Claiming hours

Claiming hours

Please note this guidance cannot be applied retrospectively. The guidance will apply to those learners undertaking placements from the 18th September 2023.

The wide variety of practice learning environments lead to a variety of shift patterns and potentially learners claiming their ‘hours’ inconsistently.

To promote consistency here are some guiding principles:

• If a learner is on a shift of 10 hours or less, they must deduct half an hour break from the hours claimed e.g.

• A half hour break in a 10-hour shift, or less, is the minimum break required. If it is the custom and practice of the practice area to have more breaks than this, then the learner should be included in these breaks, but no further time should be subtracted from the total shift hours.
• If a learner is on a shift of over 10 hours, they must deduct half an hour break from the hours claimed and they MUST have a further half an hour break, which will not be deducted from the practice hours claimed e.g.

• A one-hour break in a shift over 10 hours, is the minimum break required (half an hour deducted from the hours claimed, half an hour not deducted from the hours claimed). If it is the custom and practice of the practice area to have more breaks than this, then the learner should be included in these breaks, but no further time should be subtracted from the total shift hours.
• If a learner is working 10 hours or more per shift during the day, they will not normally work more than 2 shifts consecutively. If the learner is working more than 10 hours per shift on a night shift, they would not normally work more than 3 consecutive nights.
• Learners will normally claim 37.5 hours per week, or 75 hours per two weeks, when in the practice learning environment, after the breaks have been deducted.
• A maximum of 45.5hrs can be claimed per week. A learner should not work more than 45.5 hours per week, with their breaks deducted, because they cannot claim any further hours unless exceptional circumstances*.
  * If a learner is making up time out with the programme planned placements e.g. in their annual leave, they can work up to a maximum of 48 hours with breaks deducted.
• Bank holidays: Learners will not be expected to work bank holidays. In a week with 1 bank holiday the learner will normally claim 30 hours, when in the practice learning environment, after the breaks have been deducted.
• If a learner chooses to work a bank holiday e.g. to make up time, they will claim practice hours as per guidance above NB they cannot claim more than 45.5 hours per week after breaks are deducted

Examples of practice hour claims

Ward A

Clinic B

Independent Organisation C

Ward D

Area E