Following consultation with national stakeholders including NHS England and Improvement (NHSEI), NHS Employers, trade union and employer colleagues, the government has decided that now is the right time to withdraw the staff terms and conditions section of the COVID-19 workforce guidance. This decision follows the government’s publication of its plans for living with COVID-19, which saw the withdrawal of all restrictions and will facilitate the overdue move back to normal contractual arrangements.
The guidance will be withdrawn on 7 July 2022 with an implementation timetable has been provided through to September 2022. This includes the removal of full pay for staff who are unwell with a COVID-19 sickness absence, with an engagement and notice period as described below.
The process of withdrawing the guidance, while ensuring staff who are currently unwell with COVID-19 are fully supported, is a priority.
This process will be managed over the phases outlined below:
|
Phase |
Effective from |
Action |
|
One
|
7July 2022 |
The staff terms and conditions section of the COVID-19 guidance will be withdrawn in its entirety. This includes:
|
|
Two |
7 July 2022 – 3 August 2022 |
One-to-one discussions with affected staff will take place (virtually or in person) by 3 August to explain the changes. |
|
Three |
4 August 2022 – 31 August 2022 |
The formal notice period for staff transitioning back to normal contractual sick pay arrangements will begin on 4 August and will run to 31 August inclusive. |
|
Four
|
1 September 2022 |
Staff who were in receipt of COVID-19 sick pay as a result of being unwell prior to 7 July, and continue to be unwell, will be transitioned back to their normal contractual sick pay entitlements unless they have already returned to work. Any period of sickness paid as COVID-19 sick pay, regardless of length, will not count in the aggregation of previous absences for the purposes of calculating entitlement to contractual sick pay. From this date, all staff, regardless of their reason for sickness absence, will be paid in line with their normal contractual sick pay arrangements. |
Further clarity on these changes in the form of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) can be found here.
If you have any questions or queries in relation to the above, please contact the Employee Relations Team at dchst.employeerelations@nhs.net.
For details of the Trust Wellbeing service, including support with Financial Wellbeing, please contact dchst.yourwellbeingteam@nhs.net or visit the Staff Wellbeing Services intranet page.