Contract and Salary Information for ACF's/CL's
Once you have secured your ACF/CL post, you will be contacted by UCL in order to complete administrative formalities prior to your ACF/CL start date.
If you are not contacted please contact the UCL CATO team, as getting honorary contracts/employment contracts, identity badges, building access and library/ e-journal privileges are all essential from the very start of your ACF/CL post.
- At UCL you will be assigned to a particular Division/Institute depending on your specialty area.
- Your department is responsible for organising your contract and university access.
- Contact the UCL CATO team we will be able to help link you with your departmental administrator to ensure you have everything in place before your start date.
Research Costs
Your salary is paid as part of your ACF/CL. Consumables and other research costs are not provided by the NIHR Academy or HEE and you should discuss this with your academic supervisor and/or lead.
If you are an ACF:
- As an ACF you will remain employed by the Trust and hold a UCL honorary contract for the full duration of your post, e.g. 3 or 4 years.
- NIHR (through HEE) pays your NHS employer for your full basic (unbanded) salary costs (for both clinical and academic elements).
- NIHR does not pay for out of hours/banding payments, this has to be negotiated locally with the Trust.
Salary
- Your salary during your research time will be paid by the Trust by which you were employed immediately before you started doing your research block.
- You will remain employed by the Trust during your research block and will be paid by the Trust during this time even if you are rotating to a different hospital.
- You will also hold an honorary contract with UCL.
- Your ACF specialty programme lead supported where necessary by the UCL CATO team will be able to help if you encounter any difficulties.
All Trusts are contacted by HEE with details of the ACFs that they should be employing. Upon confirmation of these details, HEE will make extra payments to these Trusts to cover the ACF basic salary. The responsibility of your most recent employing Trust to pay your salary applies even if you were supposed to have changed Trust or will be returning to a different Trust.
You must make sure that Payroll at your Trust is aware of this arrangement ahead of time to ensure that you are paid promptly. It is often worth reconfirming this with a phone call at the start of each new block. If they have further questions or queries it is best to put them in touch with Health Education England (HEE).
Your pension/ NI contribution/ increments should be unaffected but please discuss this with the appropriate team at your employing Trust.
If you are a CL:
- As an CL you will be employed by the University and hold an honorary contract with the Trust for the full duration of your post, e.g. 4 years.
- NIHR (through HEE) pays the university employer for your full basic salary costs (for both clinical and academic elements) plus flexible pay premia
- NIHR does not pay for out of hours/banding payments, this has to be negotiated locally with the Trust.
Salary
- As a university employee your salary during your clinical time will be paid by UCL who will also be paying your salary during your research block.
- You therefore will need an honorary contract with the Trust.
- This arrangement can sometimes cause temporary problems: many Trusts may not be familiar with the programme, so you should therefore ensure that the Trust is aware of your situation.
Your CL specialty programme lead and UCL department supported where necessary by the UCL CATO team will be able to help out with any problems you may encounter.
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