TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction
2. Purpose & Scope
3. Roles & Responsibilities
4. Consultation
5. Redundancy, Redeployment, Work Trial Periods
6. Redundancy Payment
7. Pay Protection
8. Change of Site / Base
9. TUPE transfers
10. Appeals
ANTI-DISCRIMINATION STATEMENT
King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is dedicated to embracing the broad diversity of our staff, patients and communities and stand firmly against all forms of prejudice and discrimination.
Our commitment extends to all protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 as well as other vulnerable groups. We expect every employee to respect and uphold this in relation to all our trust policies, practices, and procedures.
It is against the law to discriminate against anyone because of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race (including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin), religion and belief, sex, and sexual orientation.
Discrimination towards our staff or patients, in any form, is strictly prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to, racism, ableism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, sexism, ageism, religious discrimination, and any other prejudiced behaviour that undermines the rights, wellbeing and identity of our staff, and patients.
Discrimination can be displayed in various forms including, but not limited to, language, behaviours, unequal treatment, harassment, exclusion, stereotyping, or denying access to opportunities.
We embrace our duty to address discrimination in all its forms, and we pledge to:
listen to the voices and lived experience of colleagues and patients, and other groups who suffer discrimination or lack of fair representation commit to working towards removing inequalities within our Trust, including differences in access, experience and outcomes for our diverse patient groups turn that commitment into positive action and real change use our voice and influence within the wider system to address the wider social determining factors of health Accept our responsibility to listen to, and learn from, the experience of all underrepresented groups listen with respect and genuine curiosity, acknowledging that continued action and resource is required to bring about the change we need to see. ask all colleagues to work with us to remove unfairness and discrimination within our organisation and within our wider communities.
Introduction
At King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, we continually review the way we deliver our services to provide the highest quality care within available resources.
The Trust may need to make changes to the number, skills, and organisation of the people we employ. We call this organisational change.
This policy sets out the steps we will follow to support our people affected by organisational change and enhance the services to our patients and other service users.
Principles of Organisational Change
The Trust approach to change is underpinned by our values and our commitment to fairness, inclusion and staff wellbeing. We will do what we can to protect job security and we will act fairly and reasonably towards people affected by organisational change.
We will work with trade unions in line with the principles outlined in our Partnership Agreement so that organisational change is managed to a high standard.
When people are affected by any proposed organisational change we will:
Communicate and ask for input at an early stage. Keep people regularly updated on timescales and next steps. Engage in meaningful consultation with staff and trade union representatives and actively seek staff views before making a final decision where this is appropriate Do what we reasonably can to avoid redundancies, through measures such as stopping recruitment and redeployment. Make every effort to find suitable alternative work for people at risk of redundancy and support staff to acquire new skills.
Purpose and Scope
This policy applies to everyone directly employed by the Trust. It has been developed with our trade union partners.
Change, for the purpose of this policy, is defined as a significant alteration to an employee's contract with the Trust. For example this may be (but not limited to):
Redundancy: Defined as the requirement for employees to carry out work of a particular kind that has ceased or diminished or are expected to cease or diminish.
Change of banding and/or contractual hours: A requirement of the Trust for employees to alter their job banding or hours on a permanent basis
Substantial change to job description: A requirement of the Trust for employees to substantially alter the content of their job description by more than 20% on a permanent basis and either alters their overall responsibility and banding or both. Any changes to job descriptions by more than 20% will go through the job evaluation process.
Substantial change to work patterns - This could include the introduction by the Trust of a shift system or a requirement to attend work over a longer or shorter period of time on a permanent basis. Including unsocial hours as per Agenda for Change.
Permanent change of place of work to another Trust site - Whilst it is reasonable to ask an employee to temporarily change their place of work within the Trust's portfolio. A permanent change to an employees place of work to a site more than 10 miles away, without employee agreement, should follow this policy unless the staff member agrees to the move and this is in writing.
Transfer of employment to another organisation (TUPE) - The Transfer of Undertakings legislation may apply in some circumstances which will require consultation and specialist advice from the People Business Partnering Team and the Employee Relations team
Exclusions
Minor changes, for the purposes of this policy, are defined as an insignificant change to someone's contract with the Trust. These would not be subject to the organisational change policy. Examples include (but are not limited to):
Change of department location within the same site or a reasonable move to another Trust site with adequate notice or employee agreement under 10 miles away Change of speciality or systems - e.g. a change to the mix of specialities on a ward or the introduction of a new system which may require additional training - all relevant training will be given Change of line manager or reporting structure Insubstantial change (20% or less) to a job description which does not impact either overall responsibility and banding or both Short term or temporary reasonable changes to hours, work patterns or location - any such changes should be less than 3 months and with employee agreement or with reasonable notice given; or a permanent site move under 10 miles
When we are planning organisational change we will assess how changes are likely to impact on different groups of staff to make sure they do not disadvantage people with certain protected characteristics more than others, such as age, race, gender, disability and sexual orientation. We do this before final decisions on change proposals are taken.
