2018 contract FAQs

1.1 How did we get here and why was a deal negotiated?

Agenda for Change was introduced in 2004 which brought together several pay arrangements in to one overall pay structure underpinned by Job Evaluation. While its success is well recognised, the NHS Trade Unions and employers agreed the need for change to modernise Agenda for Change in a number of areas. The agreement reached in 2013 was recognised by all parties as the start of a wider conversation on the refresh of Agenda for Change. During the Autumn Budget (22 November 2017), the Chancellor of the Exchequer confirmed negotiations had commenced on the reform of Agenda for Change pay, terms and conditions framework. The Chancellor confirmed a commitment to provide additional funding for the lifting of the pay cap for the NHS Agenda for Change staff providing negotiations reached satisfactory conclusions, where funding would only be provided in return for increases to productivity, recruitment and retention.

1.2 Will ESR be ready for implementation of the changes to pay and terms and conditions in 2018?

We are working with colleagues from ESR to ensure that the system will be prepared and ready to support the changes to pay, terms and conditions as part of any implemented deal. ESR have assured us that the system will be ready to pay staff the new pay rates in July. 

1.3 What is the breakdown of funding? Presumably some level of pay award was already budgeted for?

The government had already budgeted, as part of the 2015 spending round, for average pay increases of 1 per cent from 2016/2017 to 2019/2020. The £4.2b is additional funding on top of what had already been budgeted for in the system. The additional funding will pay for the reform of the pay structure (which includes higher starting salaries and faster progression to the top of each pay band for most staff), as well as the consolidated annual pay increases to the top of bands over the three years, and including the 1.1% non-consolidated payment that will be made to staff at the top of band in 2019/20.

1.4 How will the funding work?

The Department of Health and Social Care has confirmed that the multi-year deal is fully funded and that work continues on the best mechanism for ensuring NHS organisations and eligible non-NHS organisations receive the additional funding.

1.5 What will happen at the end of the three year period?

The pay award for 2021/2022 will be for government to decide as part of its agreed budget for public sector pay. The NHS Pay Review Body will retain its standing remit.

1.6 Are Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland going to have the same deal?

The deal at the moment is for England only. The Barnett formula means any additional funding will also have to be provided to the devolved administrations. It is up to these administrations to determine what they do with this money, they are free to negotiate a deal with their trade unions which mirrors what has been negotiated for England.

1.7 What is happening to employee NHS pension contributions?

The deal is about contract reform and annual pay awards only. The agreement did not consider changes to pension contributions. A review of employee contributions is currently taking place alongside the scheme valuation exercise and any changes to the contribution rates will be implemented from 1 April 2021.

The current contribution rates and tier thresholds are fixed in the NHS Pension Scheme regulations until 31 March 2021. The scheme has a tiered contribution structure where employee contribution rates are based on the member’s whole time equivalent pensionable pay.

Employers should re-assess the tiered contribution rate for their employees based on pay increases and apply a new contribution rate if this is appropriate. As employee contributions are assessed on pensionable pay, which includes additional and variable payments and salary sacrifice deductions, the impact may be different for each individual. Please take a look at the information on the NHS Pensions website which provides further guidance on how to re-assess the tiered contribution rates in line with the pay award.

1.8 Does the additional funding take in to account the reduction in the number of pay points and the faster progression?

Yes, the impact of the structural reforms have been fully considered in the cost modelling of the proposed deal.

1.9 Are there any changes to the NHS job evaluation system?

No. The partners agreed that the underpinning NHS Job Evaluation scheme will remain unchanged. Jobs will continue to be evaluated to determine the appropriate pay band.

2.1 Will staff, under each of the three years of the multi-year deal, be better off under this agreement than they would have been under the 1 per cent pay cap?

The deal has been constructed in such a way that real gains for staff will be seen. However, in the unlikely event that a combination of circumstances prevent this, a secured clause in the Framework Agreement confirms a ‘no detriment’ approach which would protect any such individuals. Staff are encouraged to use the ready reckoner to view their individual pay journey during the three-years of the pay deal. This will allow them to understand the impacts on their base salary across the length of the multi-year deal.

2.2 Will any increases to 2018/19 pay be retrospectively applied?

Yes pay will be backdated to 1 April 2018. 

