Are NHS unsocial hours, overtime and on-call pay pensionable?

Under the NHS handbook, unsocial hours payments are pensionable. Overtime above whole-time hours is not, and neither are short-term recruitment and retention premia. High cost area supplements, long-term premia and on-call availability payments tied to a rota commitment are pensionable. This is general information, and NHSBSA, your employer or your pensions team can give you figures for your own record.

Unsocial hours payments

Paragraph 2.14 of the England text says unsocial hours payments will be pensionable. The same wording appears in the Northern Ireland text (2.14) and the Scottish text (2.12), and Wales makes them pensionable in paragraphs 2.14 and 2.15. In England, the paragraph also says they count for contractual maternity, adoption and shared parental pay. Our guide to unsocial hours pay shows the rates.

The NHSBSA pensionable pay factsheet does not mention unsocial hours payments by name, according to a search of its text. The rule here rests on the handbook, so if you need certainty about how your employer reports it, ask the pensions team. Our overview of the NHS Pension Scheme explains how pensionable pay feeds benefits.

Payments that are pensionable

From the handbook and the NHSBSA factsheet:

• High cost area supplements (handbook paragraph 4.2), including London weighting, whole time or part time.
• Long-term recruitment and retention premia (paragraphs 5.10 and 5.11).
• Annual leave pay, and paid sick leave. Unpaid sick leave does not count.
• On-call availability payments where there is a specific rota commitment, whole time or part time.

Short-term recruitment and retention premia are not pensionable and do not count for overtime or unsocial hours.

Payments that are not pensionable

• Overtime in excess of whole time. The extra 50% in time and a half is not pensionable either.
• Additional on-call hours worked, if you are whole time.
• On-call hours in excess of whole time.
• Short-term recruitment and retention premia.

Part-time extra hours

Part-time staff who work additional hours are in a different position. NHSBSA says extra hours up to whole time are pensionable at the basic hourly rate. The overtime premium is not. Under paragraph 3.3 of the handbook, additional hours are paid at plain time until your hours exceed 37.5 in the week. See additional hours for part-time staff for the pay side.

A hypothetical example

Say a part-time employee works 30 hours a week on contract and picks up 5 extra hours one week. The total is 35, which is below 37.5, so those 5 hours are paid at plain time and, per NHSBSA, are pensionable at the basic hourly rate. If a full-time colleague works 5 hours above 37.5, those hours are overtime. The hours themselves are not pensionable, and neither is the extra half. The numbers are hypothetical and the example does not use any real pay rate.

On-call payments

Paragraph 2.26 of the England text says on-call payments are set locally, and the Staff Council guidance describes flat rates, band rates or percentages of salary. NHSBSA says availability payments tied to a specific rota commitment are pensionable. If your payment is not linked to a rota, check with the pensions team how it is treated. Unsocial hours and on-call payments cannot both be paid for the same hours. See on-call pay for how those payments are built.

What to check with your employer

The figures and paragraph references come from handbook version 63 and the NHSBSA factsheet V5 of July 2024, which may have been updated since. Your employer confirms how payments are coded.

• Is each of my regular payments marked as pensionable on my payslip?
• Are my part-time extra hours reported to NHSBSA at the basic rate?
• Are my on-call payments linked to a documented rota commitment?
• Do these payments count for contractual maternity, adoption or shared parental pay? In England, unsocial hours do. See maternity leave and pay.

The employer’s pensions team and NHSBSA can look at your own record. For disputes, a union rep or ACAS can help. This guide cannot tell you what to do with your pension.