STUDENT & NEWGRADUATE FOCUS 35
Know your worth Student and new graduate officer, Neal Donohue , delivers important information for 2019 nursing and midwifery graduates regarding pay
For those of you who are graduating in 2019 it is essential to be aware of how much you should be paid and how your increments are applied. The increases in pay and expansion of allowances – as won by your colleagues and union following the strike – are being implemented by the HSE. This article sets out how these changes should be implemented and how much you can expect to receive in payment in com- parison to previous years. Pay scales and increments explained When you qualify you will be placed on the pre-registration, post-qualification rate of pay, as set out in the HSE Consolidated Pay Scales of September 2019, amounting to €25,538 per annum. It usually takes the NMBI up to eight weeks to process your application for registration. Once you receive your regis- tration PIN you must forward this to your HR department. When you are registered you will be placed on to the staff nurse/ midwife salary scale on point one of the scale – €29,860. You receive incremental credit for your 36 week internship. The time you spend working as a pre-registered nurse also counts for incremental credit. Therefore, 16 weeks after you commence employ- ment post-qualification you will have the equivalent of one year incremental credit. As per the strike settlement, 16 weeks after you start work you will skip the second point of the pay scale and move to the third point of the scale, ie. move from €29,860 to €32,734 (see Table). One year later you will again receive incremental credit for your service. As per the settlement you will move to point four of the staff nurse/midwife scales and be eligible to apply for the enhanced nurse/ midwife contract. When you move to the enhanced practice contract (one year and 16 weeks after you qualify) you will commence on point one of the enhanced practice scale at €36,433.
Table: Comparison between new salary scale and previous salary scale for 2019 graduates* Timeframe Previous salary progression New enhanced salary scale Difference to previous salary progression Accumulation of increases Pre-registration €25,538 €25,538 n/a
Registered nurse/ midwife first point
€29,860
€29,860
n/a
+ 16 weeks
€31,654
€32,734
+ €1,080
€1,080
+ 1 year
€32,734
€36,433
+ €3,699
€4,779
+ 2 years
€33,951
€38,728
+ €4,777
€9,556
+ 3 years
€35,487
€39,952
+ €4,465
€14,021
+ 4 years
€37,019
€40,895
+ €3,876
€17,897
+ 5 years
€38,546
€41,933
+ €3,387
€21,284
+ 6 years
€39,866
€43,315
+€3,449
€24,733
+ 7 years
€41,189
€44,661
+ €3,472
€28,205
+ 8 years
€42,506
€46,643
+ €4,137
€32,342
+ 9 years
€43,824
€46,643
+ €2,819
€35,161
+ 10 years €36,685 * The table above shows the projected pay increases for 2019 graduates on their basic earnings over a 10-year timeframe,taking account of the changes to the incremental scales.These figures do not include the allowances. Please note the nurse/midwife salary scale figures will change in line with Public Service Pay,eg. increase of 2% in 2020.You will continue to receive a higher rate of pay throughout your career under the new system €45,119 €46,643 + €1,524
Therefore, one year and 16 weeks after you qualify you will already be earning €3,699 more in your basic pay than nurses and midwives in the same position did in previous years. RNID graduates working in intellectual disabilities services alongside or supervis- ing social care workers will be regraded to CNM1. Staff nurses and midwives reach the senior staff nurse level after 17 years, instead of the previous requirement of 20 years’ service. This will be applied from November. Allowances are not just for staff nurses and midwives – they also apply to eligible PHNs and CNM/CMM1s and 2s. The salary scales of all promotional
grades will be reviewed by May 2020 to deal with the impact of the increased pay on the staff nurse/midwife scale. Increases to and extension of allowances The settlement also specified that the nursing/midwifery location allowance would be increased by 20% (from €1,858 to €2,230 per annum) and it would be extended to medical and surgical wards and midwifery. If you work in an area that qualifies for the allowances, you will receive an additional €2,230 on top of the increases in the incremental scales. Neal Donohue is the INMO’s student and new graduate officer. If you have a question about the above article or need support or further information, you can contact him at email: neal.donohue@inmo.ie or atTel: 01 6640628
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