2.3 What happens to incremental dates under the proposed deal? Will these be changed?

2.4 Why does the pay structure appear to show a reduction in year 3 for some staff in bands 8 and 9?

2.5 How does the pay calculator work out the increases over the proposed deal?

The pay calculator works out the individual journey a member of staff will go on in their particular band. It takes in to account the structural reform of the pay structure, the increases to pay points, and the progression of the individual through pay step points, to give an overall individual picture for every pay point. This methodology was agreed with the NHS trade unions.

For simplicity, the pay calculator shows the total pay during any given year of the deal, but in reality, as now, pay will change at two points during the year, once on 1 April through the cost of living increase (and any reform to the pay scales), and once on the individuals pay step date if they progress to the next pay point.

2.6 What will happen to the pay of current NHS apprentices employed on NHS Terms and Conditions/Agenda for Change contracts? NEW added September 2018 

The framework agreement commits the parties to work together to negotiate a new national provision for apprentices pay as soon as possible. This will be added to the terms and conditions handbook. In the meantime, under current arrangements, there are a variety of locally-determined approaches to apprentice pay which affect how the pay deal will apply to them.

Where apprentices are on a national pay point, they will continue to progress and follow the individual journey for that pay point as set out in the framework agreement. Where apprentices are on a percentage of a national pay point (under the terms of annex 21) their pay will move up proportionately in line with that pay point.

Where apprentices are subject to local arrangements outside of the NHS Terms and Conditions, the NHS Staff Council advice is that the nationally-agreed headline pay uplifts be applied to those local arrangements (for example, those percentage pay increases referenced in the framework agreement as being applicable to staff at the top of each pay band).

2.7 Have there been any changes to how pay on promotion works? NEW added September 2018

No, employers should continue to follow the provisions in section 6.21 of the handbook. This section states that pay on promotion should be set either at the minimum of the new pay band or, if this would result in no pay increase, the first pay point in the band which would deliver an increase in pay (by reference to basic pay plus any recruitment and retention premium, if applicable).

2.8 What happens if leapfrogging occurs in the transition to the new pay structure? NEW added September 2018

In limited circumstances it is possible for staff promoted before other staff to leapfrog them (to move to a higher pay point than the member of staff promoted after them).

This is an unintended consequence of some of the transition arrangements and can easily be remedied. Employers are advised to take common-sense steps to address the issue as described below.

Leapfrogging can occur where an individual has been promoted, or begins acting-up, between 1 April 2018 and 1 July 2018. This is because their new pay point on promotion will have been set based on the 2017/18 pay rates, even though the promotion took place in the 2018/19 pay year. For example:

• A band 1 member of staff was at the top of the band 1 scale (£15,671 at 17/18 rates) and got promoted to band 2 between 1 April 2018 and 1 July 2018. Their employer followed paragraph 6.21 of the terms and conditions, meaning their pay on band 2 was set so they would receive a pay increase on promotion. Because of the overlapping pay points this means their pay was set at the third point of band 2, £16,104 at 17/18 values.
• As a result of the pay deal, the £16,104 pay point is uplifted to £17,460 and backdated to the day they were promoted. They would also receive backpay on their band 1 pay point, from 1 April 2018 up to the time they were promoted.

However, if a member of staff was promoted from band 1 to band 2 after 1 July 2018, then their band 1 salary would have already been uplifted to £17,460, so to get an increase on promotion to band 2 they would need to be placed on £17,787, as this is the first point on band 2 that would provide an increase. This means that the person promoted earlier is on a lower pay point than the person promoted after them.

The only circumstances we are aware of when this can happen are when someone is promoted between 1 April and 1 July 2018, from either of the pay points on band 1 in to band 2, and from the top point of band 2 in to band 3.

In order to rectify leapfrogging issues, employers are advised to place any disadvantaged individuals (staff who had been promoted between the relevant pay points in the period 1 April 2018 to 1 July 2018) on to the pay point they would have gone on to if they’d been promoted after 1 July. So, in the example above the individual who was promoted first should have their pay point reset to £17,787 from the date they were promoted, so they are treated the same as the individual who is promoted after them.

