Frequently asked questions on the pay offer for Manx Care staff

The RCN has a formal written offer from Manx Care for the pay year 2023-24. This is not to be confused with pay negotiations from previous years as these have now been agreed.

It is important that you have your say about your pay for the pay year 2023-24.

The consultation will be administered by the Royal College of Nursing. RCN members eligible to take part in the consultative survey will receive an email with a link to the online survey to the email at the address you have registered with the RCN.

The consultative survey will be open from 12 noon on Wednesday 31 January 2024 to 12 noon on Wednesday 14 February 2024.

You can cast your vote on the RCN website. Only RCN members employed by Manx Care are eligible to take part in the consultative survey on this pay offer.

If you’ve told us that you are employed by Manx Care you should have received an email with a link to the voting page where you can read more about the pay offer as well. 

The consultative survey will close at 12 noon on 14 February. You will not be able to vote after this time.

To update your details log in to MyRCN or call RCN Direct on 0345 772 6100 (select option one), or email membership@rcn.org.uk. Please include your membership number in your email, and you will be asked for it if you call. 

If you have issues accessing the voting website, please log in to MyRCN or call RCN Direct on 0345 772 6100 (select option one), or email membership@rcn.org.uk. Please include your membership number in your email, and you will be asked for it if you call. You can learn more about RCN membership and other ways to get in touch on our membership FAQs.

Your voting email will be sent from noon on 31 January 2024, and not before then.  If you haven’t received your email, please check your junk email in the first instance. 

If you still can’t find the email, check which email we have for you at MyRCN or call RCN Direct on 0345 772 6100 (select option one), or email membership@rcn.org.uk.

The voting link will also be available on the Isle of Man branch page however, you will need your membership number to log in.

Only RCN members who are directly employed by Manx Care are eligible to participate in the ballot, as this pay award directly affects them.

Although an employer may pay staff in line with Manx Care terms and conditions, if the employing organisation is not part of the organisation (eg an independent employer) then the staff are not eligible to take part in this consultation.

This consultation on the executive pay award is only directly applied to staff who are employed by Manx Care.

Only those who are eligible can vote. Votes will be checked against the employer you have registered on MyRCN therefore it is imperative that your employer is correct on the RCN system to ensure it is counted.

Your employer will not know if or how you chose to vote on this offer. Your vote is confidential, and the consultative ballot is conducted by the RCN.

The RCN will inform Manx Care of the percentage of members voting for and against the employers offer and the outcome of this vote.

Yes, provided you are an RCN member and employed on a Manx Care contract, you are eligible to take part in the consultative ballot on this pay offer. For your vote to be counted your MyRCN record must be updated to include that you work at Manx Care.

To update your details, log in to MyRCN or call RCN Direct on 0345 772 6100 (select option one) or email membership@rcn.org.uk. You must include your membership number in your email, and you will be asked for it if you call. You can find out more about RCN membership and other ways to get in touch on our membership FAQs.

RCN student members who are directly employed by Manx Care are eligible to take part in this consultative ballot.

Only staff directly employed by Manx Care are eligible to take part in the consultative ballot.

To update your details, log in to MyRCN or call RCN Direct on 0345 772 6100 (select option one), or email membership@rcn.org.uk. Please include your membership number in your email, and you will be asked for it if you call.

It is important to include as much information about your workplace and employer as possible.

Students who are not directly employed by Manx Care can still support the Fair Pay for Nursing campaign, help spread the word about the consultation, and encourage colleagues to participate.

All staff currently employed by Manx Care and are eligible to participate in the consultative ballot. If you are no longer employed by Manx Care, then you will not be included in the ballot as you will not be affected by the employer’s offer.

If you have received an email encouraging you to vote in this consultative ballot, it might be that your details in the RCN membership database are out of date. To update your details, log in to MyRCN or call RCN Direct on 0345 772 6100 (select option one), or email membership@rcn.org.uk. Please include your membership number in your email, and you will be asked for it if you call.

Any information you share with us will be encrypted and stored securely and will only be visible to our staff for the purposes of handling your claim. Your claim will always be subject to the RCN’s Privacy Policy.

