The Staff Council, the group that negotiates nationally on Agenda for Change terms and conditions, has recently agreed changes to Agenda for Change for England. 

Yorkshire Ambulance branch and the Ambulance Sector within UNISON as a whole opposed this agreement.

The changes include :

• No unsocial hours payments for periods of sickness (for those on the NHS unsocial hours payment system)
• Performance related incremental progression (within certain criteria)
• Ending of preceptorship increments (currently received by newly qualified nurses and midwives).
• These changes will not be made immediately - none of the changes will become part of members’ contractual terms until the NHS Handbook is changed and the proposals added in.

The change that will cause most concern is the loss of unsocial hours for periods of sickness.  UNISON’s position is that this ONLY applies to those on the main NHS unsocial hour’s system (general section 2 arrangements.) Some members will be aware that nurses and others in the NHS get paid their unsocial hours according to each unsocial hour they work, rather than averaged out and paid as a percentage, as we do.

Ambulance workers remain on a different system (outlined in Annexe E of A4C) and therefore this change does not apply to us.  The only way the Trust could apply this change would be if they moved us over to the main NHS unsocial hours payment system.

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