2.9 In the new pay structure there is a new column for years of experience, what does this mean? NEW added September 2018

Years of experience is a way of describing pay points in the transitional pay structure, which works for most staff and pay journeys. However in some circumstances, particularly for staff who have been promoted, the years of experience can be confusing. 

Under previous arrangements, spine points identified the different pay points within each band. Because of structural reform to all pay bands and with overlapping points being removed, it is no longer possible to use the same spine point naming convention. Therefore the years of experience column has been introduced.

This is designed to represent the minimum number of years it would have previously taken to reach the equivalent spine point under the previous structure.

On transition to the new pay system, staff have been automatically assimilated to the correct pay point, based on the spine point they were in at 31 March 2018. The assimilation process is designed to work by converting the pay point position at 31 March 2018 into a nominal minimum number of years’ experience required to reach that point on the scale.

In most cases years of experience will align with the pay point, but it may not do in all cases as the assimilation process does not consider actual historical experience, only the previous pay point that the experience had allowed an individual to reach. For example, years of experience and pay point may not align in the following circumstances:

• If a member of staff has previously been subject to an increment freeze (for example band 8 and 9 staff in 2015), so their spine point did not increase that year.
• If staff have not progressed to the next pay point previously as a result of not meeting local progression criteria.
• If staff have previously started higher than the minimum point in the band (in this case it will appear as if they do not have enough years of experience for their pay point).
• If staff are promoted into a band, starting higher than the minimum point in the band due to the pay on promotion clause in section 6 of the handbook.

If years of experience and pay point don’t align it does not necessarily mean an individual is on the incorrect point, as assimilation is based on the point the individual had reached at the end of the 2017/18 pay year (31 March 2018).

2.10 Should bank staff get the year two, 1.1% non-consolidated cash payment if they are paid at the top of an Agenda for Change pay band? NEW added October 2019
 
The terms and conditions, including pay arrangements, offered by employer banks in the NHS vary considerably. Depending on how the local bank contract is written, there may be a dynamic link to annex 2 which would give rise to the bank worker having a contractual entitlement to the pay provisions as set out in annex 2. This will include the entitlement to the one off non-consolidated cash payments for 2019/20, as set out in table 10a, for those on the top pay point in their band on the 31 March 2019. 
 
In these circumstances, bank staff paid at the top pay point would have an entitlement to the lump sum element of the pay award. The method of calculation should be agreed locally, options might include: 

• a 1.1% addition to their hourly rate for the duration of 2019/20 only, capped at the lump sum payment appropriate to the band
• a pro-rata payment based on the number of hours worked in the year up to 1 April 2019
• or pro-rata payment on a three-monthly basis paid retrospectively. 

Where local bank contracts do not have a dynamic link to annex 2 of the national NHS terms and conditions of service, any application of an annual pay award would be for local determination.

3.1 Is it compulsory for organisations to implement the new pay progression system?

All employers will be expected to implement the new pay progression system from 1 April 2019 for all staff commencing NHS employment, or staff who are promoted (moved to a higher banded role) on or after 1 April 2019.

Staff in post before 1 April 2019 will retain their existing pay-step date (previously referred to as incremental date) and move automatically through their pay journey during transition. This will continue to be subject to any existing locally-agreed arrangements for managing pay progression, which may have been implemented locally, in accordance with the NHS Staff Council’s 31 March 2013 pay progression agreement. The ESR system is able to progress existing staff automatically.

Pay-step points will be closed on the payroll system for new starters or those promoted to a higher banded role on or after 1 April 2019. This will apply to all staff from 1 April 2021 and the new pay progression arrangements will apply.

3.2 What benefits are there to employers and their staff?

The framework document sets out the agreement covering the three years from 2018-2021. It also sets out the pay investment and the reforms that will be implemented over the term of the agreement. These include:

• guarantee three fully-funded years of a pay award where organisations are not left to absorb any funding shortfalls
• guarantee certainty of pay in uncertain times support the attraction and recruitment of staff by increasing starting pay in every pay band support the retention of staff by increasing basic pay for the 50 per cent of staff who are at the top of pay bands whilst speeding up progression to the top of the pay band
• increase staff engagement by putting appraisal and staff development at the centre of pay progression. This will be achieved by ensuring staff are supported to develop their skills and competences. Through delivering this, the greatest possible contribution to patient care can be made
• supporting the health and wellbeing of NHS staff by looking at ways to improve attendance levels in the NHS.

