Employee Service Award
What is the Employee Service Award scheme?
The Employee Service Award scheme recognises and celebrates our staff's dedication and commitment of service to the Trust and the NHS.
The Trust values the contribution of all our staff and the award scheme celebrates the key milestones of aggregated NHS service:
- 5 years
- 15 years
- 25 years
- 40 years
How to qualify for an Employee Service Award
To qualify for an Employee Service Award, staff must have completed 5, 15, 25 or 40 full years of aggregated service within the NHS, two years of which must have been continuous service within UHB or its predecessor organisation, at the time of application.
If a member of staff joins the Trust at either 5, 15, 25 or 40 years NHS service, they can apply for an Employee Service Award following two years continuous service with the Trust, as long as no award has been offered at a previous Trust. For example: If you have applied and received a 25 year service award under the previous UHB scheme, you will not be eligible to apply for a 5, 15 or 25 year award under the new scheme
Colleagues can apply for their 5, 15, 25 or 40 year employee service award using the online form.
The process and what to expect
Colleagues who wish to be recognised for their 5, 15, 25 or 40 years service must apply using the online form.
Once approved, colleagues are invited to attend an annual celebration ceremony in the spring, where they will receive a recognition certificate and badge to mark their achievement.
Colleagues who reach 25 or 40 years long service, will be approved by the Employee Service Awards Team, and once approved will also have the opportunity to be invited to one of two celebrations at one of our hospitals, with their hospital leadership team, where they will receive a voucher.
For applications that have been submitted for 5 or 15 years service, line managers will be notified of any new approval requests by ‘Workflow’ in the MS Teams channel.
The notification will include a short form for you to review your colleague’s service and approve the request. If you are unsure about an application, or do not believe there is enough evidence to confirm a colleague's length of service, the Employee Service Awards Team is available to advise further.
FAQs
Can I apply retrospectively for an award?
Regardless of the time that has passed since you have hit a long service milestone, if you feel you are eligible for an award, we would like to invite you to apply.
The number of years’ service will be calculated on the basis of the total number of years employed in the NHS; two years of which must have been continuous service within UHB, or its predecessor organisations.
We apologise for requesting you to apply personally, rather than us approaching you, however due to the size of the organisation, there is no single information source that would provide us with accurate information about your service.
What will my award be?
The new scheme is Trust-wide and replaces all previous long-service schemes in place at UHB. It recognises 5, 15, 25 and 40 years of aggregated NHS service. Colleagues can apply for an employee service award providing they have two years continuous service within UHB at the point of submission. Please see details of the awards below:
| Length of service | Award |
|---|---|
| 5 years NHS service | A recognition of service badge and certificate |
| 15 years NHS service | A recognition of service badge and certificate |
| 25 years NHS service | A recognition of service badge, certificate and £125 in the form of a gift card/vouchers |
| 40 years NHS service | A recognition of service badge, certificate and £200 in the form of a gift card/vouchers |
What happens once I have submitted my application form?
Once the completed form has been received and reviewed, you will be advised of your entitlement to the Employee Service Award and the steps that will follow. Service is verified using the Trust’s payroll and pension system. If service dates do not match Trust records, it is likely that further evidence will be requested and it is the staff member’s responsibility to provide this upon request (please see guidance for examples of acceptable documentation). Any other documentation submitted which is not specified in the Employee Service Award guidance will be subject to an assessment of validity.
All colleagues who apply for their 5, 15, 25 or 40 year Employee Service Award before 31 December, and have had their application approved, will be invited to an annual ceremony in the spring of the following year. Here you will receive your certificate and recognition badge, from our Chief Executive, and have the chance to celebrate with other long-serving colleagues. Ceremonies will take place at each of our hospital sites and contact will be made closer to the time regarding these arrangements.
Colleagues who are collecting 25 or 40 years’ service will also be invited to attend one of two site-based celebrations throughout the year; those colleagues will be contact separately about these events.
Please note, any applications received after 31 December will be included in the following year’s cohort, with ceremonies taking place in the year after that.
Will I be invited to an awards ceremony?
All colleagues receiving Employee Service Awards will be invited to an annual ceremony, where they will be presented with their recognition certificate and badge by the Chief Executive.
If you are unable to make the ceremony, you may still request a recognition certificate and badge, and this can be collected after all four award ceremonies have been held. You will be contacted by the team via email when your certificate is ready to collect.
When will I get my recognition certificate and badge?
Those who attend one of the four ceremonies held across our hospital sites will be presented with their certificate and badge at the ceremony.
Colleagues who have requested a certificate but were unable to attend a ceremony will be able to collect their certificate and badge after all four award ceremonies have been held. You will be contacted by the team via email when your certificate is ready to collect.
Colleagues who’re collecting 25 or 40 years service will also be eligible to receive a voucher award and will be invited to receive this at the site-based celebration held throughout the year.
Colleagues that are unable to attend the site-based celebration will be contacted separately by the team via email to arrange a suitable collection time.
I received a long service award at my previous Trust, can I receive an award for the same years’ service under this scheme?
Please note that anyone who has received a service award previously under the old UHB award scheme, its predecessor, or from another NHS employer, will not be eligible for a further award for the same years’ service, or lesser, under this new scheme.
For example: If you have applied and received a 25-year service award under the previous UHB scheme, you will not be eligible to apply for a 5- or 15-year award under the new scheme.
More information
Please email us if you have any questions or require more information on the Employee Service Award scheme.