103(1)The Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978 shall be amended as follows.
(2)In section 29 (time off for public duties)—
(a)in subsection (1)(d), for the words from “Regional” to “Committee” substitute “Health Authority or Special Health Authority”, and
(b)in subsection (2)(b), for the words preceding ““Health Board”” substitute ““Health Authority” means a Health Authority established under section 8 of the [1977 c. 49] National Health Service Act 1977 and “Special Health Authority” means a Special Health Authority established under section 11 of that Act, and
(3)In Schedule 13 (computation of period of employment)—
(a)in paragraph 17(1) (provisions of Schedule to relate only to employment with the one employer unless any of paragraphs 17(2) to (5), 18 and 18A apply), for “and 18A” substitute “to 18B”, and
(b)after paragraph 18A insert—
“18B(1)If a person employed in relevant employment by a health service employer is taken into relevant employment by another such employer, his period of employment at the time of the change of employer shall count as a period of employment with the second employer and the change shall not break the continuity of the period of employment.
(2)For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1) employment is relevant employment if it is employment of a description—
(a)in which persons are engaged while undergoing professional training which involves their being employed successively by a number of different health service employers, and
(b)which is specified in an order made by the Secretary of State.
(3)The following are health service employers for the purposes of this paragraph—
(a)Health Authorities established under section 8 of the National Health Service Act 1977,
(b)Special Health Authorities established under section 11 of that Act,
(c)National Health Service trusts established under Part I of the [1990 c. 19] National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990,
(d)the Dental Practice Board, and
(e)the Public Health Laboratory Service Board.”