Dear

New NHS Pay System - Agenda for Change

You will no doubt be aware that implementation of Agenda for Change is now proceeding with some of the new conditions of service taking effect immediately immediately, backdated to 1 October 2004.

All NHS organisations are now beginning the process of transferring staff to the full package of pay and conditions contained within the Agenda for Change agreement but the purpose of this letter is to inform you of the immediate changes to your conditions of service..

1. Annual Leave and Public Holidays

Annual leave entitlement is based on aggregated NHS Service, ie any time you have worked within the NHS will count - regardless of whether or not have had a break.

There will be 8 Public holidays for full time staff.

Table 1.1 - Annual Leave and Public Holiday Allocation

All of the above entitlements are based on a working day of 7.5 hours and will be applied on a pro-rata basis for part-time staff.

For this year the new allowances are backdated to 1 October. (Insert new agreement once reached).

2. Hours of Work

With effect from 1 December 2004 the full time working week will be based on 37.5 hours (excluding meal breaks) for all staff groups.

New full time staff appointed from 1 December will commence on the new 37.5 hours per week but for existing staff a phased approach has been agreed as detailed in the following tables:

For staff who currently work more than 37½ hours, excluding meal breaks, there is a two year transitional period during which the new contracted hours will be phased in, as set out in Table 2.1 below, and during which staff may be required to work up to their old contracted hours with overtime payable for any hours in excess of their standard hours. Pro-rata arrangements will apply to part-time staff.

Table 2.1 - Assimilation of Working Hours for those Currently Working More than 37½ hours

Staff currently working less than 37½ hours, excluding meal breaks, will have their hours protected for a phased protection period as set out in Table 2.2 below. These protection arrangements will continue to apply where staff move to a post with the same hours under the old pay system during the protection period. In any case where an employee moves to a new post in a new employing organisation the new standard hours for the new post will apply.

Part time staff whose hours of work change under Agenda for Change may opt to either retain the same number of hours they currently work or have their part time hours altered to represent the same percentage of full time hours as it currently the case.

Table 2.2 - Assimilation of Working Hours for those Currently Working Less than 37½ hours

3. Overtime Rates

New overtime rates are applicable from 1 October 2004. The rate payable for all is a single rate of time and a half but any overtime undertaken on a public holiday will be paid at double time.

4. Sickness Absence (Optional - for Ancillary and Maintenance Staff Only)

4. Basic Pay

The job matching or job evaluation process

• Your job based on your agreed job description, will go through either the job matching process of the job evaluation scheme and matched to a national profile, or
• Will be evaluated locally using the job evaluation system if it has been unable to match your job to any of the national profiles.

You will be notified of the outcome of the above process in due course and all new salaries will be backdated to 1 October 2004. This process may take some months to complete but you will kept fully up to date with progress by your local job evaluation group.

5. Unsocial Hours and On-Call

Negotiations are still on-going with regard to work undertaken out of normal working hours and work arising from on-call and an interim regime has been agreed until the outcome of the negotiations. The final date for this is 1 April 2006.

The interim regime allows for staff to retain current arrangements for carrying out work during unsocial hours or periods of on-call.

For staff employed on Whitley terms and conditions where there is no current provision for unsocial hours payments or equivalent will be entitled to unsocial hours payments on the basis of the rules applicable to Nurses and Midwives.

Until the new arrangements are agreed this will entitle you to receive payments at 30% for work undertaken during unsocial hours with the exception of Sunday working and public holidays.????? and 60% for work undertaken ????????. (Optional - applies only to staff with no provisions currently)

6. Sick Leave

Sick leave entitlements will be harmonised on the normal Whitley provisions with a maSick leave entitlements will be harmonised onto the normal Whitley provisions with a maximum of up to six months full pay and sick months half pay and the separate qualifying period for workers previously covered by the Ancillary and Maintenance Staffs Councils will be abolished. (Optional - applies only to ancillary and maintenance)

For further information on any of the above please contact (Name of contact point in your organisation).

Full details of all of the above and other related information can be found on the pay modernisation web site - www.show.scot.nhs.uk/sehd/paymodernisation/afc.htm.

Alternatively, you can access further information locally by contacting:

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