what is assignment number in nhs

Anatomy of NHS payslip -- How much do UK Registered Nurses (RGN) get paid?

Updated: Jul 3, 2022

     It's been few days since you have seen your latest payslip. You see your net salary at the end of the month reflecting on your hard earned money with overtimes, bank shifts and those weekend night outs and getaways you've missed because you're at work. But have you ever really taken a closer look on your payslip or do you just look on the bottom right hand corner of it to see how much you've been paid? Well, understanding how you are getting paid can guide you about when are the best days to book shifts, how taxes impact your earnings which may help with planning your finances accordingly. 

        NHS salary follows Agenda for Change which is the main pay system for NHS staff excluding doctors, senior managers and dentists. As an overseas nurse, you will start as a Pre-registered nurse on a Band 4 pay scale. Once you've passed the OSCE and NMC has granted your PIN, you can start to work and be paid as a Band 5. Being a newly qualified nurse, you will start on the lowest point of Band 5 pay scale. Salary for a point 1 Band 5 normally starts at £25,655 per year and will increase annually provided you have completed your annual appraisal. 

     Looking at all the numbers in your payslip might be intimidating. But by deeply understanding what those numbers mean, you can spot if there are errors, if you’ve been paid correctly and make better decisions about when to do extra work.

For those who are exploring to work in the UK, this will also help you understand how much registered nurses are being paid and its coverage.

For easy viewing, we have broken down the payslip into 4 parts.

Assignment Number - First eight digits of your employee number; If you have more than one post, it will be indicated with -2 -3 and so on.

Salary/Wage - this indicates your full salary according to which point you are in the pay scale

Incremental date - shows the date that you will get your annual salary increase until you reached the maximum point

Standard Hrs. - the number of hours you’re contracted to work (37.5 for full time)

PT Salary/Wage - this is the actual salary you get per year according to your contracted hours; pro-rata for part time. 

Tax and NI Information - take note of these figures as you need these if you need to contact HMRC or tax office for any reason.

     Enough of the boring bits. Let’s dive in with the salary dissection. Shall we examine closely how NHS Nurse was paid in March 2020 apart from her basic pay? She is already on top tier Band 5 pay scale and working 31 hours a week. This means she will be paid pro rata according to her contracted hours.

Basic Pay  

This is your contracted hours per month x hourly rate (depending on your pay scale rate). Full time hours equates to 37.5 hours per week or 150 hours per month. In the UK, employees are paid per hour for the hours that they have worked in a month. So if you work part time at 31 hours, you will be paid pro rata, which means your salary will be in proportion to a full time pay. It just means your hourly rate will still be the same but your salary will be less than a full time staff because you have worked less hours. 

134.70 (contracted hours per month) x £15.39 (hourly rate) = £ 2074.38

Unsocial Hours 

Since nurses work on shifts to care for patients 24/7, unsocial hours such as night shifts, weekends and bank holidays have enhanced payments. This sort of reward for working out of hours can make you earn extra money apart from overtime and bank shifts which we will be tackling shortly. Now, different categories of unsocial hours are paid differently. The pay enhancement is the fixed percentage of the number of hours worked outside the standard working times. Take a look below to see how much enhancement you will get for each shift. 

Night shift (any weekday from 8pm to 6am) - 30% of the hours you’ve worked within these hours of the night

Saturdays (midnight to midnight) - 30% of the hours you’ve worked Saturday

Bank Holiday and Sundays (midnight to midnight) - 60% of the hours you’ve worked on Bank Holiday or Sunday

NHS Nurse worked 23 hours night duty and 39 hours Saturday. First you need to work out the 30% of the number of hours she worked on nights or Saturdays. The products are then multiplied to her hourly rate which will be the enhancement amount. 

- 23 hrs x 0.30  = 6.90 (unsocial hrs to be paid) --- 6.90hrs x £15.39 (hourly rate)  = £106.26

- 32 hrs x 0.30 = 9.60 (unsocial hrs to be paid)  --- 9.60 hrs x £15.39 (hourly rate) = £147.84

Let’s take a look for Sunday shifts which have 60% enhancement. It will be the same computation for Bank Holidays as well. 

- 11 hrs x 0.60 =  6.60 (unsocial hrs to be paid) --- 6.60 hrs x£15.39 (hourly rate) = 101.64

This stands for the Working Time Directive in line with European Union legislation which sets minimum requirements for working hours, rest and annual leave for employees to maintain their health and well-being. The computation can be complicated but there are WTD pay calculators online if you are still curious to know about it.  WTD Pay - additional pay if you work additional unsocial hours or if have additional leave under WTD

Overtime hourly rates usually depend on each Trust or department within it. Some Trust overtime rate is time and a half of the hourly rate. For instance, if she worked 10 hours overtime the computation will be like this and will be then added to her gross pay. 

10 hours x 1.5 = 15 hours ----------15 hours x 15.39 = £230.85

Bank Shifts

You need to join the NHS staff bank in order to work Bank shifts. Again, the hourly rate depends on the budget of the NHS Trust. In some Trusts, bank shift is paid flat rate which means she will get whatever her normal hourly rate is and enhancements depending on the shifts she’s done.  Some NHS Trusts especially in London give better rates for bank shifts but will still be Trust dependent. Bank shifts are normally received on a separate payslip hence you will have a second assignment/ employee number.

      Now that you have a better understanding of your salary, let’s get into the deductions! Taxes, taxes, taxes. The UK is well known for collecting high tax rates and high cost of living. But these taxes are also the main reason why the NHS survives and other state benefits are in place. 

       To simplify computation for basic rate tax deduction is usually 20% of your gross salary for basic rate taxpayers. If your salary exceeds £40,000, that will have different number crunching process. For now, let’s focus on the 20% tax since starting Band 5s will fall in this bracket.  Bear in mind that this is just a rough guide as tax calculation is complex if you consider other factors such as taxable pay, tax free allowance etc. 

PAYE (Pay as You Earn)

This means Pay As You Earn . This is the Income Tax deducted by your employer before you can even get a sniff of your salary. Employers are responsible for calculating this following the guidelines from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). The amount that will be deducted is based on your tax code. 

In this payslip, NHS nurse's tax code is 1283L which means £12,830 of her salary will not be taxed. This is her personal tax allowance. Since she earns £30,112 in a year, the remaining amount after deducting the £12,830 will be taxed. 

NI (National Insurance)

This is the National Insurance . National Insurance is the UK’s tax system that requires all the workers and employers to make regular monthly payments to gain access to state benefits.

Your NI contributions will depend on how much you earn. These contributions allow you to use certain state benefits (might differ if you are on Tier 2 Visa) such as state pension. 

NHS is well-known for having a comprehensive and generous pension scheme as part of its recruitment and retention strategy. You will be automatically enrolled in the NHS pension scheme as you start your employment to the Trust. Your contribution will be based on your annual salary whichever falls on the Tier bracket set for employers to follow. For new starters with £24,907 income, 7.1% of your salary will be deducted.  Both full-time and part-time workers pay a percentage of their gross salary into their pension each month. Your amount of contribution will be based on your salary. This is topped up by employer contributions. According to NHS Employers.org , the employer’s contribution rate changed from 14.38% to 20.68% from 1 April 2019.

In the sample payslip, she falls in Tier 4 because she earns £30,112. Hence, she contributes 9.3% of her salary. 

Pensionable Pay (£2474.77) x .093 = £230.15

For more details on pension and changes effective October 1, 2022, please see link:

https://www.nhsemployers.org/articles/pension-contributions-and-tax-relief

Other Expenses

You can have other expenses taken out from your salary such as hospital accommodation payments, Union subscriptions (RCN or Unison), car park payments, childcare vouchers or other salary sacrifice schemes provided by your Trust. 

      Finally, the period summary gives you an overview of your gross pay and all the deductions that have been made. I probably don’t need to discuss any further your Net Pay because this is the only section in the payslip that we gaze our eyes into every pay day. 

    As we scrutinise how we are being paid in the NHS, working Sundays and bank holidays provide twice as much enhancement than nights and Saturdays. But still consider the fact that you will still get decent enhancement for night shifts and Saturday shifts. Overtime and Bank shifts are helpful to gain extra income but just be mindful that doing so many hours extra may cost you more tax. I hope this article provided a deeper insight on how you view your payslip and better understanding on how you should be paid. After all, those hours worked are hard earned and you deserve to be rewarded with the right compensation.

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Understanding Your Pay

Useful information.

• Your payslip will be available to view via ESR Employee Self Service (ESS) 2 working days before pay day.
• Please review your payslip carefully to ensure that all the information is accurate. Please be aware that you are responsible for checking your payslip and reporting anything you think is incorrect.
• If you do have any queries or concerns about your payslip, please refer in the first instance to the frequently asked questions (FAQs), below.
• If you are unable to find an answer to you queries in the FAQs, please do not hesitate to contact Pay Services. The best way to contact us is via email: [email protected] (Please always quote your assignment number), however, if you prefer to contact the team via phone our contact details are at the bottom of this page .
• For Wagestream queries please visit the Wagestream section  of website for links to Wagestream and Bank Pay FAQs.