We will also consider how best to communicate and consult on the proposed changes in a way that is inclusive and accessible for all. In order to prompt proper consideration of equality, managers are required to complete the Equality Risk Assessment Form (ERAF) whenever a significant change to contract is a potential outcome. There is an expectation that any impact on staff will be addressed by an appropriate mitigation plan. The EDI team will support managers to complete a robust ERAF.
Roles and Responsibilities
During an organisational change process the following roles and responsibilities apply:
Managers
Talk and listen to staff and their trade union representatives about proposed organisational changes, ensuring that the proposal is clearly understood and comments and questions are properly responded to and actively sought, from staff and trade union representatives. Seek expert input from the People Business Partnering team on the design of new working arrangements and consultation processes. Ensuring consultation is meaningful and with a view to reaching agreement. Take all reasonable steps to find suitable alternative employment for displaced staff. Act fairly and avoid discrimination on the grounds of a protected characteristic. Signpost affected staff to relevant support services, eg; Employee Assistant Programme
People Business Partnering team (PBP team)
Ensure consultation (including pre-consultation) is carried out to a high standard and in line with agreed policy. Provide expert advice and support. Work with the recruitment team to ensure any redeployment commitments to 'at risk' staff are processed in line with the Redeployment Policy.
Trade Union Representatives
A vital role in advising and representing staff undergoing organisational change Contribute to the development of sensible and practical alternative proposals, action plans and relevant documentation.
People affected by Organisational Change
Play an active role in the consultation process, considering proposals and suggesting sensible and practical alternatives where appropriate. Participate in actions to implement a change decision, e.g. attending interviews for new roles, not unreasonably declining offers of suitable alternative employment and taking part in activities to support the acquisition of skills for a new job.
Consultation
4.1 Pre-Consultation
Early informal consultation with local staff side representatives / trade union representatives should occur where possible. This is also known as pre-consultation. This involves managers /people business partners discussing the proposed organisational changes with local staff side representatives ahead of completing a consultation paper.
Consultation
Where it is deemed that a change process is major and falls under this policy, then it may need to include a process of a formal consultation. Formal consultations will normally last a minimum period of 30 calendar days. Where staff and managers are in agreement, consultation periods can be for shorter periods.
Step 1; Manager to liaise with People Business Partner and complete the organisational change document including input from Chair of Staff Side. The document will describe the change, the driving forces behind the change and set out the steps to implement the proposed change. The document should also include a summary of any pre-consultations carried in line with 4.1.
Step 2; if known, the relevant trade union representatives a copy of the consultation document seven calendar days in advance of affected staff being sent a copy. The Chair of Staff Side will send on the consultation document to their staff side committee colleagues as soon as received. This will provide representatives an opportunity to give early feedback. After seven calendar days the manager will send the consultation document to the affected staff.
In parallel to steps 1 and 2, manager to have informal conversations with staff affected to make them aware of the planned organisational change proposals.
Step 3; the manager will launch the consultation in writing to all affected staff. It is also expected that the manager will invite staff to attend meetings to talk about how the proposed change affects them. Depending on the circumstances the manager may offer to meet individually or as a group, or both. Managers will also fully engage people who are not at work during the period of the organisational change, e.g. people on maternity leave, long term sickness absence and career break. Where a restructure of a team or department is proposed, the consultation document will explain how they propose to implement the new structure. If this includes selecting people for new roles the manager will describe the proposed selection process and the support people will be offered. Staff are entitled be accompanied by an accredited Trade Union representative or a workplace colleague employed by the Trust in the meetings.
Step 4; At the end of the formal consultation period, the manager will write to staff and trade union representatives to respond to the matters raised in consultation, to confirm the final decision and be clear about any changes to the original proposal. The manager will also set out what happens next to implement the change, which where relevant may include details of meetings to discuss redeployment, redundancy or pay protection and timescales around selection processes. See Pay Protection policy and Redeployment policy, both held on the Trust's intranet.
Any organisational change may result in redundancy, where this is the case Managers will abide by the legal requirement to consult with certain timeframes; Managers will speak to their local People Business Partnering team if this is the case.
People affected by organisational change are able to request an extension to the consultation period in writing, setting out their rationale. Managers should not unreasonably refuse requests. If a request is declined, the manager will explain their rationale in writing.
