Backdated pay for council staff: how pay award arrears work

If you work for a council on NJC terms, the 2026 pay award of 3.3% took effect from 1 April 2026, so the first payslip at the new rate usually includes arrears for the months since. The national agreement encourages quick payment but sets no date, so when that payslip arrives depends on your employer. Staff who left after 1 April can ask for their share.

What the 2026 award covers

The NJC support staff pay award for 2026/27 was agreed on 24 August 2026. It is 3.3% on all NJC pay points from 3 to 43 and on allowances, and on locally determined pay points above the top of the spine but graded below deputy chief officer. It covers 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027. Spine point 2 was deleted from 1 April 2026, so point 3 is now the lowest. More detail is on the NJC pay award 2026/27 page and in the NJC pay spine guide.

The agreement came months after the pay year began, so councils pay the difference between the old and the new rate for each month since 1 April. That lump sum is the arrears, or backpay.

How the arrears are worked out

The arrears for each month are the new monthly pay minus the old monthly pay. Take a hypothetical case. Say you are full-time on spine point 3. The 2025 annual rate was £24,796 and the 2026 rate is £25,614 after the 3.3% award, a difference of £818 a year, or about £68.17 a month before tax. If your council pays the new rate for the first time in the October payslip, backdating April to September, six months of difference comes to about £409 before tax.

The same method works for any point, with your own figures. Part-time staff receive the award pro rata, so the amount scales with contracted hours. The agreement leaves it to the employer whether overtime or enhancements paid since April are recalculated, so ask payroll.

Councils decide when to pay. Devon County Council, for example, told maintained schools buying its payroll service that increases would be paid pro rata for part-time staff in the September 2026 pay run, backdated to April 2026. That date is Devon’s own, not a national one.

If you have left since April

The National Employers’ recommendation is that employers should pay any money due to former employees from 1 April 2026 to their last day of employment, if the ex-employee asks. The same approach was recommended for the 2025 award. It is not a legal rule written into the agreement, so the request matters. Write to payroll with your name, your old employee number and your last working day.

Pension records

If you were in the Local Government Pension Scheme, arrears paid to a leaver affect your pension record. In the 2025 circular, the NJC said the employer must tell its LGPS fund when arrears are paid to ex-employees who were in the scheme. The employer then amends the career average (CARE) and final pay figures where that applies, which includes people with pre-April 2014 membership or underpin protection. The LGPS employer guidance and its backdated pay award FAQs have further detail. See our LGPS guide for how contributions work. The 2026 circular itself could not be opened, so check your fund if you left in the 2026/27 year.

Northern Ireland and Scotland

In Northern Ireland, the 3.3% award is backdated to 1 April 2026. NIPSA reported that no implementation date was confirmed for Education Authority staff and that it had asked when arrears would be paid. Scotland has a separate agreement for council workers and is not part of this award.

What to check

• The payslip month that shows the new rate, and whether the backdated amount appears as a separate line.
• That your spine point is the one on your contract, since a wrong point means the wrong arrears.
• That part-time hours or term-time pay have been applied correctly.
• If you left after 1 April, that you have asked in writing.
• Whether any pension record needs updating.

For a payroll error, start with your manager and HR, then your union. The local government pay award 2026 guide explains how the award was agreed.