Overview of the deal:
As a result of our negotiations with government, we have come up with a framework agreement to put to you, as members, that we believe would benefit all NHS staff. Those benefits include a three year pay deal and changes to the pay structure to make it better and fairer. Crucially, the government has committed new money to pay for the deal – not money taken from patient care.

The main elements of the deal are:

• Major increases for staff below top of band through simplifying bands so most staff reach the full rate for the job quicker – worth between 9% and 29% over three years
• Meaningful increases for top-of-band staff who already benefit from the full rate for the job – for most this would be worth 6.5% over three years plus a 1.1% lump sum
• Big improvements to starting salaries to help the NHS attract and retain new staff
• Removal of band overlaps to ensure promotion comes with a proper pay rise, and to lessen the risk of equal pay challenges
• Ending poverty pay through an immediate move to a new above- living wage minimum rate, with further increases for the lowest paid staff by the end of the deal

A closer look:
While pay rates are an important part of this agreement, another key area is to change the whole pay system to make it fairer and work better for NHS staff. We think the proposed new structure would deliver this, but in order to make it happen, there would need to be some changes over the next three years to bring the system back into balance.

All the changes relate to the design of the pay bands, but the process for allocating jobs to bands will continue to be through the current NHS job evaluation scheme.

All staff would get a meaningful pay rise – in every case more than they could expect under the current system, which consists of incremental progression coupled with annual awards capped at 1%. The proposals we have negotiated would provide increases made up of a mixture of annual pay awards, incremental pay progression and improvements to the pay structure.

For staff in bands 2-9 who are below top of band
This would mean:

• improving starting salaries in each pay band by removing overlaps between bands. This would start in year one and be finished in year two. Staff who are due to move up to a point that will be deleted would automatically go the point above.
• deleting points in the mid-range of each band in years two and three of the deal. Again, staff who are due to move up to a point that will be deleted would automatically go to the point above. The combination of these changes would mean different pay increases for different staff as we help more people reach the rate for the job more quickly – ranging from 9% to 29% over the three years.

For staff at the top of bands 2-8c
This would mean:

• 3% in 2018/19
• 1.7% in 2019/20 plus a lump sum worth 1.1% paid in April 2019
• 1.7% in 2020/21 This would amount to a total increase on basic pay of 6.5% over three years plus the extra 1.1% lump sum in year two.

For staff at the top of bands 8d and 9
This would mean:

An increase of 5.4% at the top of band 8d and 4.6% for the top of band 9 over the three years. These staff would also receive a lump sum in April 2019, worth about £800.

For staff currently in band 1
This would mean:

effective from 1 April 2018 the minimum basic rate in the NHS in England would be £17,460 – equivalent to £8.92ph – which exceeds the living wage.

For all staff currently in band 1 this would be an immediate increase of about 10%.

However the deal would go further so that by March 2021 all jobs in band 1 would be altered to become band 2 roles. Staff would get training and support to take on any necessary changes. They would therefore benefit from a further increase by the end of the deal.

Other changes:
NHS trade unions have been in detailed negotiations with employers and the government to get you a better pay deal. During those negotiations we were faced with a list of demands that they put forward for discussion. Some of those demands were unacceptable but there were some areas where we believe that a degree of compromise was required in order to bring greater consistency to certain terms and conditions, and deal with some of the knock-on effects of moving away from the current system of pay points.

Unsocial hours payments:
There would be no fundamental changes to unsocial hours payments. But there would be adjustments affecting some staff to maintain the integrity of the system, while ensuring no-one loses out.

• for staff in bands 4-9 unsocial hours payments would be completely unaffected and continue to be calculated as now
• for bands 1-3 unsocial hours payments would be calculated in a different way to protect the current cash values for three years while pay changes take place, and thereafter allow them to go up again alongside basic pay increases
• to see how these changes effect other bands see our pages on band 1, band 2 and band 3.
• Instead of being based on the old pay points, eligibility for the payment of unsocial hours during sick leave would apply to salaries up to £18,160,
• current ambulance staff would be given an individual choice between their existing arrangements or the system that applies in the rest of the NHS.

A new progression framework will be developed ready for use from 1 April 2019 onwards. Many employers already link incremental progression to appraisals. In the new progression system all employers will need to apply a process, linked to appraisals, before allowing staff to progress to the next pay point. The proposed system would be designed on the principle that staff should receive the support, training and line manager input they need to progress as soon as they are eligible.

Read the full technical version of the proposed agreement as a pdf.