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

[Sunflowers68]

NHS England is cautioning against giving employees raises of more than 2%. is A band 2 salary is now only 10p above minimum wage due to the recent increase in the minimum wage. Surely, a 2% increase is insufficient for a job this challenging? If you are still working in the NHS, can you share your reasons why?

I’m a band 4 NHS employee and minimum wage has creeped ever closer to the lower bands. There is not much difference between the top and bottom of bands pay anymore so someone new isn’t that far behind someone with years of experience pay rise.

Yes we get decent pensions but they rise too mines just been changed again so paying more. Many lower bands have come out the pension scheme as they can afford it. also to get anything decent from a pension you need to be in scheme many years and many are not lasting that long on lower bands.

It’s not just the NHS, it’s also school staff, local government staff and anyone else under public sector who will be recommended crap cost of living pay rises. Then wait ages to get it.

Yet mps are recommended more than us yet again at 5.5% , i’d imagine they don’t wait months for its to be decided every single year . When it’s finally sorted then pay a chunk of back pay back in taxes when we eventually get it months later.

I work in a team with band 2 administrators. They work hard, their hours fit in with their children, term time and part time. They are paid so little. They don't reach the tax threshold. They deserve more.

This affects everyone in the public sector, not just nurses.
For many years, the public sector bore the brunt of austerity with a pay freeze. My last pay rise was 1.3 % 2 years ago.
In real terms, my pay is at least 25% below what it was when the Tories came to power.

They managed to find 20% for consultants. Makes a mockery of everyone else working hard in the NHS really.

As someone else said, it's not 10p above minimum wage, it's 1p.

I'm a band 2. Most of the staff where I work are 2s and 3s. Extremely stressful job for them, very physical and demanding on a mental health ward. Most people will leave soon as its just not worth working for basically minimum wage for an everyday probability of violence towards them.

I remain as a nurse is who I am and I support the ethos of the NHS.

I don’t support skilled NHS staff having to use food banks due to low pay.
I don’t support our skilled band 2s being paid 1p more than minimum wage.
I don’t support a low pay rise when MPs found 5.5% for their own payrise.

we are trained skilled professionals who deserve to be paid as such.

Benefits went up by 6% and mps salary went up by 10% I think. My council tax went up by almost 7% yet they say as an nhs employee I shouldn't have a pay increase if more than 2% - explain that?

Our receptionist is the most essential person on the ward. She is sort so much more than a band 2.

@Sunflowers68 band 2 get rises til you get to the top of the band - they are able to apply for a 3 if a position comes up. Same as a band 5 nurse can go to the top of their band through experience they can't progress further unless a job at a higher band becomes vacant and they apply and are successful......

It's horrendous. I know young people on band 4 who love their jobs, do them well but are probably going to leave the NHS as they haven't a hope in hell of being able to buy a property.

I think that we are watching this Government deliberately pushing the NHS into the ground so that in the end when it's dismantled no one will actually care 😔

Just as a check (I'm not wanting to turn this into private v public sector thread!), but my annual review was 'exceeding exoectations' so have been rewarded the maximum pay rise in my private sector job - 3%

There's no union and not many of the other public sector 'perks'.

Not saying its better/worse but there can be an assumption on these threads that private sector are racking in huge payrises!!

For those asking about pension. A very simplified calculation:

A band 2 salary (once you've been in post for 2 years) is currently £22,383

You would pay 6.5% pension, roughly £120 a month (£1450 per year), with a take home pay of £1,550 per month assuming no student loans etc

You earn 1/54th of your pensionable salary per year, so each year £414 is added to your 'pot'. If you stay working at a band 2 for 30 years full time, your pension each year assuming no lump sum taken and not accounting for inflation or revaluation etc would be roughly £12,400 per year

Yes it's ridiculous. My bills went up this month but am still waiting on a decision for our potential offer. It's so wrong and makes me cross.
It's been done deliberately and makes me wander if I should go and work privately in one of our contractor roles

Sorry, I was meant to write 1p. This is absolutely shocking. Could the government give a greater pay rise to those on a lower band? Does it have to be split evenly across all bands? For instance, could the lower bands get a 5% pay rise and the higher bands 4%?

Unfortunately, the government finances are in the toilet and all public sector workers are going to get below inflation pay rises for a fair few years in an attempt to get the situation under control. Benefits and pensions will be the same.

The alternative is a run on uk government debt and massive cuts to all public services and benefits.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-68735677.amp

PP mentioned consultants getting 20% rises. Can we not pit one group against another? The strikes took a toll on everyone. The nurses backed down at 5%. It’s not a race to the bottom. The NHS is haemorrhaging staff as it is.

Don’t ask me where the money comes from. I’m not Liz Truss to be deluded enough to think I have the answers.

Unless you are a consultant. Then they can find the money for a 20% rise.

If nurses are upset that consultants received a higher % pay rise than they did, then they should direct their anger at the RCN who recommended the acceptance of a much lower % to members … but yes, nurses should be paid more.

If your calculations are correct, that gold plated NHS pension that is the envy of all doesn’t sound that great, given all the years you’ve put in. Never mind if you work part-time around kids etc.

Our team literally would not function (and therefore patient care would greatly suffer) if it wasn’t for our highly skilled administrator who earns 1p above minimum wage. It’s a travesty. I like my job and I’m paid the most I’ve ever earned (I’m a band 6, before I did my nurse training I worked on the tills in Asda) but does the wage in anyway reflect the level of skill, training and responsibility I hold? Absolutely not

@Sunflowers68 exactly. That’s what unions are for. After 14 years of Tories you still need them more than ever.

They need the appropriate qualifications to move from a band 2 to a band 3 post.

pretty sure there isnt a band 1 @LauraNorda
i guess that would be below minimum wage

why do you say you are band 1?

i believe the nhs pension has changed,
not as good as it was in the past.

@RosaRoja It's definitely not correct, as the pension is revalued at a small % each year, but I don't know enough about that to calculate. So that figure is lower than it would be in reality I'm sure.

But - most people take a tax free lump sum which will reduce the annual amount, and I'm sure there are plenty of band 2s who just can't afford to pay the £120 a month to pay into the pension. That's a huge amount when your take home pay isn't enough to cover rent and council tax for a terraced 3 bed (where I live, at least, which is a deprived area)