What would you pick - 6.5% pay-rise or a single well-deserved holiday?
The UK government is offering nearly 1 million of its NHS staff pay-raise up to 6.5% over a period of next three years with a condition that would take-away the healthcare professionals’ one-day holiday. The deal, if sanctioned, will provide a benefit worth £3.3bn to the staffers.
The officials arrived at the decision after considering the rise in closed sessions with union leaders for months. The pay-raise would be the first purposeful increment after 2010 for NHS workers. The newest review system is inclusive of nurses, midwives, healthcare assistants, ambulance staffs and all other workers except doctors and dentists who have a different pay review system. In the fiscal year of 2018-19, the aforementioned liable staffers will beget an initial 3% increment in their remunerations – followed by 1-2% increment in the coming two years.
In a plan which the government expects to have a smooth sailing, it is mentioned that few NHS professionals will avail 10% increase in their pay, and in some scenarios more than that in 2021. However, agency personnel in the lowest tier, mostly in NHS’s ninth pay scale will get more under the helm of Agenda for Change; an agreement which governs the income of healthcare staff compared to co-workers who get higher pay.
A team of 14 healthcare unions including the GMB, Royal College of Nursing, Unite, Unison and Chartered Society of Physiotherapists have taken the government’s offer in closed session under high secrecy. The body comprising of the nation’s leading healthcare service agency are optimistic but cautious at the same time regarding the new bill. The previous plan to reveal the offering through Chancellor Phillip Hammond on Tuesday’s Spring Statement has been scrapped. The sources on the inside are calling the talks ‘constructive, business-like and highly detailed’ as either sides appear eager to increase the earnings of the NHS staff.
The main challenge that may give rise to a conflict to the confidence Parliamentarians’ seem to possess will come from the unions and staffs. Already working overtime and with pay cut to 14%, it is highly unlikely that those in question here will choose to comply to the offering.
Government negotiators are backing their stance on staffs working one extra-day by calling it a “red-line” and it is not open for discussion. Ministers are bound to withdraw the proffer completely by merely introducing previously mentioned 1% increment – which has constantly enraged the staff and union members alike.
The Flame Lily, the UK’s Nursing and Healthcare recruitment agency, is unnerved by these changes. We provide temporary and full-time employment with flexible shifts plus holidays where you get to spend more time with yourself. Being an agency worker at The Flame Lily means you also get the deserved benefits of NHS. If you are looking for a rewarding opportunity in healthcare, feel free to get in touch with us!