In 2013, agreement was reached that allowed employers to link pay progression to their appraisal processes so that it is no longer automatic. The 2018 agreement will ensure that all employers move to that system for all staff by April 2021. By establishing this link, the importance of good appraisals, line management and staff development will be strengthened allowing greater staff engagement and a tighter focus on the training and skills staff need to deliver the best patient care.

3.4 Is it expected that staff will successfully progress through their pay-step review?

Yes. Employers should plan and budget on the basis that all staff are expected to progress on time. The exception will be where an individual has not met the criteria for progressing to the next step point, and there are no mitigating factors sufficient to justify this. Employers should work jointly with local staff sides to develop policies which ensure that staff receive the training and support they need to meet appraisal requirements. The revised annex 23 covers situations where progression may be delayed.

3.5 Can we appoint people to whatever pay point we want in the new system?

It is expected that new appointees will start at the bottom of their pay band, as now. The current arrangements for reckonable service as per Section 12 of the handbook will continue to apply.

3.6 If automatic annual progression in ESR is being turned off, is it possible to turn it back on again locally?

No, not once it is turned off. Automatic progression will continue to be available in ESR for existing staff (in post before 1 April 2019) until the end of the three-year deal. For new starters and those promoted from 1 April 2019 automatic progression will be switched off and employers will have to follow a process to ‘switch on’ a pay-step. From 1 April 2021 automatic progression will end for all staff. 

3.7 Will there be a national model appraisal framework to ensure consistency between organisations?

No, there is no intention to define how appraisal works at a local level, we recognise that there are many organisations with good appraisal processes. The framework agreement states that additional standards for local appraisal processes could be agreed in partnership with local trade unions. The revised annex 23 includes principles to inform the development of local appraisal policies.

3.8 What happens if someone is off on sick leave or maternity leave when their pay step date is due?

Clearly, the law prevents anyone from being treated less favourably in certain circumstances, for example if they are on maternity leave. The revised annex 23 provides guidance on when a member of staff is absent from work when their pay step is due. 

3.9 What will happen to the knowledge and skills framework (KSF)?

All staff must of course have the knowledge and skills they need to carry out their role. Employers remain free to use the existing national KSF or their own local frameworks. 

The new pay progression framework is designed to ensure staff progress to the next pay step point only when they have met the required standards, which includes local personal or organisational objectives. 

No. The intention of minimum periods at each pay point was a critical element of the design of the new pay structure. Allowing people to progress more quickly would undermine the principles of the pay system and place additional unfunded costs on to the employer. NHS Improvement will be monitoring this. 

3.11 How will the new progression system work when people move employers?

The Electronic Staff Record (ESR) will ensure relevant information is recorded on to the system and included in Inter-authority transfer (IAT) information. Further information is available in the FAQs produced by ESR. 

3.12 If our organisation already has a successful appraisal/performance management system, could we continue to use this?

Yes, the progression framework deliberately has the flexibility to allow local systems to continue where they are already working well. The new progression framework includes expectations about how local appraisals are managed, for example, regular conversations throughout the year and national standards that all staff must meet. 

3.13 Will the new progression system be linked to individual, department, team, or organisational performance?

The new progression system is linked to individual standards, part of which is the appraisal process. Individuals may have objectives related to the wider organisation as part of their individual appraisal objectives. The system also allows any local standards agreed in partnership to be included in the appraisal process. 

3.14 How does pay progression work during the three years of the deal?

Pay progression is not automatic under existing Agenda for Change arrangements. Since 2013 employers have been able to introduce arrangements that allow progression to be withheld if staff do not meet required standards. Because there is significant structural reform to the pay structures over the three years, numerous pay points are being removed. These pay points will be removed in April 2018, April 2019, and April 2020. Staff who are already on a pay point at the time it is to be removed will be immediately moved to the next available point, even where this does not coincide with their existing incremental date. These staff will not receive an increase on their incremental date, because they will have received their pay increase early. 

