Have essential professional support
We've got your back
We’re here to support you when you need it with essential insurance and industrial relations support, as well as professional and confidential support and advice.
- UNISON membership giving you legal services, compensation, financial assistance and support when you need it most.
- Professional indemnity cover that’s essential to protect you when you’re working or on placements in the UK and overseas.
- Our dedicated professional advisory service is here whenever you need support and guidance.
UNISON membership
When you join us, you also join UNISON, the largest union in the NHS and in the UK.
We work together with UNISON to make sure your workplace concerns are heard – whether it's about pay, health and safety, discrimination or the future direction of occupational therapy services. UNISON is a powerful voice for working people in the UK, with over 1.3 million members working in public services, the community the voluntary sector and private companies.
Your UNISON membership gives you protection and representation in your workplace including:
- legal help for you at work and for your family at home
- financial assistance and debt advice in times of need
- compensation for you and your family
- discounts including money off cars and holidays
- helpline open until midnight on weekdays and 4pm on Saturdays (closed on Sundays)
- training to help develop your career
- support when you need it most.
How you join both UNISON and RCOT is a little technical. We deal with it, so you don’t need to do anything, but just so you know, this is how it works:
- When you become a member, you formally join the British Association of Occupational Therapists (BAOT).
- Through your BAOT membership, you automatically become a member of The Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT).
- RCOT is the brand we provide our member services under and a wholly owned charitable subsidiary of BAOT.
- UNISON provides industrial relations support for BAOT. When you join the appropriate membership categories, you also join UNISON.
UNISON membership isn’t relevant for all our members, for example if you are wholly self-employed. When you choose the membership that’s right for you, you’ll find details on whether UNISON is included.
Professional indemnity insurance
When you join as a professional member, you’ll get professional indemnity cover of up to £10m on a loss occurring basis.
One of the things that makes our insurance policy so unique is that our scope of practice for occupational therapy is so broad. It also covers you as an individual whenever you practice as an OT − all day, every day.
Find out more about the professional indemnity policy
Your employer's insurance policy may not cover everything. It's usually designed to cover the specific work you're contracted to do. We suggest checking with your employer to understand their insurance cover.
Professional advisory service
We’re here to support you with anything from a small day-to-day query as well as a fitness to Practice issue. We know that having an issue at work can be very stressful. If this happens to you you’re not alone − we’re here to support you.
Our Professional advisory service are on hand to help you with all aspects of professional practice including:
- professional practice advice
- returning to practice
- workplace support
- supervision
- fitness to practise
- supervision guidance