Redundancy, Redeployment and Trial Periods
If staff are at risk of redundancy we will do what we can to work to find suitable alternative employment. Suitable alternative employment may be a job that has broadly similar responsibilities to someone's current post, is the same banding or no more than one pay band lower and the person meets the essential criteria in the person specification, once adjustments have been made and reasonable training offered. It is an employer's responsibility to seek suitable alternative employment for staff before making redundancies.
In general terms, whether a job is 'suitable' will depend on a number of key factors including:
how similar the work is to the employee's current job the terms of the job being offered skills, abilities and circumstances in relation to the job the pay (including benefits), status, hours and location.
The question of suitable alternative employment should be determined on a case by case basis. The recruitment team and People Business Partners will support managers with this in line with the Trust's Redeployment Policy.
Where a team is restructured, people might be automatically moved in to a suitable alternative post in the new structure, if there are no other people eligible for the role. This is known as 'slotting in'. Groups of people may also have a priority interview for suitable alternative posts in the new structure where it is not possible to slot people in because there are more people than available posts or the banding of the post is higher. This is known as 'ring fencing'.
Alternatively, people in posts that are deleted as a result of organisational change may, by mutual agreement, be offered redeployment to suitable alternative employment elsewhere in the Trust for the duration of their notice period. We will advise people of suitable vacancies. Staff are also encouraged to look at suitable internal vacancies.
Please refer to the Trust's Redeployment policy for details relating to Redeployment procedure.
Redundancy Payment
If someone works in a post that becomes redundant, the manager will send them a letter confirming their notice of dismissal. The length of the notice period will vary according to band and length of Kings' Trust service. The letter will include the last day of service, the redundancy payment, arrangements for finding suitable alternative employment and the right of appeal.
When a redundancy arises, NHS rules allow for a redundancy payment on the condition that the member of staff has at least two years NHS continuous service, participates fully in the search for suitable alternative employment and does not unreasonably decline the offer of a suitable alternative post.
The redundancy payment is calculated as follows: One month's pay for each per year of 'reckonable' NHS service, up to a maximum of 24 months' pay. If total annual earnings are less than £23,000, the redundancy payment is calculated as if the earnings are £23,000. If total annual earnings are more than £80,000, the redundancy payment is calculated as if the earnings are £80,000.
If someone is an NHS Pension Scheme member and they have reached the minimum pension age, they may choose to retire early without any reduction in the value of their pension benefits as an alternative to receiving full redundancy payment. For more information, contact our Capita pensions team on pensions@kings.hrshub.co.uk
If someone has previously received NHS redundancy pay or has retired, the redundancy payment will be based on reckonable NHS service from the date of re-engagement.
If someone employed on a Very Senior Managers contract is re-employed in the NHS within 12 months of redundancy they will need to repay some or all of their contractual redundancy payment. For details, staff should contact their People Business Partner.
Pay Protection
If, as a result of organisational change, an employee's pay will reduce in their prospective new role, the old salary will attract pay protection to allow the employee to eventually adjust to their new salary. To enable this to happen more effectively, pay protected salaries are frozen for the set pay protected period and are not subject to any increases to allow any catch-up to happen and to acquaint the employee more effectively to their new salary. The department from which the employee is transferring will meet the additional pay protection cost for one year.
Please see policy here:
http://kingsdocs/docs/policies/Human%20Resources/Pay%20Protection%20Policy.pdf
8. Change of Site because of organisational change
The majority of our staff are expected to work across all our sites, and have a mobile contract of employment. Some people however may be eligible for help with excess travel costs, as a result of organisational change, in line with the Expenses Policy, where this is a temporary or short term change, including where the change is less than 10 miles away. Where this is a more permanent arrangement, then it is likely that staff should be consulted with unless they have agreed to the change or unless the new site is less than 10 miles away.
9. TUPE Transfers of staff to another employer
If a manager intends to transfer staff to another employer, they should seek advice from the People Business Partnering Team. The Trust will give notice of any transfer to staff and trade union partners as early as possible. The manager must ensure the engagement of the relevant unions for the affected staff, and ensure that the details of the Trade Union representatives and the lead manager are shared with the affected staff.
If someone's employment transfers to another employer under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) regulations (TUPE), their contractual terms and conditions transfer with them and cannot be changed as a consequence of the transfer. Whenever we propose a transfer we will determine from the outset whether TUPE applies.
10. Appeal
Any member of staff that faces a redundancy or dismissal situation as a result of the Organisational Change Policy can appeal against it under the Appeals Policy.
Associated Policies
Redeployment Policy Pay Protection Policy Appeals Policy
Appendix: Checklist for the review and approval of trust-wide policies