In 2018/19, this will only be the case for those who were previously on the bottom pay point. In the subsequent two years it will affect more pay points.

Staff will retain their existing incremental date throughout transition. On their incremental date, (if they have not already benefited from deletion of a pay point) it is expected that all staff will move to the next pay point reflecting their additional complete year of experience. Where employers have arrangements in place as a result of the 2013 changes, progression can be withheld where staff are not meeting the required standards. 

3.15 How would the new progression system affect me during the three years of the pay deal?

If you are already employed in the NHS, the pay point you are on will move as set out in the journeys’ document. These movements happen as part of the pay restructuring process. It is expected that during transition employees will progress to the next pay point, subject to any required standards that are in place within their employer. The expectation is that all staff will meet the required standards and therefore be able to progress.

For example, if you are on pay point 14 in Band 4, your journey would be as follows:

Now: £21,263
On/after 1 April 2018: £22,238
On/after 1 April 2019/20: £22,707
On/after 1 April 2020: £24,157 – you would be at the top of the band.

Roughly 14 per cent of the staff currently employed in the NHS would not reach the top of their band by the end of the three-year deal. If you are on an intermediate point by the end of the deal, your onward pay progression will be determined by the new pay progression system which is described in outline in the Framework document, with operational details agreed in partnership within your organisation. If you end the three-year deal on one of the following paypoints:

£27,416 (Band 5)
£33,779 (Band 6)
£41,723 (Band 7)

You will move to the next point up on 1 April 2021.

3.16 What happens if I move from one NHS organisation to another NHS organisation on the same band? 

You will be treated as an existing staff member and follow the arrangements in place in the new organisation for existing staff.

3.17 Which arrangements apply to staff that are temporarily promoted to a higher band or acting up? 

Where there is a temporary move to a different post staff should be treated as existing staff on their organisation’s existing pay progression arrangements and retain their current pay step (incremental) date. The pay progression sub group has produced a range of scenarios on changing roles. 

3.18 Which arrangements apply for staff who transfer from band 1 to band 2?

The transfer from band 1 to band 2 is not considered a promotion. Therefore, band 1 staff in transition to the top of band 2 will not be subject to new pay progression arrangements but instead will remain subject to existing local pay progression processes. Those taking up the move from band 1 to 2 from the effective date of 1 April 2019 will have reached the top of band 2 by April 2021. 

3.19 When will any further guidance on the re-earnable process for bands 8c, 8d and 9 be available? 

The NHS Staff Council are currently developing an FAQ which is expected to be published shortly.

3.20 What are the arrangements for bank and agency staff? 

The NHS Staff Council has a workstream which will explore what scope there is for a collective agreement on bank and agency working. Further information on this will be provided in due course.

3.21 I was employed before 1 April 2019. What if I move to a lower banded role, will I still be treated as existing staff? 

Yes, this is correct, you will be treated as existing staff and be subject to your organisation’s arrangements for existing staff in post before 1 April 2019. The new arrangements apply to new starters and those who are promoted to a higher banded role.

3.22 Pay progression and ESR 

To view FAQs about pay progression on ESR please visit the ESR web page. 

3.23 When will the new guidance on the re-earnable process for bands 8c, 8d and 9 be published?

The current NHS Staff Council discussions around the revisedannex 23​re-earnable process for bands 8c, 8d and 9 have been suspended. Subject to the outcome of the very senior manager (VSM) pay framework, anticipated by the end of the year, the NHS Staff Council discussions will be resumed in the new year (2020). For staff who were in post before 1 April 2019 the organisational pay progression procedures that were in place prior to the pay deal – including those on re-earnable pay points – continue to apply until 31 March 2021. For staff commencing NHS employment or promoted after 1 April 2019 the new pay progression provisions within annex 23 apply. Further NHS Staff Council guidance is expected to be agreed and published by March 2020 covering implementation of the provisions for 5 per cent or 10 per cent of salary to become re-earnable once the top of the band has been reached. Employers should take account of this Staff Council guidance before finalising local policies on how these provisions operate.

4.1 What changes have been made to sick pay and unsocial hours?

The agreement would amend the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook so that the protected sick pay enhancements that apply to those on spine points 1 to 8 of the current structure, would apply to those existing staff earning £18,160 or less. 

