If you need to make a short term appointment that has regular hours or irregular hours a casual appointment is most likely the most appropriate route.

Internships are always paid via a casual appointment.

Casual workers can be appointed for short pieces of work where a recruitment process would not be possible. Casual appointments are not advertised so are generally only suitable when you know of someone available with relevant skills that could complete the work.

If you do need to advertise this type of post you can request an advert in the department weekly newsletter. These posts cannot be advertised outside the department by the HR team but you can share the advert through your group networks to reach other departments across the University.

Adverts must be checked by HR before publication.

Most Casual appointments are available for a maximum period of 12 weeks and are not extendable.

Casual teaching appointments can be up to 12 months.

Casual appointments cannot be completed by overseas workers.

Casual appointments are paid by completion of timesheets submitted to HR no later than the 1st of the month and payment to the worker is at the end of the month following the month the work is completed. This should be taken into consideration when appointing a casual worker as they can effectively work for 8 weeks before receiving their first payment.

To set up a casual appointment please complete the Recruitment Initiation Request Form.

If you need to advertise your appointment first please contact recruitment@phc.ox.ac.uk

Casual appointments are subject to the same legal requirements as Employees so work cannot commence without approval, a valid right to work in the UK check, ID checks and the issuing of a contract covering the work to be completed.

recruitment@phc.ox.ac.uk

Casual pay scale

What is an intern?
Interns are normally engaged during the summer vacation to undertake a project but can also be engaged at other times of the year.     

The projects undertaken by interns do not form part of the students education programme, are not part of the undergraduate course or part of any recognised qualification or training programme offered by the University.

Any placements for students from outside Oxford undertaking a project that does form a compulsory part of the student’s study programme should be treated as a visiting student and the intern process should not be followed.

How are interns paid?
Interns will be engaged as an ‘Intern’ and paid by the University casual payroll.

As interns are paid through casual payroll the rules for engagement apply. They cannot be engaged any longer than 12 weeks and payments must be at or above the minimum wage; as the University is a living wage employer the minimum salary we can pay is Grade 01S point 6.

All payments made through casual payroll are subject to deductions for tax and National Insurance. Depending on personal circumstances any tax paid should be able to be reclaimed from HMRC by the student if applicable.

Are there any visa implications?
There is no available visa route for interns coming from outside the UK and Ireland unless the student already has a visa allowing them to come to the UK; therefore students from outside the UK and Ireland without a valid student visa cannot be engaged.

Students who hold a valid Tier 4 visa or have a dependant or ancestry visa should be able to take up an internship. If you are unsure on the type of visa and whether it is valid for the internship HR can liaise with the University Staff Immigration or Student Immigration Teams to assess if the visa is valid for the internship.

Recruitment and Engagement

The Department Recruitment processes apply to Internships and financial approval is required before an Internship can be advertised.

The Recruitment Initiation Request Form must be submitted and the Internship job description template and advert must completed and submitted to HR. HR will confirm when the Internship has been approved for advertising. Once approved the advert can be placed on the relevant websites and the Primary Care website. The selection panel should also be agreed and dates for interviews scheduled.

Each group offering to host an intern should consider who they want to target Is it limited to Oxford students only? Is it limited to medical students?

Applications are normally managed through the funder or specific internship scheme webpages but HR can support with applications where the internship is not through a formal scheme. Hosting teams can arrange interviews with the candidates directly. HR can support with interview invitations but only where the Interview Arrangement Form is fully completed and provided.

The Intern Chair’s report must be completed and submitted to HR at recruitment@phc.ox.ac.uk for the engagement letter to be issued to the successful interns and the appointment set up.

Are there alternative payment options?

Interns to be paid by the department must always be engaged through the casual payroll.

Some internships may be paid to the intern via their employer or home institution with the funding from the department provided to the employer/home institution either directly or via the employer/home institution invoicing the department. In these cases the intern can be set up as a visitor or via secondment in the department. This should always be checked with HR first to ensure this is the correct route.