Understanding your payslip

Example payslip.

Your payslip is divided into six sections:

Employee and PAYE Information

Pay and allowances.

• Year to Date Balances

This Period Summary

Messages from employer.

The top section of the payslip details the Employee and PAYE Information:

• Assignment Number - This should be quoted in all correspondence and will be suffixed with -2, -3 etc. if you have more than one post
• Payscale Description - Payscale which you are paid on
• Sal/Wage - Full Time salary for grade
• Inc. Date - Date of your next pay step/increment or when you reached the maximum point of your payscale
• Standard Hours – Contracted hours
• PT Sal/Wage - Salary paid, this shows as a reduced amount if you are part time
• Tax Office Name - Tax Office that is responsible for your employer’s Tax Account Tax Office Ref - This is required if you need to speak to HMRC
• Tax Code – Code as allocated by HMRC
• NI Number - National Insurance Number

Pay and Allowances – left hand side of the payslip

• Description – Details all payments made in the pay period
• Wkd/Earned – Total hours worked
• Paid/Due - Number of hours payment is calculated on
• Rate – Amount the allowance is calculated on, e.g., hourly rate
• Amount - Payment that will be made

Deductions – right hand side of the payslip

• This shows all the statutory and voluntary deductions that will be made from your pay

Year To Date Balances

Year To Date Balances – left hand side of the payslip:

• This section shows the total amounts you have received and had deducted in the current tax year to the end of the period you are being paid for. PAYE details will be included in your P60 at the end of the tax year. Pension details will added to your NHS Pension record. SD Ref Number is your Employee reference number for your NHS Pension and should be quoted in any correspondence you have with NHS Pensions.

This Period Summary – right hand side of the payslip:

Messages From Employer:

• If you are viewing your payslip online via ESS any messages are displayed below the payslip detail.
• If you receive an original paper payslip any payslip messages are on the reverse of the inside flap of the payslip once opened.

Common Abbreviations Used

Common abbreviations used:

Frequently Asked Questions

When is pay day.

Pay day is 28th of the month. If the 28th falls on a bank holiday or weekend, payment will be made on the banking business day before the bank holiday or weekend. The only exception to the 28th rule  is December’s pay day and details will be shared nearer December with regards to when December’s pay day will fall.

How do I view my payslip?

Payslips are available to view online through ESR Employee Self Service (ESS). The link below will take you to a step-by-step guide on how to access your payslips.

https://my.esr.nhs.uk/dashboard/lrst/ESS12/index.html

More details regarding ESS are available via ESR Self Service webpage

What kind of information does my payslip show and what do the abbreviations stand for?

Please see “Understanding Your Payslip” section above.

If the abbreviation on your payslip isn’t listed as a common abbreviation please contact [email protected]

I haven't been paid for the overtime/additional hours I worked or I think my overtime has been paid at the wrong rate

Overtime is paid at time plus one half (or double time if it is worked on a general public holiday). Additional hours in excess of contracted hours are paid at basic rate up to 37.5 hours/week. Only hours worked in excess of full-time hours can be paid at overtime rates.

If you worked overtime or additional hours last month but have not received payment for them, please check that your manager added the hours to your Healthroster record correctly before the cut-off date. If they did not, please ask them to submit a Data Amendment Form (DAF) to correct your record. Corrections will be applied in the next available payroll run.

Please note that staff on band 8a or above are not entitled to overtime pay unless express approval from HR has be obtained in advance.

I am a substantive member of staff. How is my basic pay calculated?

For each calendar month, employees are paid one twelfth of their annual salary. For each odd day (including Saturdays and Sundays, in the case of a working week of five days), employees are a paid the monthly sum divided by the number of days in the particular month.

Please note that basic pay for substantive staff is paid on a current pay basis and not in arrears. For this reason, if your hours or rate of pay is changing or you are leaving, it is important to make sure your manager notifies Pay Services before the cut-off date for the month in which the change is due to occur. Failure to notify Pay Service by the relevant cut-off date is likely to result in an underpayment or overpayment.

I have changed my hours or pay band, or I have returned from maternity leave/career break but these changes are not reflected in my pay this month. Why not?