You can change your vote as many times as you would like however, only your last vote will count.

As soon as votes are verified, we will communicate the result via email to you.

Manx Care has offered a 6% pay uplift with effect from 1 April 2023. This is the first offer that has been made for this pay period. 

A pay award is when an employer (such as Manx Care) or government (Department of Health and Social Care) that controls pay decides on the pay for staff and implements that decision by automatically applying it to the employee’s contract of employment.

A pay offer is usually generated from discussions or negotiations between an employer or government that controls pay, and the employees or the employees’ trade union.

Once an offer is made, the employees are given an opportunity to consider if they wish to accept the offer made by the employer or government.

A pay award is when an employer or government that controls pay decides on pay for the staff and implements that decision by automatically applying it to the employee’s salary. In these circumstances, a recommendation would be redundant.

The RCN, alongside other recognised trade unions on the Isle of Man, have been negotiating with Manx Care since May 2021 for the 2021/22 and 2022/23 pay rounds. The RCN has been taking stand-alone strike action as we have a mandate from the membership. Other Unions are in different positions, and some have accepted the previous offers.  

The RCN has been asking for the IoM Government to come back to the table to negotiate with us for a fair, comparable and decent pay rise for nursing staff. The Isle of Man government has a duty to attract and retain a sustainable nursing workforce on the IoM. Decent and fair pay would go some way towards this and result in more consistent and safer staffing. Offers are presented to members to vote on and it will ultimately be RCN members who decide if the figure offered to them is acceptable.

In their offer letter dated 25 January 2024, following a challenge about back-pay for leavers from the joint unions, Manx Care has stated that they will not routinely pay anyone back-pay who is no longer in their employment.

However, they will consider, individual cases ‘where it can be evidenced that a staff colleague, who has left their substantive employment and retained a bank contract with Manx Care, or vice versa (i.e bank to substantive) where it could successfully be claimed that there was continuous substantive employment to the date of agreement of the pay award, i.e. guaranteed hours in a specific role with no break in the service between each type of employment, other than agreed rest days’. 

Manx Care will establish a panel to consider such claims and we request any claims are made as soon as possible and before 31st March 2024. Claims should be submitted to Monique Gillies, Business Support Officer, Manx Care (Monique.Gillies@gov.im)

The effect on an individual’s benefits depends on individual circumstances and the type of benefit. You can find out more about your benefit situation on the Isle of Man government website.

Members who are facing significant hardship and who need additional support and advice, can also seek support from the RCN Foundation.

 The pay award is a gross (total) figure, and you need to take deductions into account when considering the pay award.

Pay is subject to tax, national insurance contributions and, if you are a member of the GUS pension scheme, pension contributions. You should check your current income tax, national insurance rates and pension contributions on your pay slip to assess how the pay offer will affect your take-home pay.

Further information is also available on the Isle of Man government website.

Rises in pensionable pay can affect the contributions you will pay into the scheme.

Some staff, as a consequence of their annual pay uplift and/or incremental pay progression, may end up paying a higher percentage of contributions. This is because their pensionable earnings have increased, and they move into a higher tier in the pension contribution framework. This may make it seem like the value of the individuals pay uplift has been lost. Staff receiving pensionable allowances in addition to their basic pay (for example unsocial hours payments) may also be affected by this.

This pay award relates to all health and social care staff directly employed by Manx Care on the Isle of Man on a Manx Pay Terms and Conditions (MPTC) contract.

Part-time workers employed by Manx Care are included in the pay award.  The 4% award is a consolidated award and will be applied across each pay band. The monetary amount will be adjusted for those not employed full-time (ie pro-rata based on employed hours for part-time staff).

Bank staff working for Manx Care terms and conditions will be affected by the pay award and therefore are eligible to participate in this survey. However, please check your bank contract to ensure it is Manx Care terms and conditions and not an internal pay system that differs from the terms and conditions.

The RCN expects this to be a fully-funded pay award from the Isle of Man Government.  

You can find out more about the wider campaign on the RCN website at our Fair pay nursing page.