Unison Recommends NHS Staff Accept 5.5% Pay Offer

23rd August 2024

Following months of delays Scottish Government have finally made an offer on NHS pay for staff within the Agenda for Change pay scales.

The offer is a straightforward 5.5% increase on pay.

The offer includes a commitment to:

Implement the award from 1 April 2024
Increase leads and allowances including recruitment retention premium
Apply to private contractor staff who are within the ‘Two Tier Workforce Agreement'
Matt McLauglin, UNISON Scotland’s co-lead organiser for health said "Of course we are glad that an offer has been made, but it is 195 days since our pay claim was initially submitted and we have had to work tirelessly to bring Government to the table and secure this offer. UNISON members will now decide how the union responds."

So, what happens next?
Pay and terms and conditions in the NHS are negotiated through the Scottish Terms and Conditions Committee. NHS unions, employers and government are represented in that committee. Having received an offer, the trade unions now need to decide whether the offer is acceptable or not.

UNISON members will have the final say
Having received the offer on 21 August our most senior NHS shop stewards committee (UNISON Scotland health committee) will meet and agree a timescale for consultation.

The health committee are due to meet on Friday 23 August and will be asked to agree the consultation/ballot process. We will then need to feed into the wider STAC staff side process which seeks to conclude deliberation and formally respond no later than 23 September.

UNISON ballot papers will be issued using our online voting system very soon.

Pay Dates/ Back pay and Universal Credit
We can’t confirm payroll dates until the offer is accepted - however UNISON has been clear with the government that if the offer is acceptable to members we would expect the 5.5% to be applied without delay and back pay to be in members wages as soon as possible. We are waiting on payroll cut off information and would hope to include that in our member consultation materials.

We have also raised concerns that the delay in settling pay has resulted in a ‘back pay’ situation which could have an impact on members who are in receipt of some means-tested benefits.