UNSOCIAL HOURS ARRANGEMENS IN HE PUBLIC AND PRIVAE SECORS Introduction his factsheet provides a comparison of the main features of unsocial hours schemes across public sector bargaining groups as well as community, voluntary and private sector organisations. It highlights the common features of schemes, the major trends that are reshaping unsocial hours arrangements and false comparisons that have been used by employers to try to erode schemes. Background Last year s pay round for the NHS Pay Review Body marked the government s intention to review when unsocial hours are paid in the health service or at the very least review the pay mechanism for paying unsocial hours. he remit given by three of the four UK governments (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) was a departure from the standard remit issued by the Scottish government and asked NHS employers and trade union staff-side to look at how NHS services could be extended over seven-days without further cost to the Department of Health. In their evidence to the Pay Review Body the Department of Health drew distinctions between the rate of unsocial hours pay premium in sectors like retail compared with what NHS staff receive (as set out the Agenda for Change national agreement), arguing that the premium payments should be more reflective of the private sector, especially in terms of weekend and bank holiday working time arrangements and pay. Clearly the extension of NHS services across seven days will impact on staff work/life balance significantly and therefore the Pay Review Body s recent assertion that the comparison of these two sectors is inappropriate is an important one. he comparison between public and private sector unsocial hours arrangements is also a pressing concern in other areas of the public sector - there is currently a review of unsocial hours payments for police support staff and with the public sector earmarked for substantial efficiency savings these payments will be under further scrutiny within Local Government following changes made last year to unsocial hours payments (including reduced premiums and extended plain time). In addition the pay review body for the prison service in England and Wales commissioned a report comparing pay and conditions in the public sector to those in private companies. he report identified that private companies outside of the pay review body s remit and the national agreement had driven down terms and conditions to the extent where there was no pay supplement for working unsocial hours. 1
Definition of shift pay, unsocial hours payments and premiums he focus of this briefing is unsocial hours payments; however UNISON has produced a guide on negotiating shift work which sets out all the different types of shift premia amongst UNISON s bargaining groups. Unsocial hours payments fall into the area sometimes discussed as shift premia, since shift premia are usually linked to the relative inconvenience of a particular shift pattern. Unsocial hours payments are an enhanced rate of pay (or supplement) used to reward and incentivise staff for working when others are not (e.g. night shifts, weekends and bank holidays). NHS employers define unsocial hours payments as payments that are additional to basic pay. hey apply to staff whose work in standard hours (within the normal 37.5 hour working week) is undertaken at the times and on the days specified in the national agreement. In some sectors working unsocial hours can be either expressed as a cash sum or as an agreed percentage of basic pay. Characteristics of unsocial hours pay in public and private sectors Following evidence submitted by the Department of Health and NHS Employers to the Pay Review Body and the on-going review of these payments for police staff, we know that the government views these payments as costly and a barrier to seven-day services. heir evidence to the Pay Review Body in essence set out a shopping list of how they could cut the 1.44 billion pay bill for unsocial hours enhancements for the non-medical group of staff. he evidence made comparisons with the private sector including retail, aviation and the food and drinks industry stating that these sectors are already working seven-days a week, working at weekends and bank holidays and that this was considered the norm. hey felt that this should also be the case in the NHS, however they recognised that there would need to be a cultural change to bring the NHS in-line with the private sector in order to bring about seven-day working. he number of variables within unsocial hours schemes frequently makes direct comparison between private and public sector schemes difficult. However, a survey conducted by Income Data Services (IDS) for the Department of Health in 2014 did identify the following general features of unsocial hours schemes o Premium payments (on top of basic pay) have traditionally been used to compensate staff for working unsocial hours. o Where sectors have become increasingly 24/7 and have grown, the period of time unsocial hours premia applies have been eroded or is not paid at all. o Unsocial hours premia are highest for Sunday and then night working, followed by hours worked on Saturday. IDS analysis showed that unsocial hours payments were generally higher for junior staff than senior staff however the level of unsocial hours payments did vary by sector and the type of work. his is an important point when reviewing unsocial hours payments in the NHS. o Where unsocial hours payments were not paid in some sectors (but where staff were expected to work unsocial hours), staff earned higher basic pay. o Local Government have made changes to some unsocial hours working payments, increased workers plain-time and reduced overtime premiums as a result of funding cuts and as a means of avoiding redundancies. o In skilled and semi-skilled sectors where shift working is common, workers received a percentage premium on top of their own pay as compensation for working unsocial hours. 2
o In service industries including retail, restaurants and pubs there was a trend of not paying unsocial hours premia but this was heavily dependent on the labour market where they are based. Current trends in unsocial hours 1. he attack on unsocial hours continues he Government signalled its intention in last year s pay round of the NHS Pay Review Body that across government departments ministers are reviewing savings that can be made from unsocial hours payment premias. In the latest spending review George Osborne has asked government departments to draw up plans to deliver 20 billion in savings over the next 4 years and therefore unsocial hours payments as well as other pay mechanisms like pay progression increments may be reviewed. his is all alongside the 1% cap on public sector pay for another 4 years which was announced by Chancellor George Osbourne in the July Budget. here is currently a lack of detail in the budget statement which means that there is ambiguity if the 1% cap means a cap on individual pay or the pay bill, in which case staff-side unions will have an essential role in negotiating how the 1% is allocated. here have been different approaches to changing unsocial hours premia listed in different sectors. Where Local Government Councils have moved away from NJC terms and conditions we have seen some if not all of these changes: o Changing periods which are considered unsocial hours, in the evening or weekend. o Changing the rate paid for unsocial hours premia o Changing who is eligible for each rate, paying a flat rate percentage of income (ambulance, police and private sector employers particularly in energy and water favour this) o No access to the premia if you are above a certain level / band. o Paying flexibility premiums rewarding staff for flexibility; although it could be argued that some employers are already doing this by paying a flat rate percentage of income for working unsocial hours. o he Department of Health conflated incremental pay progression with the review of unsocial hours payments as part of their overarching review of savings to be made on the Agenda for change pay bill this could be a tactic employed in other sectors, particularly Local Government where councils have broken away from NJC terms and conditions. 2. Where national collective bargaining or national agreements run in parallel to service functions in the private sector, unsocial hours payments in private sector employers have been eroded or no longer exist A report on the pay and conditions of private custodial service staff by IDS for the Office of Manpower Economics (March 2015) 1 is a good example of where public and private service functions run in parallel but offer different levels of unsocial hours payments: o he report identified that private companies in this sector were using public sector pay as a benchmark for pay levels (as the private companies operate outside of the remit of the Pay Review Body), but the report found that where private security companies operated outside the national agreement they did not pay unsocial hours payments or any other additional payments for shift working, working nights or working at the weekend. 1 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/409341/ids_report_on_private_custodi al_staff_march_2015_final.pdf 3
o Pay levels in the custodial service operating within the public sector were in line with the private companies until staff reached a manager grade and then private sector pay went up significantly. o Worryingly, despite private companies offering little in the way of compensation for working unsocial hours, the report found that they were not experiencing recruitment and retention problems. o Staff turnover levels were higher in the private security companies than the public sector. his trend is also apparent in Local Government where councils had agreed local terms different to those in the NJC terms and conditions green book. Similarly, the IDS report on seven day working practices used the case study of Camden Council to illustrate that where local terms have been introduced plain time had been extended and unsocial hours supplement had been reduced. 