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AfC review outcomes disappoint many
The majority of staff who received a review outcome letter last week were disappointed with the result. The overall statistics for the Health Board have not yet been revealed, but within the Diagnostics Directorate only around ten percent of reviews have resulted in staff being informed of an increased pay band. The majority, around sixty percent, have been told that there is no change to their AfC banding, with the remainder receiving the news that the result of their review is not yet finalised. This means that within Diagnostics only 29 people so far have been successful in their review submission.
The AfC Review Group are currently working their way through all of the not finalised group, but it is not known when this will result in final outcomes.
(posted 31/01/2010)
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Lab OoH agreement ready to be signed
At a meeting held last Friday (29th January), laboratory group representatives were given a copy of the draft agreement that has been presented to management for signature. The representatives were asked to take the agreement back to their laboratories and inform the Group Secretary (Ian Forbes) by Friday of any areas of implementation that require to be clarified by means of a jointly agreed with general management Q & A sheet. Meanwhile, representatives and members should continue with local discussions in partnership on shift/on-call rotas etc arising from the agreement.
(posted 31/01/2010)
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AfC review letters
NHS GG&C members of staff who submitted a request to have their Agenda for Change (AfC) pay band outcome reviewed should receive a letter (to be posted to their home address on 25th January) informing them of the status of their review. The letter will inform them that:
a) the review has resulted in a higher pay band; or
b) the review has not resulted in a higher pay band; or
c) the outcome of the review has yet to be determined.
There a number of reasons why members might receive the third letter - the main ones being that the review outcome has been deemed unsafe by the Quality Assurance panel or there has been a failure to agree by the panel. The AfC Review Group (which is a sub-committee of the Area Partnership Forum) will decide how to proceed with these reviews.
It is hoped that staff whose reviews have resulted in an increase will be paid on their new pay band at the end of January.
The above information is based on the meeting of the AfC Review Group meeting held on Tuesday 12th January.
(posted 15/01/2010)
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NHS pension choice
Members of the NHS pension scheme in Scotland should be receiving a pack from the Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA) in February. The pack will contain a guide to the options being offered i.e. whether to remain in the 1995 scheme or transfer to the 2008 scheme. For most people the pack will also contain a personal illustration of the benefits at age 60 and age 65 for each of the schemes, based on your current information on salary and length of superannuable service. Some staff may receive a generic statement if their records do not have enough information to produce a meaningful personalised statement.
Members can access detailed information about the pension choice at:
http://www.sppa.gov.uk/nhschoice.htm
and a pension calculator is available at:
www.sppa.gov.uk/documents/ChoiceWebFinalv1191109_000.xls
A video presentation by Alvin Hall is also on the SPPA website
(DVD copies of the presentation will be supplied to Group Reps at the February Group Committee)
Members should note that whilst the SPPA are able to answer queries about the details of each of the
schemes neither they nor the union are able to offer advice on which of the schemes is most suitable for any individual.
(posted 15/01/2010)
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Michael Fuller awarded MBE
Congratulations to Regional Officer Michael Fuller who in the New Year Honours list was made a Member of the the Order of the British Empire for services to the NHS and Unite the Union in
Scotland. Michael is the lead NHS officer for Unite in Scotland and represents Branch members employed in Forth Valley and Golden Jubilee.
(posted
04/01/2010)
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Meeting dates for 2010
The 2010 meeting dates for the Branch can be viewed here and for the Group Representatives Committee can be viewed here. Group representatives should note that the February meeting will be held on Thursday 11th and not the 4th.
(posted 04/01/2010)
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Holidays can be delayed due to sickness absence
The European Court of Justice has reinforced it previous decision that annual leave and sick leave serve different purposes (reported here) by
ruling that an employee who was absent from work due to illness for a period that covered previously arranged annual leave was entitled to postpone their annual leave until such time as they are well
enough to take it.
(posted 04/01/2010)
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Branch library updated
The
latest additions to the Branch library are:
“Health and safety law 2009);
“Contracts of employment - resisting changes”; and
“Stress and mental health at
work”.
Copies of these and other items in the Branch Library (click here) may be borrowed via one of the senior reps. In case of difficulty, contact the Branch Secretary.
(posted 04/01/2010)
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