Voluntary Bonding Scheme

Terms and conditions

This page outlines the terms and conditions you must abide by in order to be eligible for payment after three years’ service on the voluntary bonding scheme (the scheme). You will be asked to confirm at the time you submit an application for bonding payments that you have fulfilled the requirements of these terms and conditions.

Commencement date

1. The commencement date of the scheme for each graduate determines the date on which a graduate’s period of service in the scheme begins.

2. For graduates who have indicated in their registration of interest that they are already working in a hard-to-staff community and/or specialty, the period of service is backdated to 1 January 2009. If employment was commenced later than 1 January 2009, the date on which employment began will be regarded as the commencement date.

3. For graduates who have indicated in their registration of interest that they intend to shift into a hard-to-staff community and/or specialty, the commencement date is the date the graduate begins employment in a hard-to-staff community or specialty. Graduates must have secured such a position by 31 December 2009.

Pauses and breaks in the term of service

4. An absence of up to 14 weeks in a 12 month period will not affect the time period a graduate needs to complete bonding requirements. Such an absence is known as a break. This means a graduate can take up to 14 weeks’ absence in a 12 month period from their position in a hard-to-staff community and/or specialty without affecting their eligibility for bonding payments.

5. However, if the graduate still holds an employment agreement, any additional absence over 14 weeks will be deemed a pause in completing scheme requirements.

6. Any time taken beyond 14 weeks away from the hard-to-staff community and/or specialty must be added to the term necessary to complete the bond, and no more than ten weeks may be added during the course of one year. No more than 50 weeks can be added to any bonding term. This allows a graduate a total of 24 weeks for purposes such as maternity leave and further training opportunities in any one year.

Moving between hard-to-staff communities and/or specialties

7. The following criteria apply to graduates who wish to move between hard-to-staff communities and/or specialties.

Moving between communities when only community criteria applies: a graduate will be permitted to move between communities, provided they move to a community that is considered hard-to-staff at the time of the move. This criteria concerns doctors in their first two postgraduate years and midwives. View the current list of hard-to-staff communities.
Moving between communities when only specialty criteria applies: a graduate in a hard-to-staff specialty will not be restricted as to the community in which they work, as long as they continue to work in the same specialty. This is because only the specialty in which they are working has been identified as hard-to-staff. This criteria concerns nurses, and doctors from their third postgraduate year.
Moving between specialties: graduates are able to move between hard-to-staff specialties, as long as they move to a specialty considered hard-to-staff at the time of the move. View the current list of hard-to-staff specialties.
Medical graduates: with the exception of some 2009 entrants¹, graduate doctors are required to fulfil both hard-to-staff community and specialty criteria. Medical graduates who enter the scheme in 2009 will be permitted to enter specialties that were determined hard-to-staff at the time of their entry to the scheme, not simply those that are determined as hard-to-staff in their third postgraduate year.

Working as a locum

8. The following criteria apply to graduates who may consider working in a locum position during their term of service on the voluntary bonding scheme.

For the purposes of the scheme, “additional duties” performed for the graduate’s employer are not considered locumming.
When applying for payments from the end of three years’ service, the graduate will be asked to confirm that they have not engaged in “substantive” locumming. The Ministry defines “substantive” locumming as being a period of six weeks or more.

Related information

Registration of interest terms and conditions.

¹ Due to their postgraduate stage, some 2009 medical entrants are required to work only in a hard-to-staff specialty in which they are already training.

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Page last updated: 21 July 2009