4.2 Ambulance specific: Specifically, what is meant by 'all changes of roles’ under paragraph 6.3 (a) of the Framework Agreement?

Any movement which requires a new contract of employment to be issued would be considered as ‘a change of role’, thereby initiating the move to section 2 of the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook for payment of unsocial hours enhancement.

• All new entrants will be employed under section 2 rather than annex 5 of the terms and conditions of service handbook.
• All existing staff who voluntarily move roles will move to section 2 from annex 5 of the terms and conditions of service handbook.
• Existing staff who are not moving roles will be offered a voluntary move to section 2 from annex 5 of the terms and conditions of service handbook.
• Any new entrants employed in the ambulance sector will be on section 2, and will not have unsocial hours enhancements paid as part of their occupational sickness absence pay.
• Any existing staff members who voluntarily move to section 2 will not have unsocial hours enhancements paid as part of their occupational sickness absence pay unless they earn £18,160 or less.

Staff members remaining on annex 5 will not have any changes to their occupational sickness absence pay.

4.4 Ambulance specific: Do ambulance staff who are currently under annex 5 and stay under annex 5, continue to receive unsocial hours payments (calculated as part of a 13 week reference period) in any sick pay, as they do now?

HCAS will continue to be based on the same percentage of basic salary as now. The minimum and maximum of limits will be uplifted by the same amount as the top of the pay scales in each year of the deal, should it be signed off. The framework agreement states that the NHS Pay Review Body will also be asked to consider the role of HCAS.

4.6 Is anything changing with recruitment and retention premia (RRP)?

The deal does not propose any changes to RRPs, but does say that the NHS Pay Review Body will be asked to consider the role of RRPs.

4.7 Is there any change being proposed to injury allowance provisions?

No changes to injury allowance were agreed as part of these talks.

4.8 Some staff are worried about the minor adjustments to unsocial hours in bands 1 to 3, how can we reassure them?

The adjustments have been carefully designed so that no one can be worse off, even if they work all of their time in unsocial hours periods. Effectively what is happening is that the amount of money paid for each unsocial hour is being frozen in these bands for the periods of the deal, but at the same time basic pay is going up.   

4.9 The new framework agreement converts the eligibility for payment of unsocial hours during occupational sick leave (previously available to staff on spine points 2-8) to a cash value (basic salary) of £18,160. Should the £18,160 value be prorated for staff working less than 37.5 hours? 

Yes. The £18,160 value is prorated for part time employees.

As an example, for a member of staff working 25 hours per week the value would be £18,160 divided by 37.5, multiplied by 25 = £12,106.67. If their basic salary is greater than this value, their pay during sickness absence is based on their basic salary, plus high cost area supplements and any locally agreed pay protection (if these are in payment on the day before the sickness absence begins).

If it is at or below this value, their sickness absence pay will be in line with section 14, England paragraph 4, i.e based on what the individual would have received if they were at work.

5.1 What happens now?

The NHS Staff Council will need to meet to ratify the deal, this is scheduled for 27 June 2018. Following the Staff Council we will issue a revised NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook, alongside pay and terms and conditions advisory notices. Staff should be paid new rates of pay in July pay packets, and backdated pay to 1 April 2018 should be paid in July or August.

The changes for ambulance staff will take effect from 1 September 2018, and Band 1 will close to new entrants from 1 December 2018. The new pay progression system will come in to force from 1 April 2019.    

5.2 Will there be support for the closure of band 1?

The NHS Staff Council will provide guidance on upskilling roles from band 1 to band 2. Band 1 is closed to new entrants from 1 December 2018, and the expectation would be that staff should be moved to band 2 (if they are capable) by the end of the three-year deal in 2020/21.

5.3 Is there any more information about buying and selling annual leave?

We are aware that many trusts already offer these schemes in some form, but some employers do not offer buying and selling of leave, or only offer buying but not selling, and vice versa.

The intention is that a national model framework will be developed in partnership by the NHS Staff Council so that all employers that do not offer these provisions are able to, and those that already do offer some provisions may improve their offering.

Incentivising staff to sell leave by making sure they are rewarded appropriately for doing so can help in building capacity in key workforces.