NHS “staff passport” to protect rights on transfer

A “staff passport” agreed between all the NHS unions, employers and the Department of Health, has been launched to enshrine NHS staff rights on transfer to other employers within the NHS system or to private or social enterprise health service providers.

The passport is a toolkit that clarifies and codifies the complex area of protection of terms and conditions in the transfer process. This covers contractual terms and union recognition and sets out the HR standards any new employer must provide.

The measure was first proposed by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists (CSP) in 2007, and talks started in earnest in early 2008. In the process, NHS unions have gained some important rights for members, including the right for NHS pension scheme membership to continue if staff transfer to a social enterprise employer. Unions are pressing for the same right for transfers to a private sector employer. (Pensions are not normally protected under TUPE transfer regulations.)

Another gain is in relation to continuity of service, where staff returning to NHS employment after transfer out would keep their continuity of service.

The passport is designed to give staff security and clarity in the move towards greater marketisation of the health service. Details can be found on the CSP website www.csp.org.uk, or from www.socialpartnershipforum.org/StaffPassport/Pages/StaffPassport.aspx