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Dear Member,
Please read our FAQs concerning the 2024-25 NHS pay award for Agenda for Change and GMB’s consultative ballot: nhs-pay-consultative-ballot-24-25-faqs.pdf
Please note this pay award is for England only.
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Last week the Government announced that they would honour the NHS Pay Review Body recommendation in full. See below full details of the pay award and GMBs ballot.
The Pay Award:
GMB Ballot:
Want to help with the GMB Ballot?
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NHS PAY UPDATE
This week the Government announced that they would be honouring the NHS Pay Review Body recommendation on pay.
The PRB have recommended a 5.5% pay increase amongst other things.
We have not yet received the formal notice of the pay award from the Department of Health and Social Care and therefore do not yet have the full details of the pay award.
GMBs National NHS and Ambulance Committees will be meeting on Thursday 1st August 2024 to discuss the details that we have so far, and determine GMBs next steps.
Further updates will be provided next week including details of how members can engage with the ballot on the pay award and what the timelines are.
Not a GMB member? Join today at www.gmb.org.uk/join
Want to get more involved with the GMB ballot on pay? Email NHS@gmb.org.uk
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NHS Pay 2024-25 Update
GMB writes to new Secretary of State
15th July 2024
NHS workers are still waiting for this year’s pay award and GMB has now written to the Secretary of State regarding this and enclosing a copy of GMBs Pay Claim.
We understand that the Secretary of State now has the Pay Review Body Report and we urge the Government to make arrangements to address pay and other NHS issues speedily.
You can read the letter - please see link below –
Want to get more involved with GMBs Pay Campaign? Email NHS@gmb.org.uk
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GMB has been in NHS workplaces across the country talking to members about GMBs pay claim and listening to what’s important to you. The overwhelming concern is how much longer will you be made to wait for your pay rise. Inflation may have dropped to 2%, but the cost of living crisis is still very real from many NHS workers. The lowest paid in the NHS are being paid just 1 pence above the minimum wage. NHS workers need a significant increase, above inflation, with a plan on how to restore your earning levels to what they should be. That’s why GMB is asking for a minimum of £1.50 per hour.
GMB has been informed that the Pay Review Body have completed their recommendation report, and this will be presented to the new Government when they take up office after the General Election. GMB will be calling on the new Government to consider our pay claim and negotiate speedily with unions to ensure you get the pay you deserve as soon as possible.
Other elements of the GMB pay claim have also been received well be members across the country.
Car parking charges are a real problem for many NHS workers who have to pay to park at work, or park miles away and walk, often alone at night or during early mornings. Some NHS trusts have agreed to cover parking charges for the lowest paid in their trusts whilst they await the pay award. Whilst GMB welcomes this move by some employers, moves to reclaim the money once the pay award has been paid will be strongly objected to.
In the ambulance service, members are supporting the pay claim asks against Section 2 unsocial hours and a call for a lower retirement age.
You can read all about GMBs pay claim, keep up to date with the NHS Pay Campaign and volunteer to get more involved at NHS Pay 2024/25 | GMB Union.
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Once again, NHS workers have been let down by the Conservative Government who have now left office before implementing this year’s pay award, which was due on 1st April 2024.
Their insistence on using the NHS Pay Review Body to determine pay instead of negotiating with health unions means that NHS workers are left without this year’s pay increase and the lowest paid being just 1 pence above the minimum wage.
GMB wrote to the Secretary of State about our continued concerns regarding the delayed pay round and the impacts this was having on GMB members. You can read their response here: health-secretary-to-gmb-20-may-24.pdf
Due to the announcement of the General Election, purdah rules will now apply, which mean that there is currently no Government to make any decisions on pay. The Pay Review Body will therefore not be able to submit their recommendation report until a new government has been elected on 4th July. The new Government will then need to consider that report and make their decision on what the pay award should be.
GMB will continue to campaign and lobby all MPs who are standing in the election to ensure they know what our expectations are for the new Government regarding NHS pay. You can keep up to date with the NHS Pay Campaign at NHS Pay 2024/25 | GMB Union.
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Dear Member,
Please read our FAQs for the NHS Pay Claim 2024/25 here: faqs-nhs-pay-claim-2024.pdf
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GMB writes to Secretary of State about delays to NHS worker pay
8th May 2024
GMB has written again to the Secretary of State to call for pay negotiations to speed up this year's pay award which was due on the 1st April.
You can read a copy of the letter here: gmb-letter-fao-sos-hsc-victoria-atkins-8-may-24.pdf
If you want to get involved with GMBs Pay Campaign email NHS@gmb.org.uk
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GMBs Pay Claim for 2024/25 was submitted to the Department of Health & Social Care on 6th February 2024. The pay claim was agreed by GMBs National NHS & Ambulance Committees after considering the results from GMB member surveys.
