From amicus - MSF
Head of Health, Gail Cartmail General Secretary, Roger Lyons
Reps Direct should be forwarded by email to other members and put in printed form on the notice boards for all to see, both members and non-members.
These are the questions raised by members in EI sites. The answers have been agreed by the staff and management secretariat of Agenda for Change.
Q29. What happens to part time staff where the full time
hours for the post reduce or increase under Agenda for
Change?
A. Part time staff in these circumstances may opt either to
retain either the same number of hours they currently work or
have their part time hours altered to represent the same
percentage of full time as is currently the case.
Q30. What is normal retirement age? How does this impact
on special classes retiring at 55?
A. Normal is what is normal for the group, i.e. if you are in
one of the special classes, able to retire at 55, then 55 would
be the normal retirement age.
"Special classes is a pension provision, pension
provisions are outside the Agenda for Change
agreement."
Q31. What happens when a post holder in a post which has
an R&R premia attached to it, is promoted?
A. We do not intend to issue rules on this however common
sense would suggest a promotion that results in an individual
earning less, should be avoided. This may be done by
assimilating the individual to appoint on the new Band which
results in the individual receiving an increase or, if
justified, by applying an RRP to the new post.
Q32. In respect of transitional points as covered in
46.12 when will assimilation be deemed to be complete?
A. For staff in EI sites the minimum transitional points
available are:
Q33. What may EI sites do in circumstances in which the
Agenda for Change starting salary is lower than the Whitley
salary (eg basic grade AHP's) between 1 June 03 and
rollout?
A. There are 2 possible options. One is the use of a
short-term recruitment and retention premia, where justified;
the second is starting staff above the minimum of the
scale.
Q34. My understanding of the assimilation process onto a
new pay point, is that the assimilated pay includes basic
salary + all leads, allowances and bonuses you currently have.
London Weighting will be excluded and be paid as the 'High Cost
Area Pay'. Also to be paid separate will be 'Working Outside
Normal Hours' which was the old unsociable hours pay.
From this process my understanding is that nurses 30% night
allowance would be construed as the old unsociable hours pay
and would therefore be discontinued and night nurses would be
paid the maximum of 25% 'Working Outside Normal Hours' pay
under the new system.
This would also imply there could be no pay protection
attached to their current 30% night allowance, only to their
assimilated salary, should they end up beyond a final pay point
in the band they were matched to.
A. If the new pay +25% is less than the old pay +30% the
difference is protected.
Q35. Paragraphs 6.27-6.29. Promotion and temp movement to
higher band talks about "an increase in pay". It is not
specific whether this is total pay or basic pay only - would
assume basic?
A. Basic + RRP if applicable.
Q36. Section 12. "Continuous previous service" currently
up to 3-month break is allowed under this term. Do new T&C
not allow any breaks at all?
A. Yes, see 12.3 and 12.4.
Q37. Section 35. Adoption leave. This section does not
seem to be in step with the statutory requirements?
A. Currently under revision.
Q38. Section 46.7. "Any pay increase and other
improvements in T&C" will be backdated to effective date.
Does this mean that any detriment suffered will not be
backdated? i.e. in calculating arrears due must pay be split
down into each of the components and compared separately -
those that are favourable paid and those that are not ignored,
even if when comparing the total pay before with the total pay
after there is an overall increase? This would run contrary to
the principles established for both assimilation and protection
which both deal with combined pay?
A. Any net detriment must be protected. This points to the
need to ensure that post holders and payroll are not told about
the new pay band separately from calculations of what will
apply under unsociable hours payments.
Q39. Section 46.36. Staff with less on call payments than
previously will be "protected in accordance with the Pay
Protection provisions". These provisions talk about "combined
pay" before and after assimilation which includes on call on
the list. What is this paragraph actually saying?
A. That protection around non-Whitely on call systems is
calculated separately from the rest of the package.
Q40. Annex C paragraph 14-16. Hours outside of normal
hours when there is rostered overtime. In adjusting for the
proportion of hours relative to a standard working week is this
to be calculated using the whole period of the rota or just the
week concerned.?
A. The whole rota.
A number of outstanding issues require further discussion and this will take place at the next JSG. These will then appear in the form of further questions and answers.