Please check with your manager that they submitted a change form to notify Pay Services of the change. If they have not, please ensure they submit a form as soon as possible.

If they did submit a form but submitted it after the payroll cut-off date, corrections will be applied in the next available payroll run.

I have returned from sick leave but my pay this month is still reduced for half/no pay sick, why is this?

Absences from the roster are reported to Payroll in arrears, if you have returned after the roster was finalised please ask your manager to email [email protected] with your return details.

"AfC Absence" is showing on my payslip. What is it?

If you have taken annual leave and regularly receive payments for unsocial hours, overtime, additional hours or on call, you may see AfC Absence on your payslip.

AfC Absence is based on your average pay in a set reference period, usually the three months ending on the last day of the pay period in which the leave started. Payment is in arrears one month after the annual leave has been taken provided that your annual leave has been recorded on Healthroster in an accurate and timely manner. Please note that AfC Absence is not payable in respect of bank holiday leave or leave taken in lieu of bank holidays. Nor are payments received in relation to work on a bank holiday included in the calculations for AfC Absence.

I work on the bank but I haven't been paid or I have been paid for the wrong number of hours. Why?

Bank hours are paid a month in arrears based on the timesheet details recorded by your manager on Healthroster.

If you have checked your payslip carefully and think you haven't been paid for the correct number of hours, please review your Healthroster record to check that your manager recorded your shift times correctly and submitted the hours for payment before the payroll cut-off date (this is the third working day of the month following that in which the hours were worked).

If your pay is incorrect due to the information recorded on the roster, please speak to your manager and ask them to submit a Data Amendment Form (DAF). Once the necessary corrections have been made, any pay adjustments required will be applied in the next available payroll run.

For any further assistance required on using Healthroster, please contact the Healthroster team .

Unsocial hours payments or enhancements. What are they and what do I do if I think my unsocial hours payments are wrong?

Unsocial hours payments or enhancements are paid if you are required to work to cover services in the evening, at night, over weekends and on general public holidays.

Unsocial hours payments are additions to basic pay and are calculated as a proportion of basic pay (including long-term recruitment and retention premiums (RRPs), but excluding short-term RRPs, high cost area supplements, and all other supplements and payments). The exact rate of payment depends on when the unsocial hours were worked and on your pay band. Please see Section 2 of the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook

An example is provided below of how enhancements would appear on the payslip of someone who, for the purposes of this example, is band 5 with a basic hourly rate of £16.84.  If they who worked 10 hours on Saturday and 1 hour on Sunday, the enhancement for their Saturday unsocial hours would be paid as 30% of their basic pay for the same hours and the enhancement for their Sunday unsocial hours as 60% (based on 22/23 rates). The unsocial hours payments would be shown on their payslip as follows:

Unsocial hours are paid a month in arrears based on the timesheet details recorded by your manager on Healthroster.

If you have checked your payslip carefully and think you haven't been paid for the correct number of unsocial hours, please review your Healthroster record to check that your manager recorded your shift times correctly before the payroll cut-off date (this is the third working day of the month following that in which the hours were worked).

If your pay is incorrect because due to what has been recorded on the roster, please speak to your manager and ask them to submit a Data Amendment Form (DAF). Once the necessary corrections have been made, any pay adjustments required will be applied in the next available payroll run.

My expenses haven't been paid. Why not?

If you submitted an expenses claim on EASY that hasn't been paid, please check the claim status on EASY. Only claims that were authorised by your manager before midday on the third working day of the month will have been paid. Claims authorised after the cut-off date will be paid in the next available payroll run.

Please also note that if you submitted a claim for the current month, this will not be paid until the following month, subject to the claims being authorised by the relevant cut-off date.

For any further assistance required on using EASY, please contact the Healthroster team.

"WTD pay" is showing on my payslip. What is it?

Bank staff receive a supplement equivalent to 12.07% of their basic pay and enhancements (with the exception of bank holiday enhancements). This supplement is described as WTD Pay and it represents your entitlement to statutory holiday pay.

How can I check if my tax code is right?

Your tax code is determined by HMRC and we can only change it if HMRC ask us to when sent via the normal methods for notifications.

To check your tax code or request it be reviewed/updated, you will need to contact HMRC directly.

Below are some useful links explaining why your tax code may have changed and how you can contact HMR to check whether your code is correct.

Income Tax: general enquiries - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Check your Income Tax for the current year - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

What is my pay step date? I was expecting an increment this month but have not received one, why not?

Your pay step date is usually the anniversary of the date you commenced employment in your current band.

