NHS terms and conditions of service handbook

1 THE NHS STAFF COUNCIL WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP NHS terms and conditions of service handbook Amendment number 13 Pay Circular (AforC) 1/2009 NHS terms and conditions of service handbook The NHS Staff Council The terms and conditions of service set out in this handbook apply in full to all staff directly employed by NHS organisations, except very senior managers and staff within the remit of the Doctors and Dentists Review Body. NHS organisations include Health and Personal Social services organisations in Northern Ireland. References to the NHS throughout this document should be read as including these organisations where appropriate. Staff on contracts which incorporate national agreements will assimilate to the new system, and staff on local contracts will be offered the opportunity of transferring to it under the timetable it sets out.

2 Introduction NHS terms and conditions of service handbook The NHS Staff Council Part 1 Principles and partnership Part 2 Pay Section 1 Pay structure Section 2 Maintaining round the clock services Section 3 Overtime payments Section 4 Pay in high cost areas Section 5 Recruitment and retention premia Section 6 Career and pay progression Section 7 Payment of annual salaries Sections 8 9 (Unallocated) Part 3 terms and conditions of service Section 10 Hours of the working week Section 11 Part-time employees and employees on fixed-term contracts Section 12 Contractual continuity of service Section 13 Annual leave and general public holidays Contents NHS terms and conditions of service handbook The NHS Staff Council Section 14 Sickness absence Section 15 Maternity leave and pay Section 16 Redundancy pay Section 17 Mileage allowances Section 18 Subsistence allowances Section 19 Other terms and conditions Sections 20 24 (Unallocated) Part 4 Employee relations Section 25 Facilities for staff organisations Section 26 Joint consultation machinery Section 27 Working time regulations Sections 28 29 (Unallocated)

3 Part 5 Equal opportunities Section 30 General statement on equality and diversity Section 31 Recruitment, promotion and staff development Section 32 Dignity at work Section 33 Caring for children and adults Section 34 Flexible working arrangements Section 35 Balancing work and personal life Section 36 Employment break scheme NHS terms and conditions of service handbook The NHS Staff Council Sections 37 39 (Unallocated) Part 6 Operating the system Section 40 New bodies and procedures Sections 41 45 (Unallocated) Part 7 Transitional arrangements Section 46 Assimilation and protection Section 47 Monitoring, reviews and appeals Annexes Annex A NHS employers Annex B Pay bands and pay points 2004; 2005; 2006; 2007 and 2008 Annex C Pay bands and pay points 2009 Annex D Working or providing emergency cover outside normal hours Annex E Provisions for unsocial hours payments for ambulance staff and available to early implementer sites Annex F Examples of special cases under the provisions for work outside normal hours Annex G Good practice guidance on managing working patterns Annex H High cost area payment zones Annex I High cost area supplements NHS terms and conditions of service handbook The NHS Staff Council Annex J Local recruitment and retention premium criteria Annex K Additional freedoms for trusts with earned autonomy Annex L Mileage allowances Annex M Lease car policies Annex N Subsistence allowances Annex O Other terms and conditions Annex P Coverage of Nurses and Other Health Professions Review Body Implementation annexes Annex Q

4 Classification of leads and allowances (listed by staff group) Annex R Guidance on the application of national recruitment and retention premia Annex S Local appeals procedures Annex T Development of professional roles Annex U Arrangements for pay and banding of trainees Annex V NHS Scotland: Partnership Information Network guidelines Annex W Support for professional fees for staff in bands 5 to 8A (England only) Annex X Working or providing emergency cover outside normal hours Annex Y Arrangements for general and public holidays over the Christmas and New Year holiday periods NHS terms and conditions of service handbook The NHS Staff Council Annex Z Managing sickness absences developing local policies and procedures Annex A1 Principles and Best Practice of Partnership Working NHS terms and conditions of service handbook The NHS Staff Council PART 1: PRINCIPLES AND PARTNERSHIP 1 Principles and partnership NHS terms and conditions of service handbook The NHS Staff Council 1.

