NHS night shift pay: what you get for working nights

On Agenda for Change terms, every hour you work on a weekday between 8pm and 6am is paid at your normal rate plus an enhancement set by band. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland that is time plus 47% for band 1, 41% for band 2, 35% for band 3 and 30% for bands 4 to 9. Scotland pays 50%, 44%, 37% and 30% for the same bands.

These figures are from version 63 of the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook. Your employer or union rep can confirm how your trust applies them.

The night rate by band

Band	England, Wales, Northern Ireland	Scotland
Band 1	time plus 47%	time plus 50%
Band 2	time plus 41%	time plus 44%
Band 3	time plus 35%	time plus 37%
Bands 4 to 9	time plus 30%	time plus 30%

The percentage is applied to your hourly rate for basic salary, plus any long-term recruitment and retention premium. It does not take in a high cost area supplement or any short-term premium.

Which hours count as night

The handbook counts any weekday hour after 8pm and before 6am. Saturday is also in the same enhancement column, for the whole day from midnight to midnight, so a Saturday night shift is paid at the same percentage as a Friday night shift. The rate changes once you reach Sunday, because all time on a Sunday is in the higher column, time plus 94%, 83%, 69% or 60% by band in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

So a night that runs from Saturday evening into Sunday morning is paid at the lower rate until midnight, and at the Sunday rate from midnight. You get one rate for each hour, never two added together. Full details of the Sunday and public holiday rates are in the guide to NHS unsocial hours pay.

When a shift runs past the cut-off

A long shift often starts before 8pm or finishes after 6am. For a continuous night or evening shift on a weekday that is not a public holiday, the handbook says the enhancement applies to the whole shift if more than half of it falls between 8pm and 6am.

Say you are a band 5 nurse on a 12 and a half hour night, 7.30pm to 8am, with the half hour break unpaid. That is 12 hours of work, and more than half of it sits inside 8pm to 6am, so the band 5 enhancement of time plus 30% would apply across the whole shift, including the stretch before 8pm and after 6am. This is a hypothetical example, so ask your employer to confirm how your own rota is treated. If a shift has less than half its hours in the night window, the handbook rule does not apply to it, and your payroll team can tell you what is paid.

Our guides to twelve-hour shifts and working nights cover the practical side of these patterns.

Nights that touch a public holiday

The more than half rule is stated for weekday shifts other than public holidays. A night shift that crosses into a public holiday is paid at the higher rate for hours on the holiday, from midnight. How a trust handles the hours either side is a local matter, so check the rota and payslip. The bank holiday pay guide explains time off in lieu for public holiday work.

Sleeping in is different

If you sleep at the workplace as part of a set arrangement, that is a sleep-in, not an ordinary night shift, and it has its own local payment rules. See NHS sleep-in pay.

Part-time staff and pension

Part-time staff working fewer than 37.5 hours a week are eligible for unsocial hours payments. The payments are pensionable under the handbook. In England they do not count during sick leave for staff who started on handbook terms on or after 1 July 2018 or whose basic pay is above £18,160. Check this against the guide to NHS sick pay.

What to check with your employer

Ask how your trust treats shifts that start before 8pm or end after 6am, and whether the more than half rule is applied to your contract. Look at your payslip to see the night enhancement shown as its own line, and compare the percentage with your band. In Scotland, ask which table your board uses. If you change shift at short notice, ask whether your employer uses the prospective system, which carries an unforeseen change payment of £15 for a change within 24 hours.