NHS grievances and local appeals on pay and terms

If you disagree with how your NHS employer has applied the Agenda for Change agreement to your pay or terms, Annex 19 of the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook expects a local appeals procedure. You must try to resolve it informally first, and in England an appeal cannot be lodged more than six months after you were told of the decision. The decision of the local appeal is final. For anything else, such as bullying or a breach of your contract, the ordinary grievance procedure and the Acas Code apply.

Two routes

The handbook describes a local appeals procedure for differences about how the national agreement is applied locally to your own pay and terms. Annex 19 gives these examples: unsocial hours payments, local recruitment and retention premia, development reviews and support for training. The NHS pay progression guide covers pay step standards, and your trust’s policy says which route a held-back step takes.

A grievance is the wider route. The Acas Code defines grievances as concerns, problems or complaints that employees raise with their employers. The handbook says that for an Annex 19 appeal, organisations can use established grievance procedures or develop a new one.

The informal step

Annex 19 says an employee who wants to appeal must first try to resolve the issue informally. As a first step you discuss it with management and, if you want, a union representative. If the issue is settled, the agreement should be confirmed in writing. It may also be linked to similar cases and handled as a local review instead of an individual appeal.

The informal review should check whether:

• the concern is based on incorrect information
• it rests only on opposition to the clear terms of the agreement
• the matter has already been decided, or is being considered, by the NHS Staff Council or in a similar earlier appeal
• reasonable attempts have been made to resolve it first.

If your concern is that the handbook itself is unfair, the appeals procedure is unlikely to be the place for it. It applies the agreement to you.

The six-month limit

In England, an appeal may not be lodged more than six months after you were notified of the decision, or could reasonably have been expected to be aware of it. The handbook sets this limit, and it is separate from the time limits for employment tribunal claims, which are shorter in many cases, so do not treat one as covering the other. The tribunal time limits guide and the early conciliation guide cover the legal side.

The appeal and its outcome

An appeal starts with a written statement from you. It is then heard through the locally agreed procedure. The local decision is final, with no further levels of appeal, although the panel may consult the NHS Staff Council on how to interpret the agreement and should do so where interpretation matters and has not already been clarified. A decision sets no precedent beyond your own organisation.

Section 47 of the handbook adds that upheld appeals normally lead to the associated pay or benefits being backdated to the date the appeal was lodged. That is a reason not to delay the formal stage once informal talks have stalled. The version for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland also covers progression through pay band gateways, so check the version for your country.

When a grievance is the right route

Use the ordinary grievance route for matters outside the pay and terms appeal, such as an employer failing to honour your contract. The Acas Code says you should raise it formally in writing, without unreasonable delay, with a manager who is not the subject of the grievance. The employer should hold a meeting without unreasonable delay. You have a statutory right to be accompanied by a colleague or union representative at a grievance meeting about a duty the employer owes you. The decision should be in writing, with a right of appeal to someone not previously involved where possible. The general grievance guide covers the steps.

Some matters have their own procedures:

• Bullying and harassment complaints are meant to follow a separate dignity at work procedure, covered in the bullying at work guide.
• Concerns about patient safety or wrongdoing fall under the freedom to speak up policy, and the whistleblowing guide explains the legal protection.
• A refused employment break can be taken to the grievance procedure, which the handbook says directly.
• A banding disagreement goes through the job evaluation review. The handbook says no appeal beyond the review panel, although a grievance can be raised about a misapplied process, as the banding review guide explains.

Collective grievances raised by a union representative for two or more employees fall outside the Acas Code and follow the organisation’s own collective procedure.

What to check

• The date of the decision you are challenging, to keep inside the six months.
• Whether your issue is a pay or terms decision, a banding decision, bullying or a contract breach, because each has its own route.
• Your trust’s grievance and appeals policy, for who hears each stage.
• That every stage is in writing, and that you keep copies.

A union representative can attend meetings with you, and ACAS gives free guidance on the Code.