Posted 17 November 2023 - 08:18
Posted 17 November 2023 - 08:18
News
NHS bank nurses’ bonus victory – but others may still lose out
Nurses working for NHS bank at Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber NHS trust secure belated COVID backlog bonus as union calls on other health service employers to follow suit
Nurses working for NHS bank at Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber NHS trust secure belated COVID backlog bonus as union calls on other health service employers to follow suit
Hundreds of bank nurses excluded from the COVID backlog bonus at a hospital trust will now receive back pay after managers and a union reached an agreement.
More than 650 staff employed by Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust (RDaSH) will now receive seven months’ backpay. About half of the 656 staff affected are nurses.
They were among those who missed out on two one-off payments – including a COVID backlog bonus – awarded to staff on Agenda for Change (AfC) contracts as part of the pay deal agreed for England’s NHS earlier this year.
While the payments went to most NHS nurses, some, such as those who only do bank shifts or work for NHS contractors, were not granted automatic eligibility.
The government said the payments only applied to those directly employed by NHS trusts, a distinction hotly disputed by unions and NHS-contracted organisations.
Bank nurses’ union challenged their employer
This month however, ministers changed tack and announced they would extend the payments to some staff at social enterprises, charities and local authorities. However, some staff working exclusively in the NHS bank are employed on flexible, locally managed contracts, which means they have local terms and conditions.
Bank nurses at RDaSh received the agreed 5% pay rise but did not get the one-off payments. They challenged their employer with support from Unison, which says all staff – including those on flexible contracts – should benefit from the pay deal in full. The union lodged a claim with mediation service Acas and were told the trust would settle, with staff now due to receive the money in this month’s pay.
NHS trust’s move is an exception among employers
Unison Yorkshire and Humberside regional organiser Sarah Brummitt said: ‘This is a brilliant outcome. There’s no reason why bank staff should miss out. It’s excellent news they’ll receive the money they’re owed in this month’s pay.’
However, the union stressed RDaSH was ‘the exception not the rule’ and it was pushing for other trusts to follow suit.
‘Unison has been urging all employers to give bank staff the one-off payment but the majority won’t have received it essentially because they are on local – not Agenda for Change – contracts,’ a spokesperson added.
A trust spokesperson said managers had consistently supported making the payment and tried to finalise arrangements in June this year.
‘Trade unions and the board were fully appraised of these considerations and it is deeply regrettable that discussions took some considerable time,’ they said.
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