NHS Scotland pay campaign 2024/25

UNISON will launch a consultative pay ballot on Tuesday (August 27). We are recommending that members working in the NHS vote to accept the Scottish government’s offer of a 5.5% pay rise.

Read our press release here

UNISON Scotland’s lead on NHS pay Matt McLaughlin said, “UNISON is recommending NHS staff accept the Scottish government’s pay offer of 5.5%, it is above the current rate of inflation and is in line with wage lifts in many other parts of the UK.

“It has taken 5 months campaigning to get this offer on the table, making NHS staff wait for so long is deeply unfair. This delay cannot be repeated at the next pay round. The Scottish government must recognise that dithering on pay directly affects staff morale.”

Read the full pay offer

thumbnail of AFC 202425 Pay Offer

The offer is a straightforward 5.5% increase on pay.

The offer includes a commitment to:

  • Implement the award from 1 April 2024
  • Increase leads and allowances including recruitment retention premium
  • Apply to private contractor staff who are within the ‘Two Tier Workforce Agreement’

UNISON members will have the final say

The consultative e-ballot will open on Tuesday, 27 August and it close on Friday 20 September. please look out for your ballot email.

Our senior NHS shop stewards committee (UNISON Scotland health committee) met on Friday 23 August and agreed to recommend NHS members accept the pay offer in a consultative ballot.

We will inform employers of the ballot result for 23 September. We can then conclude negotiations and get the money into your pay packets as soon as possible.

Pay Dates/ Back pay and Universal Credit

We can’t confirm payroll dates until the offer is accepted – however UNISON has been clear with the government that if the offer is acceptable to members we would expect the 5.5% to be applied without delay and back pay to be in members wages as soon as possible. We are waiting on payroll cut off information and would hope to include that in our member consultation materials.

We have also raised concerns that the delay in settling pay has resulted in a ‘back pay’ situation which could have an impact on members who are in receipt of some means-tested benefits.

We have asked government to implement an ‘instalment’ mechanism to see if that would help members on benefits – we await feedback from them on this suggestion. Again, we would hope to update on this very soon.

Unions pay claim 

UNISON Scotland, together with other unions, has submitted a joint pay claim to the Scottish government for all workers who are in the Agenda for Change (AfC) pay system.

The pay claim is calling for negotiations to secure:

  • An offer in which NHS AfC pay is uplifted by a cost of living element which fairly rewards our members in the current financial climate and seeks to resolve historic erosion of their pay
  • A robust fully funded proposal to deliver on the areas of consensus previously identified in the AfC Pay Modernisation paper; which does not divert funding from the core pay quantum, during the lifetime of any implementation phase
  • A commitment to further discuss those areas of AfC pay modernisation where consensus could not be reached.

You can read the full pay claim here.

Non-pay reforms

There were ‘non pay’ reforms agreed as part of the 2023/24 pay deal. The Scottish government, unions and employers were tasked with bringing forward proposals for a review of band 5 nurses; to reduce the working week with no loss of pay; and to protect time for learning at work. We are disappointed that the Scottish government has not yet put forward proposals to implement these promised reforms.

UNISON, with other health unions, sent our proposals to the cabinet secretary for health, Michael Matheson MSP, in November. UNISON has been in regular contact with the cabinet secretary pressing him to publish an implementation strategy as soon as possible.

In mid-January, the cabinet secretary wrote to unions asking for an urgent meeting (read the full letter here). UNISON is always available to meet with government ministers and employers, however, the NHS unions have also written to the minister to make clear we expected him to publish an implementation plan without delay (read the full letter here).

It is not acceptable that the Scottish government has not published an implementation programme for the outstanding elements from the 2023/24 deal. We are clear the Scottish government needs to deliver on what’s been promised.

Further actions you can take

Please look out for future information on these crucial issues. In the meantime you can help us to get ready for the months ahead: