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Pay award 2021/22 - interaction with transitional sick pay [Archived]

Detail on the 2021/22 pay award and the interaction with sick pay provisions in Section 14.4 where staff have moved above the £18,160 threshold.

1 September 2021

Due to the delay of the 2021/22 pay award, some staff who were previously below the £18,160 threshold are now no longer entitled to receive enhancements during periods of non-Covid sickness absence.

The government recently announced a 3 per cent pay award for staff covered by the NHS Pay Review Body, backdated to 1 April 2021. The Electronic Staff Record (ESR) has implemented the pay award from 1 September 2021, and this will include the functionality to pay the backpay through to 1 April 2021.

This pay award takes all staff above the earnings threshold of £18,160 set out in paragraph 14.4 (England) of the NHS terms and conditions (NHS TCS) handbook.

‘14.4 For staff…who were employed under the terms of this handbook as at 30 June 2018, and have a basic salary of £18,160 or less…
Pay during sickness absence is calculated on the basis of what the individual would have received had they been at work. It will include regularly paid supplements, including any recruitment and retention premia, payments for work outside normal hours and high cost area supplements…’

The delayed 2021/22 pay award announcement and subsequent implementation to the terms and conditions has meant that some staff who were previously below the £18,160 threshold are now no longer entitled to receive enhancements during periods of non-Covid sickness absence.

There will, however, be a small number of staff who have received enhancements as part of any non-Covid related sickness absence pay during the period 1 April to 31 August. In the September ‘retro’ pay run, ESR will automatically correct any sick pay overpayments made during this period.

The policy intention of pay going above the £18,160 threshold was to harmonise sick pay arrangements across staff employed under the NHS terms and conditions of service (Agenda for Change).

In this instance, trusts are encouraged to:

  • consider and review the impacts on staff members who will be affected by this default ESR correction; and
  • consider if the option to make a manual payroll intervention to prevent overpayments being recovered for any non-Covid sick pay for affected staff between 1 April 2021 and 31 August 2021, is appropriate.

Employers would need to fund any local interventions from their existing allocations.

From the 1 September 2021, the pay award has been implemented within ESR. This means that no staff, except some ambulance staff still on Annex 5, will be entitled to receive their enhanced pay whilst off sick unless they meet the second criteria set out in the NHS TCS handbook, that of the absence being a work-related injury (see 14.4 (England), second bullet point).

Employer action required

  1. Identify any staff affected who:
    1. have been in post on or before 30 June 2018, and have had a basic salary below £18,160 prior to the 3 per cent pay award; and
    2. have had any period of normal sickness absence (i.e., not in receipt of COVID-19 sick pay) between 1 April 2021 and 31 August 2021.
       
  2. To determine the action required for any affected staff. In this instance trusts have the option to manually intervene to ensure that ESR does not deduct any arrears for these periods of absence in the September ‘retro’ run. Further information can be found in the retro pay section of ESR user manual.
     
  3. Where the employer chooses to allow ESR to reclaim any overpayment, they should contact the affected staff members to discuss and explain the individual impacts.

Questions and answers for staff

  • Part of the 2018 pay reform was to encourage greater consistency across the NHS terms and conditions of service (Agenda for Change). One of these areas was how unsocial hours payments are treated. This was to ensure that over time, the calculation for sickness absence pay is the same for all staff on the NHS terms and conditions of service (NHS TCS).

    Transitional arrangements were put in place for existing staff employed prior to 30 June 2018. The transitional arrangements were to ensure that those earning less than the threshold of £18,160 (basic salary) would continue to have their sick pay calculated under the old arrangements, until their full-time equivalent basic salary became greater than £18,160.

    With the latest pay award for 2021/22, the minimum NHS full-time basic pay is now £18,546. This means that the transitional arrangements will no longer apply, and all staff covered by the NHS TCS handbook, except for ambulance staff still employed under Annex 5 provisions, will now have their sick pay calculated in the same way.

  • Prior to the pay award your full-time basic salary was £18,005. With the pay award your full-time basic salary has now increased to £18,546, which is above the £18,160 threshold rate. From the 1 September 2021 if you have any periods of non-Covid related sickness absence, your pay will be calculated on your basic salary and no longer include any enhanced payments such as unsocial hours payments.

    If your employer decides to allow ESR to reclaim the overpayment, they should contact you directly to explain what this will mean for you personally.

  • Trusts are encouraged to consider and review the impacts on staff members who could be affected by this default ESR correction. Trusts can make a manual payroll intervention to prevent the ESR system from automatically re-claiming any sick pay overpayments.

    If your employer decides to allow ESR to reclaim the overpayment, they should contact you directly to explain what this will mean for you personally.

  • All those that chose to move to a band 2 role as part of the initial choice exercise (and would have been employed in the NHS prior to the 30 June 2018) should now have progressed to the top step point of band 2, as at the 1 April 2021.

    This means that your basic full-time pay will already have been above the threshold of £18,160 and the pay award will not have affected how your sick pay is calculated. When you progressed to the top of band 2 any sick pay will have started to be calculated on only your basic pay and will not have included any enhanced payments such as unsocial hours payments.

  • If you commenced in a band 2 role after 30 June 2018:

    If you are at the bottom of band 2 now, you will have started in the NHS after 30 June 2018. This means that you will be unaffected by the transitional arrangements because all new starters from that date were not eligible to have enhanced payments, such as unsocial hours payments, included in their sick pay calculation.

    If you subsequently transitioned to a band 2 role after declining the first offer:

    If you initially declined to move into a band 2 role but subsequently changed your mind, then it will depend on when you agreed with your employer to move into your band 2 role. Depending on the date of the move, you may not have yet reached the top of band 2 and therefore may be affected by the delay in the pay award.

    If your employer decides to allow ESR to reclaim the overpayment, they should contact you directly to explain what this will mean for you personally.

  • All staff who have been identified as having suffered a work-related injury as set out in Section 14.4 will continue to have their sick pay ‘calculated on the basis of what the individual would have received had they been at work'. It will include regularly paid supplements, including any recruitment and retention premia, payments for work outside normal hours and high cost area supplements’ (Section 14.4).

  • The calculation for the temporary COVID-19 sick pay provisions is separate to the calculation for non-Covid sickness and is based on what the individual would have received had they been at work. It will include regularly paid supplements, including any recruitment and retention premia, payments for work outside normal hours and high-cost area supplements.