NHS overtime pay: who gets it and at what rate

Staff in bands 1 to 7 on Agenda for Change get overtime for hours worked beyond 37.5 in a week. The rate is time and a half for all overtime, except work on general public holidays, which is paid at double time. Staff in bands 8 and 9 are not entitled to overtime payments.

The figures here are from version 63 of the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook, Section 3. Your employer or union rep can confirm local arrangements.

When hours count as overtime

Overtime means hours worked in excess of 37.5 a week, the standard full-time week excluding meal breaks. It has to be agreed. The handbook says overtime rates apply provided your line manager or team leader has agreed to the work being done as overtime. If you stay late on your own initiative without that agreement, you may not be able to claim it, so get the agreement before the extra hours, or at the time.

What the rate is based on

Overtime is worked out from the hourly rate for your basic pay, plus any long-term recruitment and retention premium. It does not include a high cost area supplement or a short-term premium.

Unsocial hours payments are also left out. The handbook says they are not counted in the calculation of overtime, on-call or any other payment. So if you work overtime on a Sunday, the overtime is calculated from basic pay, not from a Sunday rate. The way the two interact on a given shift is something to confirm with payroll, using the rules in our guide to NHS unsocial hours pay.

Rates

Time and a half means each overtime hour is paid at 1.5 times your hourly basic rate. Double time on a general public holiday means 2 times. Say you are a band 4 administrator who works 2 hours beyond your 37.5 for the week. Those 2 hours would be paid at 1.5 times your hourly basic rate, and if the same 2 hours fell on a general public holiday, they would be paid at 2 times. This is a hypothetical example and ignores pay point and employer rounding.

Bands 1 to 7 only

Overtime is open to bands 1 to 7. The handbook says staff in bands 8 or 9 will not be entitled to overtime payments. Note that this is band 8a upwards, not only the senior end of band 8. If you are in band 8 or 9 and regularly work extra, ask your employer whether there is a local arrangement such as time off, because the handbook does not provide payment.

Time off in lieu

You can ask for TOIL instead of being paid. It is given at plain time rates, so an hour of overtime earns one hour off, not an hour and a half. If your employer cannot let you take it within three months for operational reasons, it must be paid at the overtime rate instead.

Because TOIL is granted at plain time, taking pay when you worked more than 37.5 hours is worth more in hours than taking leave. That is a choice for you to make, though the employer needs to agree. For work on general public holidays, see the guidance on bank holiday pay, where TOIL is added to the payment rather than replacing it.

Part-time staff

If you work part-time, extra hours are not overtime until your total passes 37.5 in the week. Until then they are paid at plain time. The full detail is in NHS additional hours for part-time staff.

Pension

According to NHSBSA’s pensionable pay factsheet, overtime in excess of whole-time hours is not pensionable. The extra 50% premium on time and a half is also not pensionable. Overtime you work as a part-timer that stays within whole-time hours is pensionable at your basic hourly rate. See the NHS Pension Scheme guide for how your contributions are worked out.

What to check with your employer

Ask who in your team can agree overtime, and how they record it. Find out whether your trust expects you to claim by a deadline, and how payroll treats a week with leave or sickness in it. If you are in band 8 or above, ask what is offered instead. If you work on a bank holiday, ask whether the double time and the time off in lieu are both being applied. Your union rep can help if payments are missing.