If you were expecting a pay step increase this month but have not received one, the two most likely reasons for this are:

• you were not due a pay step increase either because you are already on the maximum pay step of the pay band or you are have not yet reached a pay-affecting step. With regard to the latter, the pay bands show the minimum length of service on a pay step point required before staff are eligible to move to the next pay step.
• your manager has not recorded a successful pay progression meeting on your ESR record. If prior to your pay step date, you had a pay progression meeting with your manager and it was agreed that you met the required standards to progress to the next pay step, please check with your manager that (a) they recorded the meeting outcome correctly on your ESR record and (b) they recorded it before the relevant payroll cut-off date.

If your manager did not record the pay progression details correctly or they were not recorded before the relevant payroll cut-off date, they will need to make sure the necessary corrections are made to your ESR record and, additionally, submit a change form so that any salary adjustments required can be manually applied.

FAQs relating to the AfC Pay award backdated and paid in October 2024.

Why have i paid more tax, national insurance (ni) and/or pension this month.

• If you are on NHS Terms and Conditions the pay award will have increased your salary and as a result of this, the normal deductions that you pay will also have increased i.e. You’ll pay more Tax, NI, and if applicable, pension because you’re earning more.
• If you have received arrears for the pay award this month you will also need to pay arrears of Tax, NI and if applicable, pension on these arrears.
• Your pension rate may have been updated this month – please see “Why has my NHS Pension rate changed this month?”

Why has my NHS Pension rate changed this month?

Following a pay award everyone has their pension rate reviewed and recalculated based on the new rate of pay. If a new rate is applicable, it’s payable from the date that the new salary was effective from. In this instance from 1st April 2024.

Re-assessing tiered contribution rates | NHSBSA

If you are in the NHS pension scheme you will need to pay pensions arrears at your usual contribution rate on the value of you pay award arrears. You will see a "pension arrears" deduction in October 2024 when the pay award arrears are paid.

In addition to this, if your uplifted pensionable pay (salary + enhanced, on call etc.) has moved you into a higher pension percentage bracket  Cost of being in the Scheme | NHSBSA  , then the difference between the two pension contribution rates will also be included in the "pension arrears" deduction shown on your payslip.

Am I able to reduce my pension contribution rate?

Unfortunately not, sorry. The pension rates are determined nationally.

What does it mean when the description on the payslip has “Arrs” at the end?

This means that you have had arrears against payments or deductions previously made, this can be for a number of reasons but most staff will see this on their October payslip as a result of the 2024 pay award, which has been backdated to 1st April 2024 (or start date if after 1st April 2024).

I left the Trust after 31st March 2024 and before 1st September 2024 and I’ve been paid in October 2024 but I’ve not received a payslip

Due to a national update to ESR, in line with HMRC guidance, printed output (payslips and P45s) are no longer produced by ESR. We have identified all pre 1st September 2024 leavers with a payment in October 2024 and are manually printing and posting payslips to home addresses. Due to the numbers affected we apologise for any delay in these being set out.

I left the Trust after 31st August 2024 and I’ve been paid in October 2024 but I’ve not received a payslip or P45

If you left the Trust on or after 1st September 2024 you will have been sent, or if you are leaving in October 2024 are due to be sent, a letter that details how to access your final payslips and P45 via the ESR Leavers Dashboard. We apologise for any delay in these being set out however, details regarding how to access your final payslips and P45 can be found at this link How to access your payslip & P45 once have left the Trust

I’m a band 8a, 8b, 8c, 8d or band 9 when are the intermediate points being updated?

The intermediate points on bands 8-9 are being updated nationally in ESR in November and any arrears due following this change will be paid in November 2024.

Where can I find details of the AfC pay scales for 2024/25?

Details can be found Pay scales for 2024/25 | NHS Employers

I’m a junior/resident doctor when is our pay award being applied?

The junior/resident doctor pay award is being applied nationally in November 2024 with arrears backdated to April 2023.

Contacting Payroll Services

Contact details for the Trust's Pension Team, Healthroster Team and ESR System Team can be found on the Contact Details page.

The best way to contact the Payroll Team is via email: [email protected] , please always quote your assignment number.

To contact us by phone please dial 01785 221290  between 9:30 - 12:00 and 14:00 - 15:00 Monday to Friday. Please note: our phone system only allows a limited number of calls to be placed in our queue and when this number is exceeded unfortunately calls are automatically disconnected. Around payday lines are busy so you may prefer to email us at the above address.

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