Back-pay for annual leave payments

September 23, 2021

Over the past few years there have been a number of legal decisions that have shaped the law about how payments for annual leave should be calculated. These decisions prompted the national NHS Staff Council to consult with Trade Unions about how annual leave is calculated for staff employed within the NHS under Agenda for Change Terms and Conditions.

Earlier this year they reached an agreement where, if certain criteria is met, annual leave payments should include an average of overtime worked, as well as basic pay. The main criteria is:

a) You must be employed by an NHS Employer on 31 March 2021; and

b) You must have received payments in respect of “Overtime” in a minimum of four months out of any of the twelve months in the financial year 2019/2020 and/or 2020/2021. This will not apply to additional hours worked via the Trust Bank.

This criteria applies to annual leave between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2021.

A number of employees will be receiving a payment on Monday and a letter to their home address letting them know about the forthcoming payment and the amount they will receive.

In the hopefully rare circumstances, where an employee does not believe that their overtime payments and any corrective payment has been correctly calculated, we would encourage conversations between staff and their line managers to address this issue in the first instance. Staff will need to provide evidence, for example, their pay slips, payments that they have received for either overtime, or additional standard time. This information is important to help us determine if you are eligible.

The FAQs may answer any queries or concerns you may have and if not and you are in receipt of a payment and have any queries about calculation of the payment or the deductions made please call the Payroll Department on 0121 507 6655 option 1 or for any other issues that cannot be addressed by the FAQ’s please call the HR Department on 0121 507 6680.