What is recruitment and retention premia?
Under Agenda for Change, additional payments may be made to an individual post or specific groups of posts where market pressures would otherwise prevent the employer from being able to recruit and retain staff.
These payments are described as recruitment and retention premia. There are two types of recruitment and retention premia, depending on whether the labour market pressures are expected to continue in the longer run or whether they are expected to be relatively short-term.
Long-term recruitment and retention premia is pensionable and will be taken into account when calculating the level of unsocial hours payments, on-call payments, overtime and high cost area payments. Short-term recruitment and retention premia are not pensionable and will usually be awarded for a time-limited period. Where there are widespread pressures affecting the recruitment and retention of a particular group of staff, premia may be decided on a national basis on the recommendation of the NHS Pay Review Body.
The total value of a recruitment and retention premium will not normally exceed 30 per cent of basic salary.
Frequently asked questions
How are on-call payments calculated when a staff member/s also receive long-term recruitment and retention premia?
They should be calculated taking account of both basic pay and the applicable long-term recruitment and retention premia.
Where staff are called out and do work, they are entitled to overtime payments. If they also received long-term recruitment and retention premia how should their overtime be calculated?
It should be calculated taking account of both basic pay and the applicable long-term recruitment and retention premia.
Will there be local arrangements for recruitment and retention premia?
Employers have the facility to agree both short and long-term premia locally in partnership with trade unions .
Payments can be awarded if recruitment and retention difficulties are evident after the following measures have been put in place:
- posts had been advertised in local, regional and national press
- non-pay benefits had been sufficiently developed
- regular exit surveys had been undertaken to assess how far pay is a factor.
Once local premia are awarded, they will be reviewed annually to take account of vacancy rates, the impact of the payments, the impact which the withdrawal of payments may have and any changes in the local labour market.
What about national arrangements for recruitment and retention premia?
Recruitment and retention premia can be awarded on a national basis on the recommendation of the NHS Pay Review Body.
These payments would be awarded to particular staff groups and would apply where the normal job evaluated pay level is not enough to recruit and retain sufficient numbers for a particular post. The payment may be specified, or where the underlying problem varies across the country, guidance would be given on the appropriate level of payment.
National payments are currently being reviewed. NHS Employers, on behalf of the NHS Staff Council, commissioned an independent study of the national recruitment and retention premia (NRRP) for Agenda for Change (AfC). This is available on the NHS Employers website
I work in an area that will attract a high cost allowance. Will it be possible to receive a recruitment and retention premia as well?
Yes. Premia can be paid on top of high cost allowance payments. It may also be possible to get a national premia (via the review body) and a locally determined premia on top of that, although the value of both is not normally expected to exceed 30 per cent of basic pay.