One of the pay claim asks was for:
Safe Staffing Levels.
Below you will find a brief explanation as to why GMB has included this as a part of this year’s pay claim.
Is this an issue of importance to you?
Do you want to get involved in campaigning on this as a part of this year’s pay campaign?
Do you have a work colleague who would be a good campaigner / leader?
If so – enter contact details on this form and someone will be in touch – thank you!
https://forms.office.com/e/qxb1iQGSSq
Why is this in the pay claim?
GMB members regularly report to us the damaging and devastating impacts that pay cuts are having on workers and everyone who relies on NHS services. Years of underfunding and real-terms wage cuts are affecting all those who rely on the NHS. According to the latest figures on vacancy rates, there are over 121,000 vacancies in England. Failure to resolve the on-going issues of NHS staff being able to access flexible working options will only exacerbate this.
Pay cuts, rising demand, and the experience of providing essential services during the pandemic have had a profound and negative effect on many NHS workers’ mental health. This is compounded by the high rates of additional hours worked, both paid and unpaid. In a recent survey of GMB members, stress and burnout were stated as being a major area of concern for NHS workers, second only to pay. Staffing levels, and unpaid breaks / additional hours were voted third and fourth.
GMB members consistently raise with us concerns of unsafe staffing levels and the impacts on patient care. GMB Congress 2023 noted that there were staff shortages in every department of the NHS. Dangerously low levels of trained nursing staff on wards. And yet when concerns are raised with local NHS employers, the reply is simply that there are no more staff to cover. GMB has reports of Band 3 Health Care Support Workers being left in charge of wards until suitably qualified staff members arrive. The duty of care to staff and patients is being breached.
Ensuring there are safe staffing levels across the NHS must be a priority for the Government and this will only be achieved by improving the pay and working conditions of staff. Pay is not the only factor that influences recruitment and retention trends, and in turn impacts on patient care, but it is the variable that the Government and employers have the most immediate control over.
Tell us what you think?
Are you concerned about unsafe staffing levels in your workplace?
How does that impact the health and well-being of you and your colleagues?
Are you concerned for patient care?
We want to hear from GMB members on this issue.
Send us your stories and video messages by email to NHS@gmb.org.uk
What else is in the pay claim?
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GMBs Pay Claim for 2024/25 was submitted to the Department of Health & Social Care on 6th February 2024. The pay claim was agreed by GMBs National NHS & Ambulance Committees after considering the results from GMB member surveys.
One of the pay claim asks was for:
Immediate action to rectify Job Evaluation and Equal Pay issues.
Below you will find a brief explanation as to why GMB has included this as a part of this year’s pay claim.
Is this an issue of importance to you?
Do you want to get involved in campaigning on this as a part of this year’s pay campaign?
Do you have a work colleague who would be a good campaigner / leader?
If so – enter contact details on this form and someone will be in touch – thank you!
https://forms.office.com/e/qxb1iQGSSq
Why is this in the pay claim?
Job evaluation has become a major problem across the whole of the NHS and ambulance services and affects GMB members working in all roles and across all Agenda for Change pay bands.
Years of underfunding to the NHS has resulted in chronic staffing shortages and increased workloads for those staff who remain, and job creep has become a real issue.
GMB has actively engaged in the review of the full set of ambulance profiles and the on-going review of nursing and midwifery profiles. GMB is also represented on the NHS Staff Council Job Evaluation Group (JEG) and are actively engaged in that work. However, we have grave concerns about the lack of capacity and resources across JEG.
The huge amount of work that needs to be undertaken to ensure staff are being paid appropriately cannot be understated. Action is needed immediately. Attention and resources to provide physical support and infrastructure to speed up the work of JEG. Failure to do so means that the NHS is in immediate danger of breaching equal pay laws.
Tell us what you think?
Do you believe you are acting at levels above what you are being paid, or carrying out more duties than your job description details?
Do you know when your job was last reviewed?
If you have concerns about job evaluation or equal pay, please speak to your local GMB Representative. Alternatively, you can email your details to NHS@gmb.org.uk
What else is in the pay claim?
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GMBs Pay Claim for 2024/25 was submitted to the Department of Health & Social Care on 6th February 2024. The pay claim was agreed by GMBs National NHS & Ambulance Committees after considering the results from GMB member surveys.
One of the pay claim asks was for:
Free NHS Car Parking: Restore funding for NHS trusts to provide parking at no cost for NHS workers.
Below you will find a brief explanation as to why GMB has included this as a part of this year’s pay claim.
Is this an issue of importance to you?
Do you want to get involved in campaigning on this as a part of this year’s pay campaign?
Do you have a work colleague who would be a good campaigner / leader?
If so – enter contact details on this form and someone will be in touch – thank you!
https://forms.office.com/e/qxb1iQGSSq
Why is this in the pay claim?
Car parking charges have long represented a ‘stealth tax’ on NHS workers, many of whom work in the community and need a car to travel between their patients homes and their workplace, or work at locations that are not easily accessible by public transport, by walking or cycling.
During the pandemic we secured car parking for NHS workers at no cost. Yet, during the worst cost of living crisis in a generation, funding has been removed and NHS trusts have started to re-introduce car parking charges for their employees. A Freedom of Information Request carried out by GMB found that the total income from staff car parking to NHS trusts in 2022/23 was £46,653,234.00. An increase of £41 million, or 730%, on income generated in 2021/22.
GMB is calling on Government to restore the funding for NHS trusts to enable them to provide parking at no cost for their essential workforce.
Tell us what you think?
Paying to park at work can be a huge financial burden to NHS workers. Some NHS trusts have already decided to scrap car parking charges for NHS staff to support and value their workers.
What would free car parking at mean to you?
How would the additional money you would have as a result impact you and your family?
How would it change your day to day life?
Please send your stories or video messages to NHS@gmb.org.uk
What else is in the pay claim?
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GMBs Pay Claim for 2024/25 was submitted to the Department of Health & Social Care on 6th February 2024. The pay claim was agreed by GMBs National NHS & Ambulance Committees after considering the results from GMB member surveys.
One of the pay claim asks was for:
Ambulance Retirement Age: An urgent review into the retirement age of ambulance service workers with a view to lowering the retirement age to 60, in line with other emergency service workers.
Below you will find a brief explanation as to why GMB has included this as a part of this year’s pay claim.
Is this an issue of importance to you?
Do you want to get involved in campaigning on this as a part of this year’s pay campaign? Do you have a work colleague who would be a good campaigner / leader?
If so – enter contact details on this form and someone will be in touch – thank you! https://forms.office.com/e/qxb...
Why is this in the pay claim?
The ambulance service is the only ‘blue light’ emergency service that does not provide an earlier retirement age. GMB members (particularly those on the frontline) report that they are increasingly leaving the service before their normal retirement age due to the increased physical and mental strains associated with heavy lifting, the risk of assault, extended shift working, and other formal or informal demands. Current working arrangements mean that Paramedics and other ambulance workers are expected to endure these pressures until they are up to 68, depending on when they joined the service.
The lack of a structured route to early retirement is leading to a premature loss of skills and institutional knowledge (as many workers feel that a career change is the only way to achieve financial security in retirement). The new flexible working and retirement options are proving to be most difficult to access for ambulance workers due to the nature of your working patterns and conditions. Without any credible redeployment options, ambulance service workers are forced into jobs outside of the NHS – such as in GPs and colleges, where the working hours and conditions are more suitable.
There is a profound sense of injustice amongst GMB members employed in ambulance services against the different treatment between blue light services, and against the Government’s decision to raise the normal retirement age twice in ten years.
GMB is calling for an urgent review into the retirement age of ambulance workers. Ambulance workers should be able to retire at the age of 60, in line with other emergency service workers.
What else is in the pay claim?
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GMBs Pay Claim for 2024/25 was submitted to the Department of Health & Social Care on 6th February 2024. The pay claim was agreed by GMBs National NHS & Ambulance Committees after considering the results from GMB member surveys.
One of the pay claim asks was for:
Unsocial Hours Enhancements: All changes made under the 2018 pay settlement are reversed, including the application of Annex 5 for all ambulance service workers.
Below you will find a brief explanation as to why GMB has included this as a part of this year’s pay claim.
Is this an issue of importance to you?
Do you want to get involved in campaigning on this as a part of this year’s pay campaign? Do you have a work colleague who would be a good campaigner / leader?
If so – enter contact details on this form and someone will be in touch – thank you! https://forms.office.com/e/qxb...
Why is this in the pay claim?
In 2018, the health unions and employers negotiated a three year pay deal. There were several parts to the pay offer that GMB were not happy with as we believed they would cause a financial detriment to some of our members. This is why GMB rejected the pay offer. However, the pay offer was voted through by all other unions and therefore was implemented.
One of the detriments we had concerns about was the changes to unsocial hours enhancements. There were two main concerns
The closure of Annex 5 Agenda for Change provisions for unsociable hours payments to new entrants in the ambulance service has been one of the most detrimental conditions of the 2018 pay settlement, which was opposed by GMB members. Alongside the financial impacts of the loss of earnings per hour under Section 2, the enforced transition to Section 2 upon a change of contract has prevented promotions or relocations for many of our members. It has also created a two-tier ambulance workforce.
Under Section 2, fewer hours are classified as unsociable during the working week (Monday to Friday), and the maximum enhancement is reduced from 25 per cent of total basic pay to 30 per cent of time worked. In practice, this change in terms and conditions represents a significant loss in earning potential.
