AIBU to think a potential 2% pay rise for the NHS staff is ridiculous?

I've been a qualified medical professional for 43 years and my salary is pretty good. I love the work and the hours suit me, I have a 9-5 role weekends off and lots of holiday, great pension so I'm not bothered for myself.
But band 2 - fuck right off. If I was a band 2 being worked like a dog on what is basically minimum wage I'd be off to work in Tesco.

@ThisOldThang no it's really not

www.wesleyan.co.uk/pensions-and-retirement/nhs-pension/guide

I don't understand why people are so upset by the pay of band 2 staff. They are unqualified staff and have access to a very good pension scheme.

I dint think this is correct, certainly not for those who aren't in the 1995 scheme and there are very few left that are.
And remember you can't take your NHS pension till you've reached the official age of retirement so currently 67.
The pension really isn't as great as people seem to think it is. Particularly for those who joined after 2015.

Are you joking?

£12k index linked pensions would cost upwards of £800k to buy on the open market as an annuity.

The 'standard' retirement age is 65 in the private sector, so roughly 45 years of work.

If somebody in the nhs worked for 45 years, they'd receive 83% of their final salary.

the sick pay is an absolute bonus, as is the annual leave

NHS salaries are clearly too low as evidenced by recruitment issues. We need to raise salaries significantly in my opinion and also address working conditions and the general work experience for health workers. Some of this would be improved by filling the high current vacancy level.

I do also think that whilst we need to properly reward the work of staff in the NHS and ensure that it is also a good place to work, there are multiple and massive inefficiencies that need to be addressed and also a lot of work place bullying. The NHS should not be ruining the health of its own workers, that is plainly stupid.

My OH works in private sector. Engineer. Hasn't had a pay rise for over 8 years. Pay cut 5 years ago. Is a contractor so no pension, sick pay, holiday pay. Laid off after downturn in industry for 9 months.

I've worked for the NHS for 7 years as a band 4, in that time my pay has gone from around £10.10 per hour to £14.10. Opportunities to progress to band 5 are slim. I think the pay is pretty rubbish for what I do and national minimum wage is catching up. I think the only reason I'm still there is job security, good sick pay and annual leave entitlement.

Anyone who thinks they're being underpaid should go to the union. We had most of our band 2s upgraded to band 3s recently, but they need to go through their job description and prove they deserve the higher band. Some HCAs take bloods etc, some don't. I think that's the difference.

Something else to consider. In Scotland the unions have agreed a move to a 36 hour working week (FT). But there's been no agreement on more staff or reduced duties. So most of us suspect this will be used as leverage to not increase our pay (arguing that our hourly rate has increased) while we continue to work X hours unpaid.

8K! Life of Riley (sarcasm).

Band 2 pension at age 67 after 20 years full time work would be £8k
If you had worked 40 years full time it would be £16k

I'm a band 2 gp admin and I can guarantee you it's not easy! The stress from patients, complicated tasks and the high workload. I've been in the job 2 years and I stay because I do enjoy the work and I'm one of the ones that can diffuse situations quickly. I'm also part time. Not sure I could stand it doing it 40 hours a week.

Having looked at pay scales, you must be fairly senior. Remember the different tax thresholds and pension contributions in Scotland. Above 43k you pay 42%, and about 52k you pay 11.3% pension contributions. I worked out for a new 8a the gross difference is almost 7k but difference in take home is £200 a month.

Worked for the NHS since 2007 (!!!) But not band 2, why do I stay? Good question, and there have been times I've thought an awful lot a about leaving. When I got my masters combined with a professional qualification, the same year I recieved a real time pay reduction due to a freeze in pay and increase in my pension. That did set the tone of my career somewhat. I suppose in the early days it wasn't just about the money, but I loved doing my job and understood the value it contributed to society. I have become more cynical since then though and like so many have experienced some terrible toxic teams.
I am staying now for the benefits, index linked pension (with contributions in the 1995 and 2015 schemes), annual leave (33 days plus bank holidays) and sick pay (6 months full pay, 6 months half pay). These days I have a young family and work part-time- truly part-time which I appreciate from other Mum's simply isn't an option in other professional roles. Thanks to working part-time I can also work freelance (as childcare permits) which is much more lucrative financially. But actually when I break down my fees and factor in pension, annual leave and sickness, then actually I am not sure there such a huge difference in pay afterall! But the flexibility of freelance is unreplicable in the NHS and invaluable with a young family.
My partner always jokes that at least I have a 'job for life', and he's not wrong, that security I perhaps have taken for granted.
As for band 2 roles, the worse thing I have encountered as a union rep is the expectation of band 2 staff to take on roles and responsibilities well beyond their pay grade, with no mention of any kind of progression or renumeration for that. So much responsibility for so little pay, appalling.

No, there is no Band 1 for new starters. I am a domestic and started on Band 1. A few years ago, Band 1 was abolished and those on Band 1 were offered a move to Band 2 but that came with extra responsibilities that I didn't want. I was top of Band 1 and the bottom of Band 2 was less than that. Another disincentive. My pay is same as Band 2, £11.45 an hour.

I thought Band 1 went years ago.

Are you for real?! A HCA on a band two working in A&E takes blood, staples heads, dresses wounds, performs last offices, comforts families in some absolutely heartbreaking circumstances and you think that’s ’not difficult’ 🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️

Not true, there are no pay increments for band 2 anymore

They did this in Scotland last year, but all it does it narrow the gap between bands, reducing motivation for promotion. Why would you take on a skilled, difficult/management post when you could earn not much less in an entry level post? Top band 3s in Scotland earn less than 3k a year (gross) less than newly qualified nurses who have a huge amount more responsibility. Even top band 5s don't earn much more.

It's also worth knowing that you can't claim your full pension until state retirement age. For every year early you retire, you sacrifice a fairly high %. So nobody is realistically getting it after 30 years. And yes, they moved us onto a new scheme in 2015 that is much worse. They could also presumably move us onto yet another worse scheme between now and my retirement (projected 2058...). Pension contributions are relatively high too.

I don’t think that workings out of the Nhs pension is correct? i’ll admit i pay into it but it confuses me when i try and work it out. The 2015 scheme brought in was not as beneficial as the previous ones.

The pension also relies you on working in the NHS for a long time to reap the benefits while paying a chunk out of your wage. Many lower paid staff won’t stay in the NHS for that length of time nowadays cos it’s a shit show and they can work elsewhere for the same wage.

Many of my colleagues on lower bands aren’t even in the pension as they can’t afford to be!!

This is right, and a lot less click baity that how the OP has phrased it.

NHSE is NOT against a pay rise higher than 2% - they are asking the government to appropriately fund any pay deal higher than that.

Last year, in order to meet financial balance, trusts and ICBS were allowed to scrape money from services and nationally funded initiatives and use them to fill the gaps. A large part of the reasoning for this was to meet the impact caused by industrial action and pay deals that were not sufficiently funded by the government.

I am a band 2.

It works around childcare and it has decent enhancements for working weekends.

I love my job, however it's very stressful on a busy and demanding ward.

There isn't no pay grades in a band 2. It's just one set wage. So unless I move to a band 3 ( which then my weekend enhancements go down) there is no pay rise for me.

It's kinda a lose lose situation.