Supporting staff to understand the NHS pay offer

On 16 March 2023, the government made a pay offer to Agenda for Change (AfC) trade unions for staff who are subject to the AfC NHS Terms and Conditions of Service.

This offer includes a one-off payment for 2022/23, a proposed uplift to pay for 2023/24, and a series of non-pay measures to support the NHS workforce. See the full details of the offer.

Agenda for Change trade unions (TUs) are now holding separate consultations with their memberships over the coming weeks, with the majority of unions recommending acceptance of the offer. It is expected that all consultations will have concluded by the end of April 2023.

The NHS Staff Council supports this consultation process and encourages employers to promote awareness of the pay offer to affected staff, and to help ensure that staff feel able to make an informed decision about whether to accept it. Employers are also encouraged to provide reasonable access to workplaces to enable TU representatives to carry out activities related to the consultation.

Employers can support this process in two key ways:

1. Help staff to understand the offer that has been made by the government:

• Read the full details of the offer in principle.
• Frequently asked questions, developed by the Department of Health and Social Care.
• Staff should be signposted to their TU to understand how the offer may impact them personally.
• It is for NHS organisations to decide locally whether to take a particular view on the contents of the offer, or whether to adopt a neutral position.

2. Work in partnership with local staff side colleagues to support the consultation process:

• Local agreements should already be in place to provide reasonable access to the workplace for TU representatives carrying out activities relating to the consultations.
• Arrangements will need to consider the fact that each TU is consulting with its members separately and over slightly different timescales.