Section 2 applies to staff across the rest of the NHS, excluding the ambulance service staff as referenced above. The 2018 pay settlement, reduced payments for Bands 1-3 and removed the entitlement to enhancements when on sick leave. An effective fine for being ill.
The unpopularity of this provision and the changes introduced in 2018 cannot be overstated. GMB is asking that all changes made under the 2018 pay settlement are reversed.
What else is in the pay claim?
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GMBs Pay Claim for 2024/25 was submitted to the Department of Health & Social Care on 6th February 2024. The pay claim was agreed by GMBs National NHS & Ambulance Committees after considering the results from GMB member surveys.
One of the pay claim asks was for:
Restorative Pay: A commitment to restore lost earnings and conditions and a plan on how this will be achieved.
Below you will find a brief explanation as to why GMB has included this as a part of this year’s pay claim.
Is this an issue of importance to you?
Do you want to get involved in campaigning on this as a part of this year’s pay campaign?
Do you have a work colleague who would be a good campaigner / leader?
If so – enter contact details on this form and someone will be in touch – thank you!
https://forms.office.com/e/qxb1iQGSSq
Why is this in the pay claim?
NHS pay is worth significantly less than it was in 2010. More than a decade of pay constraints has had a serious and detrimental impact on NHS workers quality of life, and upon your ability to afford necessities.
Whilst central Government has imposed pay constraints in the past, the absence of restorative awards since 2010 is unprecedented. The real wage cuts of the early 1970s were mostly reversed by 1980. Even the public sector wage cuts during the Great Depression of the early 1930s were reversed within a couple of years. But – uniquely in British political history – there has been no policy of restoration since the modern round of pay austerity was imposed.
Deteriorating pay is a contributory factor as to why staff are leaving the NHS. There must be an above inflation increase, that makes progress towards the restoration of real earnings. NHS workers have also lost other terms and conditions that GMB is seeking to restore. These include the removal of the right to retire at 60, unsocial hours enhancements reduced and removed when on sick leave, and subsistence allowances haven’t increased since the introduction of Agenda for Change.
GMB is seeking a commitment to restore lost earnings and conditions and a plan on how this will be achieved.
The table below shows how NHS worker pay has been devalued since 2010.
What else is in the pay claim?
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GMBs Pay Claim for 2024/25 was submitted to the Department of Health & Social Care on 6th February 2024. The pay claim was agreed by GMBs National NHS & Ambulance Committees after considering the results from GMB member surveys.
One of the pay claim asks was for:
£1.50 per hour consolidated increase for all staff on Agenda for Change contracts (or RPI, whichever is greater)
Below you will find a brief explanation as to why GMB has included this as a part of this year’s pay claim.
Is this an issue of importance to you?
Do you want to get involved in campaigning on this as a part of this year’s pay campaign? Do you have a work colleague who would be a good campaigner / leader?
If so – enter contact details on this form and someone will be in touch – thank you! https://forms.office.com/e/qxb...
Why is this in the pay claim?
GMB is seeking a consolidated uplift in pay for all Agenda for Change pay bands and points of £1.50 per hour, or RPI, whichever is greater. RPI is the Retail Price Index – one of two measures of inflation produced by the UKs Office for National Statistics (ONS). It measures cost of living increases. Therefore, any pay award below this is considered to be real terms pay cut.
A minimum of £1.50 per hour increase for all staff, would lift the lowest paid up to 95p above the Foundation Living Wage and be a move towards restoring real terms losses in previous years. The Foundation Living Wage, otherwise known as the Real Living Wage, is a calculation based on the cost of living and is voluntarily paid by over 14,000 UK employers. Currently, the lowest paid on Agenda for Change Contracts are just 1p above the National Living Wage. This is the absolute minimum an employer can pay to be in line with Government set minimum rates of pay.
The pay of NHS workers has been devalued since 2010 due to pay freezes, pay caps and below inflation pay awards. As significant uplift in pay is crucial for NHS workers and must sit alongside a commitment and plan to restore the years of pay erosion.
Tell us what you think?
For someone working full time, a £1.50 per hour increase would £56 per week, or £243 per month, or £2,925 per year.
We want to hear from NHS members about what a £1.50 per hour increase would mean to you and your family? How would it impact your day to day life?
Please send your stories or video messages to NHS@gmb.org.uk
What else is in the pay claim?
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WHAT DOES THE GMB £1.50 PAY CLAIM MEAN TO YOU?
(This does not include High Cost Area Supplements)
Inflation forecasts are currently 5.1%, therefore the claim seeks RPI rather than £1.50 per hour for Bands 8b and above. This is to ensure that no NHS worker receives less than the cost of living increases.
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Dear Members,
Please click the link below to read GMB’s NHS Pay Claim for 2024/25.
Follow this link read the joint union research on the case for investment in NHS pay Our case - #WithNHSStaff.