3. Comparative table of private and public unsocial hours schemes What has become apparent in this year s NHS Pay Review Body round is how diverse unsocial hours and overtime arrangements are in different sectors. he table below sets out a selection of workplaces by sector and their arrangements for unsocial hours and overtime taken from IDS research for the Department of Health: Sector Care Homes (4 Seasons) Night Nights / Saturdays Sunday Bank Overtime Window evening Holiday 8pm 8am +33% + 33% + 33% Local Government NJC erms Local erms Police (federated ranks) 10pm + 33% + 33% 10% shift allowance of annual salary Variable Variable (Mon Sat) (Sun) +33% (Casual) (Planned) Probation Service 7pm 8am + 30% + 30% Retail esco (contract before 1999) esco (contract after 1999) 11pm 12am 12am +27% 2.18 per hour 2.18 per hour Overtime rates differ dependant on contract date. hose employed after 2005 receive plain time for O/ hours worked. Pre 2005 +50% Water Environment Agency Standby 12am (whole week) - 123.63 (per day) - 14.84 Energy National Grid 8pm 8am Shift allowance % of + 24.73 (per day) + 24.73 (per day) + 24.73 Xmas Day + 49.45 (roistered day) OIL plus + O/ supplement (roistered day) (rest day) 4
annual salary (rest day) OIL plus + 75% + 75% SSE 11pm Shift allowance 16.5% of annual salary Extra Pay for working unsocial shift pattern 116.98 Extra Pay for working unsocial shift pattern 116.98 Extra Pay for working unsocial shift pattern 116.98 O/ sat O/ sun O/ Bank Hol + 200% Engineering GKN Aerospace (Luton) 10pm + 33% + 33% O/ mon-sat O/ sun Health Agenda for Change Band 1 Band 2 Band 3 Band 4-9 + 44% + 37% + 30% + 44% + 37% + 30% + 88% + 74% + 60% + 88% + 74% + 60% Bands 1-7 Public Holiday BMI Healthcare Voluntary and Community Nottingham Community Housing Association (care workers) After 7pm 10pm 7am Depends on staff group to + Depends on staff group to + Depends on staff group to + Depends on staff group to + Depends on site but average (mon fri) (sat & sun) +33% +33% +33% + 33% O/ OIL Education Cranfield University Salary level 1 4 Weekday Saturday Sunday East London University OIL OIL OIL OIL OIL Source: OME NHS Pay Review Body Report 2015 / IDS Report on Unsocial Hours Payments 2014 / UNISON data 2 2 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/445750/ids_report_on_seven_day_wor king_v6.pdf 5
he table below sets out the night shift window times in which unsocial hours apply in different sectors. Where national collective agreements apply in the public sector the average night shift window is 8pm compared to the private sector (especially in retail and hospitality) where there are fewer collective agreements the periods considered unsocial hours have been eroded. Night Shift Window Start End 6pm 7pm 8pm 9pm 10pm 11pm 12am 1am 2am 3am 4am 5am 7am 8am Junior Doctors 7pm 8am Consultants 7pm 7am Call Centres 8pm 8am Care Homes 8pm 8am Central Government 8pm 8am Local Government (NJC) 8pm Police 8pm Agenda for Change Staff 8pm Breakdown Services 9.30pm 5.30am Engineering 10pm Local Government (Local) 10pm Road ransport 10pm Retail 11pm Restaurant, pub and fast food 12am 5am Airline Pilots 1am 7am Source: OME NHSPay Review Body Report 2015 / IDS report on seven day working practices 2015 6
Why it is unrealistic of the government to compare the out of hours pay in the retail sector with public sector staff he retail sector has a culture of not paying unsocial hours premia particularly at weekends and bank holidays. his trend can be seen by using esco as a case study. Over time and as esco increased their operations and opening hours the payment of unsocial hours and overtime has changed to the extent that they now have adopted payment by contract date (pre and post 1999). hose employed post 1999 receive inferior rates of unsocial hours payments and overtime, to those staff on a pre-1999 contract. here are a number of reasons why supermarkets like esco now no longer have to pay higher rates to new starters for working unsocial hours or weekends and bank holidays. he main reason is due to the thriving labour market within the retail sector, lack of retention and recruitment problems, high staff turnover and lack of collective agreements / trade union presence in this sector. he NHS Pay Review Body Report conclusions also found that comparing the NHS workforce with those in the retail sector was inappropriate for a number of reasons including: o Staff who work in retail tended to work in this sector on a short-term basis, whereas staff that worked in the police service or NHS tended to join for a career and stay long-term. o Where an employer needs well-trained and qualified staff to work unsocial hours, unsocial hours premia acts to incentivise staff to work these hours, compared with those that work in the retail sector where staff can be trained more quickly and therefore there is lesser need to incentivised working these hours as the pool of staff in the labour market for retail jobs is greater. o Although the casualisation of the workforce within the retail sector has meant that the time-window in which unsocial hours payments are paid has shortened, the IDS report still highlighted that in a majority of sectors it was still common to pay (different levels of) unsocial hours premia between the hours of 10pm. 7