Need to know
For #TeamEEAST Last updated: 26 April 2024 at 18:19
The pay offer made by the Government for NHS staff in England has now been accepted by the NHS trade unions. Following the recent Agenda for Change (AfC) pay agreement, NHS Employers has published a new pay chart and some frequently asked questions (FAQs) to help explain recent national changes to the pay scales.
The easy to follow chart uses a three step process to explain the recent pay agreement for Agenda for Change staff; step 1 shows the current AfC pay scale which runs until the end of March. Step 2 shows the actual amount of the increase to be applied to each pay point, and step 3 shows the new AfC pay rates that will apply from 1st April. You can download a copy of the chart from the NHS Employers website.
The overall agreement includes changes to pay scales for 2015/16 and revised national redundancy provisions for England. These will be published soon and incorporated in the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook.
NHS Employers has also released a number of FAQs to help explain the changes; you can view the full list on the website, but you can view the main ones that affect us below:
Who will receive a one per cent increase?
All staff on Agenda for Change terms and conditions up to the Band 8B/8C overlap (point 42) will receive at least a 1% consolidated pay increase.
Staff in Bands 1 and 2 (Band 3 overlap up to point 8) will receive up to a 5.6% consolidated pay increase.
Staff on Band 8C (point 43 and above), 8D and Band 9 receive no pay increase.
In addition, staff at the top of Band 7 (point 34) and above will not be eligible for incremental pay progression in the period 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2016.
From what date do these changes apply?
All of these changes apply from 1st April, 2015.
What happens to the arrangements for incremental pay progression?
The provisions for pay progression in Section 1 and Annex W in the handbook continue to apply in the period 1st April, 2015, to 31st March, 2016. However, where staff on pay spine points 34 to 54 are assessed locally as meeting the performance criteria for a pay increment, they will not be eligible to receive the increment in this period. They will become eligible for incremental pay progression again on 1st April, 2016.
What new arrangements will be made for pensions for frontline ambulance staff?
Under the NHS Pension Scheme Regulations 2015 there are provisions described as early retirement reduction buy-out (ERRBO). These provisions are available to all members of the NHS Pension Scheme.
They allow employers and NHS Pension Scheme members to pay extra contributions which allow members to take an unreduced pension, up to a maximum of three years before their normal pension age. This is subject to a minimum age of 65.
A pension scheme member with a pension age of 68 would be able to leave the service at 65 with an unreduced pension where adequate contributions have been made. Ambulance employers and trade unions will now discuss how these provisions can be used for frontline ambulance staff.
How much extra will employers and employees have to pay in contributions?
It is too early to confirm the extra contributions ambulance employers and employees will need to pay. Additional contributions will be equally shared between the employer and the employee.
If you have any further questions on how the changes may affect you, please contact our HR team at hrservices@eastamb.nhs.uk, who will be happy to help.
Published 20th March 2015