Salary and Leave Details
The Foundation Therapist salary will be managed by the SLE process, including tax, national insurance, payslips and pension.
Annual Leave
Annual Leave entitlement for a full-time contract is 27 working days – at the pro rata rate you are entitled to 10 working days. Bank Holidays for a full-time contract is 8 days and should be awarded on a pro-rata basis or according to the practice policies (please check this with your practice at the start of the programme).
There is an entitlement to four weeks sick/maternity leave PRO RATA which can be extended with approval of your Educational Supervisor and the Training Programme Director, otherwise employment ceases immediately.
The annual leave year is 1st April – 31st March. Annual leave requests must be submitted with reasonable notice and agreed by your host organisation. Your annual leave is allocated on a pro-rata basis.
Please see process flow below for booking annual leave.
Please see Appendix 2 for the Annual Leave Request form
Working Hours
Your working hours and patterns will be agreed with your Host Practice and your TPD. Foundation Therapists will normally work 14 hours per week exclusive of lunch breaks, including any study day courses, at the agreed times.
Educational Supervisors will allow and require the Foundation Therapist to attend all study days in the year arranged by the Administrative Officer.
You will have at least one tutorial a week of one hour’s length, and this will be included within your normal working hours.
Sickness
The Foundation Therapist must notify their Educational Supervisor and Admin Officer/TPD on the first day of absence when they require time off from their placement due to sickness; the Foundation Therapist is expected to include the nature of the illness.
The FT is also required to inform NWSSP (their employer) of any sickness. Please email NWSSPSLE.Absence@wales.nhs.uk.
For any period of sickness absence between one and seven calendar days the Foundation Therapist must complete a self-certification form, unless already certified by a fit note or hospital certificate. This should be completed on return to work. If the period of absence continues beyond seven calendar days, the Foundation Therapist must produce a fit note (medical certificate) for every day of absence thereafter. A fit note should normally be received by the Educational Supervisor no more than three calendar days after it becomes due.
Sickness absence not covered by a self-certificate or a fit note will be treated as unauthorised absence for which no payment will be made.
After any period of sickness absence, the Foundation Therapist will be asked to attend a return-to-work interview with their Educational Supervisor to discuss their absence and any specific needs or concerns they may have.
For any periods of absence other than annual leave and study leave that collectively exceeds 14 days in any year, a review will take place to determine whether the programme completion date needs to be extended. Any change to the programme end date will be confirmed by HEIW.
It is the FTs responsibility to report all instances of sickness to NWSSP. Please see below for a process flow with regards to sickness and absence.
Please note, any absence from a study day will be notified to your Educational Supervisor.