NHS career breaks: the employment break scheme

Section 34 of the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook says NHS employers should give all staff access to an unpaid employment break scheme. The break lasts between three months and five years, and you do not have to resign to take one. Each employer agrees its own scheme with staff representatives, so the exact rules are in your trust’s policy.

What the handbook says employers should do

The wording is “should”, not “must”, and the details are set locally. The handbook sets the national shape of the scheme. It is meant for people who need longer away from work than parental leave and other leave allow. Reasons the scheme should explicitly cover include childcare, eldercare, care for another dependant, training, study leave and working abroad. Other reasons are to be considered on their merits.

The break is unpaid. It sits alongside the handbook’s sections on flexible working and carers, and a request for a break is not a statutory right the way a flexible working request is. If your reason is caring, look at the flexible working guide too, because a change of hours may meet the need without a break.

Who can apply and for how long

The scheme should normally be open to all employees with at least 12 months of service. Applications are made in writing. Breaks can be taken as a single period or as more than one, with a minimum of three months and a maximum of five years. The length should balance your needs with the needs of the service, and the scheme should allow a break to be extended with appropriate notice, or ended early.

The agreement before you go

Every break should be covered by an agreement between you and your employer before it starts. The handbook lists what that agreement should cover:

• How the break affects entitlements that depend on length of service.
• A guarantee that if you return within one year, the same job will be available as far as reasonably practicable.
• If the break is longer than a year, a return to as similar a job as possible.
• A return at the equivalent salary level, reflecting any increases awarded during the break.
• Notice before you return: two months if the break is less than a year and six months if it is longer.
• Keeping in touch during the break.
• Keeping up your professional registration, including any specified training courses.
• Training and re-induction when you come back.
• NHS Pension arrangements during the break.

The job guarantee is the main protection, and it has softer wording than people expect. “As far as reasonably practicable” leaves the employer some room, particularly after a break of more than a year. Get the terms in writing before you start.

Service, leave and redundancy

You do not resign, so your employment contract is varied rather than ended. The handbook says the period of the break counts toward continuous employment for statutory purposes. Other things that depend on length of service, such as contractual redundancy payments and leave entitlements, are suspended for the period of the break.

The continuous service guide covers how continuity works. The handbook also refers to its separate rules on reckonable service, so ask HR to confirm in the agreement how your service date will look afterwards.

Pensions

The handbook does not give pension figures. It says the agreement should cover NHS Pension arrangements during the break, and points members to NHS Pensions in England and Wales, the HSC Pension Service in Northern Ireland and the Scottish Public Pensions Agency in Scotland. Check the effect of the break on your pension, and any options open to you, with the scheme before you sign. The NHS Pension Scheme guide gives the general picture.

Other work and keeping registered

People on employment breaks will not normally be allowed to take up paid employment with another employer. The exceptions are examples such as work overseas or charitable work that could broaden experience, and for those you need written authority.

If you are a registered professional, the agreement should also set out what you need to do to keep your registration up to date, including attending specified training. Registration rules come from the regulator, so check them with the NMC or HCPC separately. The returning to work after a break guide has more on going back.

If you are refused

You are entitled to a written reason if your application is turned down. You can use the grievance procedure if you think the request was not handled properly. The handbook says records of applications and decisions should be kept for at least twelve months, and that employers should monitor the scheme each year with staff representatives, including diversity data.

What to check

• Your trust’s employment break policy, including its eligibility rules and notice periods.
• The written agreement: job guarantee, return salary, pension and registration terms.
• How your service date for leave and redundancy pay is shown afterwards.
• Whether another route, such as unpaid leave or reduced hours, would meet your need.

A union representative can go through the agreement with you before you sign.