Yahoo News Email sent out to NHS staff leaves lowest earners feeling 'angry and insulted'
NHS staff in northern Lincolnshire whose jobs fall under bands one and two within the organisation say they feel "upset, angry and insulted" after bosses stopped taking payments for the staff lottery and car parking from their salaries - because the deductions would leave them earning below the national minimum wage.
On Wednesday, April 24, staff in bands one and two received an email to state that the staff lottery had been suspended pending legal advice around the situation and also explaining that staff would now have to pay for their car parking by direct debit.
The email, which Grimsby Live has seen, reads: "You may be aware that that the National Minimum Wage (NMW) has increased with effect from 1 April 2024. This has had an impact for some staff at both [Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust] where deductions taken directly from pay are used for NLaG car parking and both trusts’ staff lottery membership.
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"We have identified that in the pay periods from 1 April 2024 until this year’s pay award is implemented, the pay received by these affected staff is insufficient to support the deductions without it impacting on our legal obligations as an employer regarding the National Minimum Wage regulations. This is why some of you will have seen changes to your payslip this month, with car parking and lottery deductions removed."
Last year, staff in bands one and two were awarded a pay rise of 94p per hour, taking them up to £11.44 per hour from £10.50. But because the National Minimum Wage has increased again to £11.44 as of last month, NHS staff in the bottom two bands are now earning minimum wage.
Speaking to Grimsby Live, a Senior Healthcare Assistant at Grimsby Hospital, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "We aren't getting a pay rise because we were granted one in April last year. The car parking and lottery deductions would put us under minimum wage.
"We weren't event told until we looked on our payslips and we noticed we didn't have lottery or car parking deductions taken out. A lot of people were asking questions and we all got an email the next day explaining why it's happened. We were quite upset, angry and annoyed.
"It's confusing for us as workers, because we don't understand what's going on until we get emails. We just get left in the lurch."
The member of staff feels her role should fall within band three due to additional patient responsibilities such as conducting blood tests, inserting and removing canulas and removing catheters.
She said: "We get paid exactly the same as porters, domestic staff and reception staff, but we do lots of band three responsibilities like taking bloods, doing observations, putting in and removing canulas and removing catheters.
"Porters take patients to and from X-rays and CT scans and pick up bloods from the path lab, and kitchen staff prepare food, so we all have such different responsibilities and yet we're all on the same pay.
"It's quite a stressful job as well because of the things you see and the casualties that come in. We work 12-and-a-half hour shifts with two half-an-hour breaks, and you never know what each day is going to bring."
A Healthcare Assistant at Scunthorpe General Hospital, who has also been affected, said: "We're paid the same as domestic staff, who do a great job, but hospitals would grind to a halt without Healthcare Assistants as we do play such an important role, working alongside doctors and nurses.
"We are treated badly and now this is the latest insult we have to suffer."
An NHS spokesperson told Grimsby Live: “Due to the National Minimum Wage increasing as of 1 April, we have had to stop some of the additional deductions taken directly from the pay of staff on pay bands 1 and 2. This was a decision that was not taken lightly and is a national issue affecting most NHS organisations.
"We understand this has caused some inconvenience to staff, in that they have had to make alternative arrangements to pay for their parking, and we have paused the staff lottery draws. We took this action after seeking legal advice to ensure we meet our legal obligations as an employer.
"Parking permits and staff lottery tickets have always been optional, the difference is prior to this month we were able to take the payments as a salary deduction. Members of staff affected are still able to park, but we are asking for their cooperation in making the payments separately."
