance to employees and managers about different types of flexible working arrangements.  The policy describes the process to follow for employees and managers when an employee makes a formal request to change their working hours/working pattern.

The policy has also incorporate the revision to section 22 of NHS Terms and Conditions which came into effect from 13 September 2021. 

The key policy changes are:

• Contractual right to request flexible working from day one of employment;
• No limit on the number of requests and the right to make them regardless of the reason;
• Expectation that the Trust will promote flexibility options at the point of recruitment and through regular staff engagement through one to one, health and wellbeing conversations, appraisals and team discussions
• Change to the number of flexi leave days to be taken per year to a maximum of 10

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Annual Leave Policy

The purpose of this policy is to:

• Help employees achieve a positive work-life balance;
• Ensure a consistent and equitable approach to the management of annual leave;
• Ensure employees understand their responsibilities in relation to using annual leave;
• Ensure that managers understand their responsibilities in managing annual leave within their teams or work area.

The policy applies to all those Trust employees who are provided with a specific annual leave entitlement through their contract of employment.  It supersedes and replaces all previous annual leave policies, procedures and guidelines.  Annual leave entitlements are pro-rata for part time employees, as a proportion of full-time contractual hours, irrespective of the days of the week worked.

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Resolution Policy

The Resolution Policy [previous Grievance Policy] provides a clear and simple means of resolving any workplace issues, as close to its origin as possible and as quickly as is reasonably practicable.  The focus of the policy is for the manager and employee to work together to achieve a resolution.  

The purpose of the policy is to ensure that:

• All employees are treated fairly, consistently and reasonably;
• All cases are taken seriously;
• All individual circumstances are dealt with sensitively;
• Confidentiality is maintained

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