NHS workers - question about pay scales/AFC

[helenmelons7]

I've been on maternity leave for the past 10 months so a bit out the loop. This question applies non London workers.

I'm a band 3 secretary and my yearly salary is £21777 which is the top of the scale. I've just been looking online (see screen shots) and it says for the year 22/23 the salary is £23117 (all other bands increased also) I would of thought 22/23 started from April just gone? So I'm a bit confused if I'm being underpaid? The payroll department for my trust is well known for being unhelpful and very unpleasant so it fills me with dread having to contact them. When I look at jobs on the NHS jobs site a lot of jobs are coming up with the old salary. Does anyone know and can confirm this?

I think those are the new pay rates which we start getting from September pay.
They said they will back date the pay rise from April so that would explain why it is the 22/23 rate.

Yes it's only just been announced so they will back date it to April.

Yeah, the raise was only announced a couple of weeks ago so hasn't kicked in yet. When it does it will be backdated to April.

The plan is that everyone gets £1400 and then there's a 3% pay raise. I imagine the pay rise will be before they add the £1440 though!
The pension contributions are changing for a band 3 will and your contribution will decrease too.

I don't think this is correct, I'll try to find a link.

I can't find a decent link - it's either a 3% increase, or a £1400 increase for some pay bands. It's not both unfortunately!

Thanks all that's really helpful to know, although it will barely make a difference each month for us low earners. I can't seem to find anything online regarding pension contributions decreasing, does anyone have a link? I currently pay 7.1%.

@helenmelons7
@B1rd
Everyone got a £1400 raise. There is not also a 3 % raise. In fact for you it is a much higher percentage raise. For those pn higher bandings it is a lower percentage. On average £1400 equates to 3%, this is where this figure comes from in the media. This will appear in your pay from September and be backdated to April.

It's saying the old rate on the job ads because they haven't caught up yet.

Pension rates are also changing from October I believe. New pension percentages are here:
www.gov.uk/government/consultations/nhs-pension-scheme-proposed-uplifts-to-the-member-contribution-tier-thresholds/nhs-pension-scheme-proposed-uplifts-to-the-member-contribution-tier-thresholds-from-1-october-2022
Old rates here:
www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/member-hub/cost-being-scheme
So you will move from 7.1 to 7.7 percent contributions.

I haven’t heard anything about pension contributions changing either, also band 3 but lower end as only been in the job a year.

Actually it isnt true that everyone got £1400. I am top band 7 and we are getting 4% along with top band 6 staff.

Yes the pension reform kicks in October this year. I earn around 48k and will be dropping from 12.5% to 11.3%.

Yes, that's my understanding too - everyone is getting a £1,400 rise, except for top of Band 6 and top of Band 7, who are getting a 4% rise (or £1,400, whichever is higher).

I'm not entirely sure why top of Band 6 and top of Band 7 are being treated differently.

Also you will be pensioned on your actual salary not on your whole time equivalent as it had been previously. I had been part time for years and was being pensioned on a salary of around 38k the same as if I earnt 48k. The pay rise last year pushed me from 9.3% to 12.5% so I actually lost money from the pay rise. I am glad to see it reducing.

Everyone gets a minimum of £1400, the average increase is 4%, but it's much higher than that for the lower bands and lower for the 8a's and above.

The pay scales on the NHS Employers site have been updated to show the pay increase which is backdated to April 2022. You should receive the pay increase and arrears in September (although this may vary by trust).

The pension contributions are being reviewed in order to prevent the pay increase taking you into the next bracket up (effectively a reduction in take home salary). So far as I'm aware, the detail hasn't been published yet.

Nor me. It is all of pay points of band 7s I believe and only top 6s - I cannot find any details on why those bands though.

Because they've said everyone will get at least a 4% (or 4.5% depending where you read) raise I think. I would assume that the top of band 6 is the point at which £1400 is less than that.

Sorry to hijack but I'm on mat leave and can't get my head round this: If I'm about to pass my 2nd year working as a B5, do I get the £1400 as well as the 2 year progression point increase? Does my pay go to £29,180? Or £27,055?

TIA!

@ImTiredOf yes you go to the middle of band 5 at its new rate (so plus the £1400). You have to do a performance meeting thing to get the increment now though (at least in our trust). So mandatory training, etc all needs to be up-to-date to progress. Not sure how it works if you're on mat leave!

Ooh thanks! Will try to find out if it's done automatically (I was all up to date before I went off - not much else to do towards the end lol), or if I have a review and its backdated when I come back. Suppose it might be classed as discriminatory if i dont get it on mat leave because i cant have a review?? Maybe I can do it on a KIT day but that wont be till next yr. Either way, whenever i get it it's a little piece of good news for me (wider politics aside).

Thanks @MamaSharkington I had read it incorrectly. It was £1400 including last years 3%...bugger!

Thanks!

Please let that be true about the pensions not being based on full time wage. I might actually get a pay rise that means more money in my take home pay.

which will be novel. Not going to count on it until the payslip is in my hands.

@RafaistheKingofClay Here you go and yes 100% true thankfully. Last years pay rise was a bloody nightmare for me as not only did I see a pay cut from it but they also took the pension arrears out of my wages in Octobers pay, to the tune of £600. This was without notice and on top of Xmas, I was furious.

NHS Pension rates from October 2022

Member contributions
In the National Health Service Pension Schemes (Member Contributions etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2022 (the “First Amending Regulations”), the department made various changes to the member contribution structure which will come into force on 1 October 2022. Those changes were to:

change members’ contribution rates so that they would be based on actual pensionable pay instead of members’ notional whole-time equivalent pay