Real life pay cut to join NHS

[Poppysmom22]

So I have been offered an NHS role which on paper is equivalent pay (works out the same hourly rate) but because of the higher rate pension deduction and slightly less hours I will be approx £150pcm less actual cash in my pocket am I mad to consider this or is it a small sacrifice now for better pension later. What would you do?
Just FYI I have a nice job with reasonable conditions hybrid etc all the same and I don't need to leave.

When you describe your job on more detail it sounds less nice! I would go for it as it sounds like there are some push factors in your current role. If you start to miss the £150 pcm it's an amount that you could recover with some careful budgeting. If you are currently in the private sector, don't underestimate how different the public sector can be. Good luck!

The pension is still insanely good in the NHS: 1/54 of role per year which increases with inflation. So for a Band 8 that’s around 1k a year which would cost 25-30k to buy as an annuity. That’s basically 50% of your pay as an additional benefit.

Depends on your role. At my NHS workplace everyone downs tools at precisely 5:00. It's incredibly slow. I moved from the private sector (which is frantically busy and full of unpaid over time!) and I'm moving back because I'm bored to death.

Do you have to start at the bottom of the NHS payband.sometimes there is room for negotiation dependent on experience. Wfh /hybrid can be difficult in nhs..... Depends on the department but it can be old fashioned in how it works.

I’m the opposite in that I left a job in the NHS about 9 years ago and took another job that meant I earned just over £500 less but every lost pound was worth it to get out the NHS shit show.

I think it very much depends on what role you are planning on moving into as to whether the loss is worth it.

We spend too much time at work to be unhappy so if you can afford the pay adjustment I'd go for it. I guess it also depends on what is important for you though. Job security is a big thing for me so the thought of repeated redundancy process would have me shaking in the corner. The old NHS pension was amazing and whilst the revised terms weren't as generous it's still good from what I can remember plus you can move up payscales in bands. What are the options for progression? Could you go higher up if you wanted so a dip in pay now would pay off in the future? Like PP said you can negotiate pay so it's comparable.

Based on all I'd go for it.

From my NHS experience you will be reorganized every few years and there are a lot of crap managers you all know should be managed out. However, I think that's the same everywhere though.

That isn’t typical for clinical or front facing roles I’m afraid.

I think NHS is a bit like Local Government. My husband has worked in local government. Has often considered moving to the private sector. But has stayed for many reasons, that don't sound much individually, but do mean a lot when you add them together.

Recently he has had an increased workload because of a colleague being suddenly off sick. But the important thing is how the colleague is being supported by the employer. Long term sick pay, Occupational Health to get them back to work, and adjustments to their working arrangements being written in to their contract.

You have to balance the good with the not so good. Individual roles can vary within NHS and one person's experience is not necessarily the same as someone else's, but this type of support isn't not always available in the private sector. A good friend of mine is currently receiving chemo for breast cancer and is on SSP for the foreseeable future.

So pension and how you would be treated in a worst case scenario are definitely things to consider.

I did private podiatry for a year and was bored stupid. I couldn't wait to get back to the NHS. I took a huge pay cut but I can't spend day after day with nothing but routine stuff to do. I need to be stimulated at work. I'm 60 so not young.

You couldn't pay me enough to return to the toxic, bullying, bureaucratic, money wasting, piss taking, soul destroying organisation that is the NHS.