5 All NHS employers are obliged to adhere to employment and tax law and other statutory provisions. The NHS Staff Council will seek to keep the handbook up to date with any changes, but current law takes precedence over the handbook . 2. In Scotland, the statutory framework includes legislation on staff governance as set out in the NHS Reform (Scotland) Act 2004 and the Staff Governance Standard. Compliance with this standard includes implementation of Partnership Information Network (PIN) guidelines, which define a minimum standard of best employment practice. This handbook should be read in conjunction with the provisions of the PIN guidelines as listed in Annex V. 3. The provisions set out in this handbook are based on the need to ensure a fair system of pay for NHS employees which supports modernised working practices. The provisions recognise that modern forms of healthcare rely on flexible teams of staff providing patient care 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and applying a wide range of skills.

6 4. The Agenda for Change partners agree to work in partnership to deliver a new NHS pay system which supports NHS service modernisation and meets the reasonable aspirations of staff. The signatories to the agreement will work together to meet the reasonable aspirations of all the parties to: ensure that the new pay system leads to more patients being treated, more quickly and being given higher quality care assist new ways of working which best deliver the range and quality of services required, in as efficient and effective a way as possible, and organised to best meet the needs of patients assist the goal of achieving a quality workforce with the right numbers of staff, with the right skills and diversity, and organised in the right way improve the recruitment, retention and morale of the NHS workforce improve all aspects of equal opportunity and diversity.

7 Especially in the areas of career and training opportunities and working patterns that are flexible and responsive to family commitments Principles and partnership Principles and partnership NHS terms and conditions of service handbook The NHS Staff Council meet equal pay for work of equal value criteria, recognising that pay constitutes any benefits in cash or conditions implement the new pay system within the management, financial and service constraints likely to be in place. Local partnership 5. The Agenda for Change partners will make every effort to continue to support, encourage and promote a partnership approach to implementation of the new pay system at local level. The agreement to work in partnership to deliver a new NHS pay system which supports NHS service modernisation and meets the reasonable aspirations of staff should, therefore, be replicated at local level.

8 Working examples of staff involvement and partnership working are in the resource pack, Staff involvement better decisions, better care, available at: ModelEmployer/StaffInvolvementAndPartner ships 6. To this end, employers should ensure that the representatives of trade unions and other staff organisations recognised for purposes of collective bargaining at local level, are released appropriately to participate in the partnership process and that nominated officers of local staff representatives can be fully involved in the local partnership arrangements. The adequacy of facilities arrangements will be monitored by the NHS Staff Council. 7. Within NHSS cotland the Staff Governance Standard applies. This can be found at: Wider human resources issues 8. Pay modernisation is an integral part of the human resource strategies of the NHS in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

9 All parties to this agreement therefore recognise that it should be implemented in a way which is consistent with the wider human resource policies set out in the relevant strategies. PART 2: PAY 2 Part 2: Pay Section 1: Pay structure NHS terms and conditions of service handbook The NHS Staff Council Section 1: Pay structure Pay spines The NHS pay system as a whole will have three pay spines or series of pay bands: one for staff within the remit of the Doctors and Dentists Review Body; one for staff within the extended remit of the Pay Review Body for Nursing and Other Health Professions; and one for other directly employed NHS staff, with the exception of the most senior managers. Part 2 of this handbook sets out the pay spines and the associated arrangements for the second and third of these groups. Section 40 (Part 6) and Annex P set out the extended coverage of the Pay Review Body for Nursing and Other Health Professions.

10 Both the second and third pay spines will be divided into nine pay bands. All staff covered by Agenda for Change will, on assimilation, be assigned to one of these pay bands on the basis of job weight as measured by the NHS Job Evaluation Scheme. To assist this process, a set of NHS jobs have been evaluated and national job profiles drawn up where the job evaluation score is agreed. Staff whose jobs match these profiles will assimilate on the basis of the profile score. Other jobs will be evaluated locally on a partnership basis. The NHS Job Evaluation The nine pay bands and their corresponding job evaluation scores are set out in Table 1 below. Within this structure, pay band 8 is sub-divided into four ranges. sets out the basis of job evaluation, which underpins the new pay system and includes the factor plan, the weighting and scoring document and a guide for matching posts locally.