Nhs 'pay rise' and dropping increment

kezzygirl

Hi everyone. I work for the nhs and have been given the pay rise as has been widely publicised. Unfortunately it does not appear to be as fantastic as first thought and so I would like some advice.

In May this year I received an increment following my appraisal, which increases my pay slightly. I have received my pay slip for this month and it would appear that I have been taken back an increment following the pay rise. I queried this with payroll and was basically informed that a well known union had given mistaken information- the pay rise is based on pay as at March 31st of this year, when I was on the first increment of my banding.

In May I had my appraisal and had an increase to the 2nd increment of my band. Following the pay rise I have taken a step back to the bottom of my band.

The advisors response to me was "well the nhs aren't going to give you 2 pay rises in a year". Had this happened to anyone else? I am a bit surprised that they have effectively removed my appraisal and increase based on my experience?

theoretica

Has your pay actually gone down since last month, or are you just upset that colleagues at the bottom of the band have moved up too?

antrobus

kezzygirl wrote: »

.... Had this happened to anyone else? I am a bit surprised that they have effectively removed my appraisal and increase based on my experience?

The answer appears to be, yes.
https://www.opendemocracy.net/ournhs/caroline-molloy/nhs-staff-discover-they-will-get-hundreds-of-pounds-less-than-they-thought

kezzygirl

theoretica wrote: »

Has your pay actually gone down since last month, or are you just upset that colleagues at the bottom of the band have moved up too?

No, it hasn't gone down, instead of stepping across to what I Thought, I have stepped across and gone down. Whereabouts in my post have I said that I am upset that colleagues at the bottom of the band have moved up too? If you read correctly you would see that I AM at the bottom of my band. I was actually on the second one up but have now been put down to the bottom. Why on earth would I be upset that colleagues have had an increase too?!

theoretica

kezzygirl wrote: »

No, it hasn't gone down, instead of stepping across to what I Thought, I have stepped across and gone down. Whereabouts in my post have I said that I am upset that colleagues at the bottom of the band have moved up too? If you read correctly you would see that I AM at the bottom of my band. I was actually on the second one up but have now been put down to the bottom. Why on earth would I be upset that colleagues have had an increase too?!

So your pay has increased, but now the band has come up to meet where it is. Similar happened to me in the past. Be glad for the people who are now not being paid less than you on the bottom of the band, rather than wishing the bottom was still down below what you are paid.

cmthephoenix

kezzygirl wrote: »

No, it hasn't gone down, instead of stepping across to what I Thought, I have stepped across and gone down. Whereabouts in my post have I said that I am upset that colleagues at the bottom of the band have moved up too? If you read correctly you would see that I AM at the bottom of my band. I was actually on the second one up but have now been put down to the bottom. Why on earth would I be upset that colleagues have had an increase too?!

Try to look at it a different way. Your pay has gone up and because you are at the bottom of your band your pay will increase substantially over the next 3 years. Depending what band you are on it could be anything up to 29% increase over 3 years, whereas those at the top of the band it will be more like 6.5% increase.

aife

I don't understand this . Increments are applied yearly , it's a separate process from any pay increase. Though there is a move to link it to performance my understanding is this means it's not automatic any more , but it's still annual. It wouldn't usually be awarded before the year was up
did your boss make a mistake and offer you something they weren't entitled to give you ?
If it was your increment date and you've passed the appraisal you should be entitled to the increase , the pay deal has no relevance (except that the back dated pay will be at the lower rate )
Presumably you have this in writing ?
Did last month's payslip show the increased salary ?

kezzygirl

aife- yes, my payslip showed my increased salary last month. I was appointed band six in May last year, and so I should receive an increase/increment yearly on that date pending appraisal outcome and targets- which I did this year. But it has been removed from me and I have been put at the bottom of band six, based on my being on the first increment of band 6 as at 31st march

kezzygirl

theoretica wrote: »

So your pay has increased, but now the band has come up to meet where it is. Similar happened to me in the past. Be glad for the people who are now not being paid less than you on the bottom of the band, rather than wishing the bottom was still down below what you are paid.

The band has not come up to meet me at my banding- I should be on the second increment of my band but I have been put back to the first, despite having my appraisal and meeting my outcomes and having been paid the increased increment last month

ohreally

You should have ported over from your band 5 point over to the point above this on band 6 plus any cost of living award is separate.

kezzygirl

ohreally-
I was bottom increment of band six for a year, before going to the one above in May 2018 following appraisal.