I middle aged and work in the NHS in a clinical role I’ve worked in the private sector and even tried to retrain. I have worked in about 20 different trusts/hospitals.
There are downsides of working in the NHS I’m not denying this but for me and I’m assuming over a million others (the NHS is the biggest employer of women in the world and I think the 4th biggest employer in general the world) the upsides are way bigger.
You do get a great pension, you also start with 1 month full sick pay and this increases every year till you reach 6 months, HR policies are generally followed to the letter which is why it’s so hard to get rid of people, ditto OH. Starting on the bottom of a your band means you get a virtually guaranteed increase in your pay every 1-2 years until you reach the top band. For the able there is often career progression even from the lowest bands in my last job the chief exec literally started out as a cleaner.
This is all great but why I stay and came back is because at its best you cannot beat the NHS you are working for an organisation that is providing free health care to all, regardless of who you are without question I have literally seen celebrities next to filthy bug infected tramps both were treated equally and we should be proud of that. Most clinical staff are totally committed to this ethos and we are generally pulling in the same direction.
Im not delusional I’m painfully aware that NHS has failing but this is not the fault of the staff, we have been chronically underfunded, staff are totally demoralised and exhausted many work more than their contracted hours and don’t get overtime TOIL (especially clinical staff), we are not able to do what we want to do, we have a staffing crisis, we have an aging population and a social care crisis, patients are becoming increasingly demanding and often their demands are unrealistic and in many cases actually incorrect but they go on social media and get a spurious diagnosis and then demand X Y and Z (often incorrectly) patients are regularly rude and aggressive to staff and blame the individuals when things don’t go their way when generally it’s not the individuals fault. Patients are their families increasingly believe that they should take priority over others, that their individual problems mean that they should get priority treatment when clinically this isn’t the case, again egged on by social media yes MN I’m looking at you, no medical system in the world can see everyone at once. But during the Covid epidemic the NHS stepped up to the plate despite all the already existing pressures and showed the country what it stands for.
Despite all the issues of working for the NHS and all the things you find in the private sector bullying, favouritism, difficult staff lazy staff crap staff because of its sheer size will occur in the NHS I am proud to work for it.

This 😂😂
Enjoy an unmanageable workload, a real terms pay cut every year and the pressure of people’s health and lives on you for a slightly better pension if you make it to pensionable age. Not sure on your hours but shifts take around 10 years off your life.

Depends on the job and banding and opportunities for job growth. Once you are at the top of the band you will only get the normal 2% increase per year unless you apply for promotion.

Pension perks depending on how old you are now - the pension is not as good as it was, so please do research it first 😀 however saying thats its still a good deal against some private pensions.

It also depends on the Trust some expect extra hours - the days of packing up and leaving at 5pm (if you are patient facing or the team are struggling with winter crisis and there are no beds etc) will be gone and some trusts pay bank rate overtime, or give time off in lieu some don’t.

Have a look at the trusts last staff survey - would have come out march time this year and will be in their public board papers - it will give you a sense of the type of trust you are joining.

One thing to consider is your planned retirement age. NHS pension is now linked to state age whereas private I believe you can take earlier. You can take nhs earlier at a reduced sum

Tbh it's the sick pay and pension moving this forward for me I've just watched a colleague struggle through cancer on ssp for a year and a half the poverty and uncertainty was almost worse than the cancer and this isn't in a basic role this is at a senior level.

I would definitely try to negotiate starting on a higher point of scale. This is the only time you will ever be able to try it. It might not work but nothing to lose by asking.

even if it doesn’t work, I wouldn’t rule out a job because of the pay cut…like you say you get a much better pension at the end of it!

Your pension contributions will depend on your salary. But the big carrot is that the NHS as an employer contributes 20.6 %. I'm not sure where on earth else you could build up a pension like that. Then there is sick pay, death in service etc.
Depending on your area of skills and abilities promotion after a few years might be an option?

From what you've said about your current job, I would say that you are better off moving to the NHS and not just because of the pension and sickness benefits but for greater job security and a better workplace culture.

But then I drop dead long before pension age and it'll all be moot anyway

I think you were being jokey but actually death in service benefits with the NHS do mean that any dependents will be looked after.

Completely agree with this. Please research pension details before agreeing. If I chose to retire at 60 instead of 68, I would receive a significantly reduced pension (I think about a third less). There is a massive difference between 60 and 68 so I am trying to plan a way to retire at 60 but not claim the pension until 68. I suspect I will have to a. Save a lot and b. Leave the NHS and work somewhere else to do this. As others say, NHS trusts and roles vary hugely. There will be people working themselves to an early grave and others who barely lift a finger.

NHS pension currently is a very good deal, have heard this from multiple financial advisors.

Sick pay is better as well. On that basis unless you would struggle without the £150, I'd go for it. It may also be worth thinking about your prospects in current job vs NHS job with regards to promotion.

My private pension, working for a private company, can be taken from 57. I believe it’s OAP pension linked in the NHS.

Rubbish I have been in a front facing role as a Nurse for 25 years and have never ever worked over for free. It is very much my experience in the three trusts I have worked for. As I said we either take it as TOIL or we get paid for having to work over, managers never dispute either.