Pay rates 2008/09

Pay rates effective from 1 April 2008.

Agenda for Change pay bands 1 April 2008

The Government proposed a three year pay deal worth 7.99 per cent over three years for staff in the NHS. For the first year of the deal 2008/09 there was an uplift of 2.75 per cent on the 2007/08 pay scales and high cost area supplements for nurses on Agenda for Change terms and conditions.

Non NHS employers

The RCN recommended that employers outside the NHS should award a minimum uplift of 2.75% to the current pay rates for all nurses and health care support workers.

Pay scales: Bands 1 - 7

Band 1	Band 2	Band 3	Band 4	Band 5	Band 6	Band 7
12,517	12,922	14,834	17,316	20,225	24,103	29,091
12,922	13,269	15,356	17,732	20,818	25,054	30,041
13,269	13,617	15,950	18,385	21,373	26,123	31,109
13,617	14,023	16,307	19,038	22,085	27,191	32,653
	14,428	16,781	19,631	22,797	28,141	33,603
	14,834	17,316	20,225	23,450	29,091	34,672
	15,356	17,732	20,818	24,103	30,041	35,859
	15,950			25,054	31,109	37,106
				26,123	32,653	38,352

Pay scales: Bands 8-9

Band 8				Band 9
Range A	Range B	Range C	Range D	73,617
37,106	43,221	52,007	62,337	77,179
38,352	44,527	53,432	64,118	80,883
39,896	46,782	55,806	66,790	84,765
41,439	49,394	58,419	70,055	88,835
43,221	52,007	62,337	73,617	93,098
44,527	53,432	64,118	77,179

The minimum starting salary for a registered nurse is £20,225.

To calculate your hourly rate, divide your annual basic salary by 52.14 and then by 37.5.

High cost area supplements from 1 April 2008

Inner London:
20 per cent of basic salary (subject to a minimum payment of £3,855 and a maximum payment of £5,938)
Outer London:
15 per cent of basic salary (subject to a minimum payment of £3,261 and a maximum payment of £4,156)
Fringe zone:
5 per cent of basic salary (subject to a minimum payment of £891 and a maximum payment of £1,544).

Payments for working or providing emergency cover outside normal hours (unsocial hours and on-call) are outlined in Section two of the Agenda for Change Terms and Conditions handbook.

Overtime is payable for staff in bands one to seven when excess hours are worked over full-time hours (37.5). Overtime should be agreed with your line manager in advance of working excesss hours. Overtime is payable at time and a half with the exception of overtime on a public holiday which is paid at double time (see section three of the Agenda for Change Terms and Conditions handbook).

As an alternative to overtime pay staff can request time off in lieu instead.

Go to the Agenda for Change handbook on the NHS Employers website.

2008/09 Pay rates for non-NHS staff

Nurses who are employed on non-NHS (AFC - Agenda for Change) contracts of employment do not automatically benefit from the annual Pay Review Body award. Nurses in this group might be practice nurses, or those nurses working in the independent or private sector.

In the past such nurses may have had their annual pay increase linked to 'Whitley rates'. Since the start of AfC in October 2004 there has been no mechanism to uplift these rates. Since 2004, the RCN has reccomended that those on Whitley rates should have their pay uplifted by the same same rates as those staff employed on AfC in the NHS.

For 2008/09 this means that pay and any leads and allowances should be upliftedby 2.75% from April 1 2008.

For previous years the recommended increases are as follows: