Approved Guidance for NHSScotland



To: NHS Scotland AfC Project Managers, HR Directors SGL/2005/012

CC: Sprig Members Date: 09 November 2005

STARTING SALARIES FOR STAFF NEW TO THE NHS

1. Giving incremental credit without good reason is contrary to the principle of fair pay within Agenda for Change. In general, new starters to the NHS should start on the minimum of the scale and work their way up.

2. There are strict rules within the Terms and Conditions Handbook regarding the incremental point to which an employee is appointed on promotion and on temporary upgrading. This guidance therefore applies only to people joining or rejoining the NHS.

3. To ensure consistency, before an offer is made to a candidate, this must be approved by the HR Department who will keep records for monitoring purposes.

4. If, in a given work area, any employee is on a transitional point, the lowest transitional point in use is regarded as the minimum of the scale.

5. Managers may offer new entrants a salary above the minimum of the scale to recognise relevant experience. The reasons and supporting evidence should be fully documented. Evidence may, for instance, be taken from the application form, references and job descriptions and staff transfer certificates. Verbal evidence provided at interview must be documented.

6. A manager must be able to justify his/her decision, including the impact on:

➢ Others already in post (bearing in mind equality issues)

➢ Others outside the immediate department

➢ Consistency locally.

7. Any decision likely to have an impact across a profession may only be taken by the professional head.

8. In fairness to existing staff or staff who may be internally promoted, care must be taken that incremental points in recognition of experience only recognise completed years of experience at the level of the pay band in question, and not below it. If necessary, advice should be sought from the HR team.

9. In the interests of equity, incremental credit will not be given for reasons other than complete years of experience. For instance, it will not be given due to market forces. If there are difficulties in recruiting staff, a Recruitment and Retention Premium may be applied for.

10. It has been nationally agreed that, when deciding on the starting salary for someone returning to the NHS, breaks in service may be ignored when deciding the incremental point a person should be on, ie the employee need not start again at the minimum of the scale if there has been a break. In deciding whether to give increments for all previous service, consideration should be given to whether the person has kept their continuous personal development up to date, if relevant. Relevant experience outside the NHS may also be taken into account.

11. This guidance will be reviewed one year after date of publication.

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