There are ups and downs to any job, but you can’t argue that the NHS has some of the best benefits around. In this post, I’ll share what some of those are.
Enhanced pay for unsociable hours
When I was first looking at nursing jobs in the UK, I was confused by all the listings that described the pay as salaried. To me that meant any extra hours wouldn’t be paid, but that is simply not true. They may average your hours out over 4 weeks instead of paying you overtime if your weekly hours are above 40, but you still get paid (or get time back) for all the hours that you work.
That salary also doesn’t include the enhancements that you get for working unsociable hours. “Unsociable hours”… I think that’s a great way to describe working nights and weekends… rather unsociable indeed.
For nights and Saturdays it’s typically 30% above your base rate. For Sundays and bank holidays it’s usually 60%. Not too shabby! Be sure to factor this in when thinking about whether or not you can afford to move to the UK.
NHS pension
Perhaps the biggest and best benefit of working in the NHS is the Pension Scheme. It remains one of the most generous and comprehensive on offer in the UK, though it is worth noting that employee contributions are typically higher than the schemes offered in the private sector. Your employer contributes 20.6% of your salary to your pension! 20.6%! I know the salary is less than what you would get in America, but thinking back to my American pension… my US employer matched my contribution up to 4%.
Writing it out now makes me keen to do the math… Based on my salary in 2017, that means I would have contributed $1872 and my employer would have matched that with $1872 for a total of $3744 for the year (based on $25/hr).
For my current job at the salary I’ve had for the last year, I’ve contributed 9.3% which is £3134.65 and my employer has contributed 20.6% which is £6943.44. That is a total of £10,078.09. That’s not an insignificant amount. Even if we say that £1 = $1 (a horrible conversion that hopefully will never be true) then that’s $5000 extra a year.
There is a scale for how much you contribute based on your income (which is undergoing a shift at the minute). For nurses it is generally 6.5- 9.8%. Read more about contribution rates here.
To see what your pay would be for your job’s band click here.
And to see what jobs fall into each band click here.
You may also wish to read: UK nursing pay bands explained
Annual leave
Annual leave is the English term for paid time off (PTO). It’s often referred to as holiday, annual leave, AL, or entitlement. Across the NHS it’s standardized. If you’ve worked in the NHS for less than 5 years you get 27 days plus the 8 bank holidays each year. For these purposes a day = 7.5 hours. Don’t ask why.
So that means each year you get 262.5 hours of PTO/AL to use as you wish. Service of 5-10 years earns you an extra 15 hours (277.5 hrs total). And over 10 years of service gets you an extra 30 hours for a total of 307.5 hrs.
Depending on the length of your usual work day the “days” may not match up to their “days” because we are nurses and we mostly work shifts, not 9-5 jobs. However, with clever planning you can get 7-9 weeks off. Or you can have a range of long weekends to jet off to Europe. Or you can take 2-3 weeks off to travel back home without anyone raising an eyebrow. It’s marvelous. Oh did I mention you don’t have to find anyone to cover your shifts? That’s a thing of the past for me and I’m not sorry to see it go.
Wellbeing
As part of its commitment to looking after their employees, the NHS offers access to occupational health services and counselling support. Especially since the pandemic, there has been a focus on looking after the staff in the NHS. In fact, one of my roles within my current job is to be a Professional Nurse Advocate. So many different ways to support nurses and allied health professionals have arisen and it feels good to have free options available.
Sick leave
The approach to being off sick is so different in the NHS compared to my jobs in America. The American perspective of pushing through illness so you can continue to be productive and work is so weird to me now. Conquering the day in spite of how miserable I might be feeling is a thing of the past. I can now self-certify illness for up to 7 days. After that I have to have a sick note from the GP.
Though each Trust will have its own policies around sickness leave, there is generally a more understanding attitude towards it. As long as you aren’t “taking the piss”. There are certain triggers, like 4 sickness absences, which may mean that you have to have a formal discussion and documentation, but you have to have multiple, multiple illnesses in one year before being in real trouble. Something like 6, for example. Be sure to become familiar with your Trust’s sickness leave policy from the beginning, and remember it’s better to stay off until you’re well than to go back and have to leave again. As an American, this is easier said than done, I know. I still struggle with it… and the guilt!
If, though, you do find yourself in a position which requires you to be off on long term sick leave, the NHS provides you with 6 months of full pay and 6 months of half pay for sick leave. I’ve never really looked into this in great detail as I have not had to use it. I’m not sure either how this works with visas and what documentation you may be required to provide to the Home Office, but it’s nice to know that the NHS continues to look after its employees for an extended period if they become unwell.
Maternity and paternity leave
The NHS offers a generous amount of maternity and paternity leave with pay which is well above the statutory minimum. You can have 52 weeks (an entire year!) of maternity leave. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve worked for your employer either. Even if you’ve only just started, you have the right to take maternity leave it just might affect how much you are paid during your time away.
You are even allowed to share your leave between you and your partner in some circumstances.
Coming to the UK just to have your babies could be an investment all on its own. What, with the healthcare cost of having babies in the US and the pitiful maternity leave available. Could it be a perfect investment of time and money? I’m kidding! … or am I? Anyhow, I’m sure there are more particulars which would need to be considered, like do you even want to have babies? OK, ok, moving on. If you want to read more about this there are some helpful links here and here.
Learning opportunities
The NHS offers vast and varied access to training courses and professional development. These could be in house training sessions or they could be courses which are put on through a partnership with a university. Oftentimes this kind of professional development is with full support and funding from the Trust you work for.
I have been so fortunate to be able to further my education while working for the NHS. Last year I became a Professional Nurse Advocate and this year I am getting my Postgraduate Certificate in Clinical Education (the first year of the Masters in Clinical Education).
Depending on your Trust’s Study Leave Policy, you may have anywhere from 25-100% of your classroom time counted in your working hours.
The reality of it all
Is working as a nurse for the NHS a good experience? It has its pros and cons, undoubtedly. As we speak the votes from the Royal College of Nursing Strike Ballot are being counted. The profession needs to be recognized and rewarded for its skills or we may see an even bigger decline in people choosing to become nurses. It’s not all about pay, we just want to be able to provide proper care for our patients. And if incentivizing people to stay in or join nursing will make a difference, then I’m all for it.
That said, writing this has been a really good reminder of all the things I am thankful for.
And… if I start to add the employer pension contributions and the money my Trust has paid for the courses I’ve taken, my salary actually starts to look rather reasonable in spite of the nursing pay difference between the US and UK.
Considering your options?
I may not know everything, but I’m more than happy to have a chat and see if I can answer some of your questions. Book a time below.
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