Sick pay for NHS bank staff

No single published rule says whether NHS bank staff get the NHS sick pay scale. The England text of Section 14 of the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook (version 63) says nothing about bank, casual or zero hours staff. What you get is decided by your own contract, your trust’s bank policy and the Statutory Sick Pay rules.

What the handbook says

Section 14 sets out sick pay by length of service, from one month’s full pay in the first year to six months’ full pay after five years. Paragraph 14.2 applies it to “employees absent from work owing to illness”. That is all the text says about who is covered. Bank workers are not named as included or excluded.

This is the England text. The Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland versions were not checked for this guide, and they may read differently.

With the handbook silent, it cannot tell you whether a bank worker gets the scale. The answer sits in the paperwork you were given when you joined the trust’s bank, and in the trust’s own policy.

Where the contract comes in

A petition about bank staff terms was rejected by Parliament’s Petitions Committee in January 2021 with the wording that “contract terms and conditions for NHS bank staff are a matter for the NHS as the employer.” Your bank contract or bank staff handbook is the first place to look. The written statement of employment particulars you should have received should also help. Our guide to NHS bank work covers how the bank usually operates, and agency work vs bank work sets the two side by side.

Statutory Sick Pay on the bank

SSP does not depend on NHS terms. gov.uk says you must be classed as an employee, have done some work for the employer, and have been ill for at least one full working day. It adds that agency workers may be entitled. The page does not mention bank workers or zero hours workers, so it does not settle their position either.

Whether you count as an employee for SSP depends on your contract and how the work is arranged, and that is a question for the trust or for Acas. The sources for this guide do not go further than that.

If you do qualify, these details apply:

• Since 6 April 2026, SSP is paid from the first day of sickness and there is no lower earnings limit, so a low weekly pay no longer rules you out.
• The rate is £123.25 a week or 80% of your normal weekly earnings, whichever is lower. SSP runs for up to 28 weeks.
• The employer uses average weekly earnings over an 8-week period. If you have not yet had 8 weeks’ pay because you started recently, you can still qualify.
• With more than one job, you may get SSP from each employer. That can matter if you work a substantive post and bank shifts at another trust. For tax on bank shifts, see tax on NHS bank shifts.

How SSP is worked out when your hours vary from week to week is not covered by the sources read here. Ask payroll how your average is calculated.

What is not known

These points are not settled by any source read for this guide:

• Whether your trust gives bank workers any occupational sick pay on top of SSP.
• Whether a bank worker counts as an employee for SSP at your trust.
• How a booked shift you miss through illness is treated, since the handbook says nothing about bank shifts.

Check anything you read elsewhere, including summaries on forums or social media, against your own contract. Our general NHS sick pay guide describes the scale for substantive staff, and NHS sick pay and SSP explains how the two fit together.

Who to ask

Start with the trust’s bank office or HR team, and ask for the answer in writing. The questions to put are whether bank workers have any occupational sick pay, whether you count as an employee for SSP, and how your average earnings are worked out.

If the answer is unclear or you disagree with it, your union can advise. The RCN and UNISON both represent NHS staff, so ask the one you belong to, or are thinking of joining, what it can do for bank workers. Acas gives advice on employment rights, including employment status and sick pay. For SSP specifically, our guide to Statutory Sick Pay covers what to check on your payslip. Zero hours working has its own rules, set out in zero-hours contracts.