FCS Briefing - 3 year NHS pay Framework …

1 FCS Briefing 2018-2021 NHS Pay for Agenda for Change staff - 3 year Framework Agreement FCS Members, The flurry of media attention to the announcement of the Framework Agreement on NHS pay has subsided. Now is the time for you, those directly affected, to consider the offer, to learn about and understand the background and details and to indicate via your FCS representatives whether you wish your union to accept it. The Framework Agreement offer is multi-faceted and does deserve some attention. It is set against background of the government policy of reducing the deficit from the 2008 financial crisis in part by public sector pay restraint.

2 Although the headlines indicate the breaking of the 1% pay increase cap , pay restraint remains the underlying government policy. The joint unions and employers timetable is: March 21st The Framework Agreement released for consultation; March & April Release of documentation, pay journeys (for current staff) and calculators to help you understand the impact of the agreement; May Unions and employers determine their members responses; June NHS Staff Council determine whether the agreement is accepted; July If accepted increased pay into pay packets with back pay to April 2018 thereafter. This Briefing describes the content of the Framework Agreement as it applies to Agenda for Change staff in England however the devolved administrations have indicated that would wish to replicate it if it is accepted in England.

3 Joint union documentation can be found at Background and Context: Why restructure? The AfC terms, conditions and pay arrangements came about in 2004 following major legal challenges to the former Whitley system where each individual group had its own terms and scales. The AfC system with harmonised terms and conditions, its 9 pay bands supported by the Job Evaluation system and cost of living uplifts determined through the NHS Pay Review Body system has generally served well. However the 2004 agreement was always regarded as work in progress . Subsequent legal challenge supported the general principles of AfC as an equal-pay compliant system but criticised: The lack of rationality of length of some scales (especially bands 6 & 7 with 9 points) if they really represent the time taken to work into the full rate for the job ( top of band); The number of overlap points (3 between bands 5&6 and 4 between 6&7).

4 Austerity and restrictions to public sector pay increases frustrated discussions towards reform. The situation has eased somewhat leading to the model in the Framework Agreement. Unions were adamant that any cost implications be fully funded to avoid further pressures on the already stressed health service and its staff. Thus HM Treasury approval was needed. The objectives of the 3 year deal are: To increase starting salaries to help NHS attract and recruit staff; To help NHS retain staff by providing increases in basic pay for those already at top of pay bands above those expected under the current system of 1% cost of living increases; To support existing staff with more rapid pay progression supported by explicit standards.

5 Elements of the Framework Agreement The result of many weeks of negotiation and impact modelling by unions, NHS Employers and the Department of Health and Social Care culminated in the approval on 21st March of funding over the 3 years of the transition period. The Framework Agreement is multi-faceted and rather complex. The components are: Removal of all overlap points from the bottom of pay bands ( where there is overlap with the top points of the band below); Radical reduction in the number of points in a pay band with bigger increments but length of stay on each point is 2 to 5 years rather than current 1 year step; A recognition that the top point of bands is the rate for the job ; The new pay bands will be in place (for all except bands 6 & 7) in 2020-2021 and for all in 2021-2022; For those not already at top of band in March 2018 there is a step-wise transition as old pay points are removed.

6 This will incorporate cost of living increases; For those already at top of scales there will be cost of living increases each year 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21. These increases are: o 3% from 1st April 2018; o from 1st April 2019 plus a one off cash payment of a further (bands 8D & 9 get the same additional cash amount as 8C). This cash payment is not consolidated nor pensionable; o from 1st April 2020 (8D & 9 again get the same cash value as 8C). The system to establish increases once the new pay band structure is in place from 2021 will be determined. For 8C, 8D & 9 the system of re-earnable points, as first introduced in 2013, continues but only once the top of band has been attained.

7 From year 7 in post onwards 5% or 10% is vulnerable subject to performance. Diagrammatically: 1. Bands 6& 7 2. Bands 8A & 8B Band 6/7: 2017-18 9 points, 8 years to top of band. 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Overlap with Band 5/6 Band 6/7: 2021-2022 Top point 2nd point Start point 3y 2y Band 5/6 2018-19 to 2020-2021 Transition 1. Cost of living & restructure (removal of points) increases on 1st April 2. Pay progression on your normal incremental date 3. Bands 8C, 8d & 9 Rather than go into great detail here I refer you to the documentation about the Framework at: 2017-18: Band 8A/B 6 5 4 3 2 1 Band 7 Overlap points 1 & 2 2021-22: Band 8A/B Top point Start point Band 7 5y 2018-19 to 2020-2021 Transition 1.

8 Cost of living & restructure (removal of points) increases on 1st April 2. Pay progression on your normal incremental date 2017-18: Band 8C,D,9 6 5 4 3 2 1 Top 2 points removable Overlap 2021-22: Band 8C,D,9 Top point Start point 5y 5% or 10% removable 2018-19 to 2020-2021 Transition 1. Cost of living & restructure (removal of points) increases on 1st April 2. Pay progression on your normal incremental date and These sites give pay journeys as the precise progression varies considerably depending on your current (2017-18) pay point. This is inevitable when making such radical reform to the pay point structure.

9 Note that the salary in each future year on those tables is attained in two steps: The cost of living and restructure component which will happen on 1st April each year; Progression up the pay band which will happen on your normal incremental date. At some points, where old points have been removed, this will not result in a further pay increase on incremental progression. However the 1st April increase at these points will already have been substantial. The point by point journeys for bands 6 to 9, relevant to FCS members, compared with the same journey assuming a 1% public sector increase is given in the table below.

10 In reading the journeys simply find your 2017-18 band and pay point and read horizontally across the line. Contrary to earlier reports in parts of the media unsocial hours arrangements (for bands 4 to 9) and annual leave entitlements are unchanged by the Framework Agreement. High Cost Area Supplements (HCAS) remain in place at the same 20%, 15% & 5% rates for inner London, outer London and fringe locations. The minimum and maximum cash values are uplifted broadly in line with the top of bands. See Table 2 below. What if the Framework Agreement is rejected by NHS staff? NHS unions, other than GMB, are recommending acceptance of the Framework Agreement however the final decision lies with you, the members.