Fixed term contract rights?

bobblebob

Been employed with NHS for 16yrs. Ive just been offered a 6 month fixed term contract in another department. What happens at the end of the fixed term? Do i go back to my substantive role or am i out the door?

Im currently on annual leave so my boss trying to contact HR, as with it being fixed term and not secondment she isnt sure what happens

bobblebob

My current manager has asked if the contract can be changed to a secondment so i get that protection

Sandtree

You'd need to check when your continuous employment date would be considered from... do you have to resign and then take the new FTC or is your contract simply changed to an FTC and therefore you still have 16 years continuous service? If its the later then you still have employment rights and its effectively a redundancy with severance based on the full 16.5 years service.

General_Grant

Sandtree said:

You'd need to check when your continuous employment date would be considered from... do you have to resign and then take the new FTC or is your contract simply changed to an FTC and therefore you still have 16 years continuous service? If its the later then you still have employment rights and its effectively a redundancy with severance based on the full 16.5 years service.

It wouldn't matter if one resigned and then started the new job within a week of the first ending, there would still be continuity of employment.

bobblebob

My substantive role is pretty safe so doubt i will have nothing to go back to

My department have always said they will try and keep people in work where possible. If that means redeploying in another role it will be offered

bobblebob

Jillanddy said:

bobblebob said:

My substantive role is pretty safe so doubt i will have nothing to go back to

My department have always said they will try and keep people in work where possible. If that means redeploying in another role it will be offered

Yeah. So did mine. That's why I'm facing redundancy 18 months before retirement which will cost me £3k on my annual pension. And I have it all in writing.  If you want to trust them,  fine.  I did.  Huge mistake. 

Yea i dont trust them, hence i want a secondment. Been lied to too many times

bobblebob

Jillanddy said:

bobblebob said:

Jillanddy said:

bobblebob said:

My substantive role is pretty safe so doubt i will have nothing to go back to

My department have always said they will try and keep people in work where possible. If that means redeploying in another role it will be offered

Yeah. So did mine. That's why I'm facing redundancy 18 months before retirement which will cost me £3k on my annual pension. And I have it all in writing.  If you want to trust them,  fine.  I did.  Huge mistake. 

Yea i dont trust them, hence i want a secondment. Been lied to too many times

I think you don't understand. I am also seconded. My guaranteed in writing secondment from a substantive role is not worth the paper it is written on several times over. A secondment has absolutely no meaning in law.  Neither does a substantive post. If your don't trust them now,  don't do it. I trusted them,  and I will be claiming JSA in a few months if they get their way. 

Cheers. I thought a secondment offered you legal protection? Namily you were entitled to return to your previous role at the end of the contract?

Savvy_Sue

Jillanddy said:

bobblebob said:

Cheers. I thought a secondment offered you legal protection? Namily you were entitled to return to your previous role at the end of the contract?

There is no such law.

The closest there is to such a law is when you take maternity / paternity leave:

From Citizens Advice Bureau: 
You're entitled to return to the same job after maternity leave if you've been away 26 weeks or less. Your pay and conditions must be the same as or better than if you hadn't gone on maternity leave. 

BUT even that is not cast iron. If the needs of the business change, your original job may no longer be available. You can legally be made redundant. 

A secondment is really just a statement of intent: wherever you're being seconded from would like you back, all other things being equal. But things can change. 

bobblebob

Thanks. If say they wouldnt let me go back to my substantive role, would i least be entitled to redudancy if on a secondment?

TrickyDicky101

bobblebob said:

Thanks. If say they wouldnt let me go back to my substantive role, would i least be entitled to redudancy if on a secondment?

You would be entitled to redundancy (for your entire 16.5 years continuous service) even if it remained a Fixed Term contract.

FBaby

Be careful. Remember that for redundancy to apply, it's the role that has to be made redundant, not you.

If your fixed term is to cover someone on maternity live who intends to come for instance, redundancy would not apply.