NHS Overtime Calculator

Enter your band and your extra hours. We apply the national overtime rules, including the part-time and public holiday rules, and show pay before and after tax.

Free, no sign-up, 2026/27. Based on Section 3 of the NHS Terms and Conditions Handbook. Updated October 2026.

Short answer

Agenda for Change staff in Bands 1 to 7 are paid time and a half for overtime and double time on general public holidays, on basic pay (plus any long-term recruitment and retention premium). Overtime means work beyond a full-time week (37.5 hours, or 36 in NHS Scotland) that your manager agreed as overtime. Part-time staff are paid plain time for additional hours until they pass the full-time week. Bands 8 and 9 are not entitled to overtime. For a Band 5 nurse on point 2 (£17.69 an hour) one extra 8-hour overtime shift is worth £212.28 gross.

1. Your pay

Where you work

Northern Ireland uses the England scale here because its 2026/27 award is not yet confirmed.

Overtime is worked out on basic pay plus any long-term recruitment and retention premium, not London weighting.

Basic hourly rate: £17.69Time and a half: £26.54. Double time: £35.38.

Full time is 37.5 hours. The part-time rule depends on this.

2. Your extra hours

Quick start

Use 1 for a one-off. Use 4.3 if every week looks like this.

Your inputs are saved on this device only.

Pay for these extra hours

£332

gross for one such week.

After tax, National Insurance and pension tier

about £239 take-home a month

You keep about 72p of each £1. Overtime is generally not pensionable, so we have assumed no extra pension.

12.5 h overtime at time and a half£331.69
Total for the week£331.69
The same hours at plain time£221.13
Overtime premium+£110.56

Paid or time off in lieu?

Take it as pay

£332

about £239 take-home for each week like this, after tax

Take it as TOIL

12.5 hours off

worth £221 of plain-time pay

TOIL is hour for hour at plain time, so an hour of overtime paid at time and a half is worth more in cash than an hour off. If your employer cannot let you take TOIL within 3 months, it must be paid at the overtime rate. Pay at plain time would be about £159 a month after tax over the same weeks, against £239 for overtime.

Overtime means work beyond a full-time week that your manager has agreed as overtime. There is no unsocial hours enhancement stacked on top. Local trust policy can add detail, so check yours. Bank and agency shifts are paid on different terms.

NHS overtime rates by band, 2026/27

Hourly rates at the start of each band on the England scale (the calculator also has the Wales and Scotland scales). Overtime applies to Bands 1 to 7; Bands 8 and 9 are not entitled to overtime under the handbook.

BandBasic hourly rateTime and a halfDouble time (public holiday)
Band 1 £12.92 £19.38 £25.84
Band 2 £12.92 £19.38 £25.84
Band 3 £13.17 £19.76 £26.34
Band 4 £14.52 £21.78 £29.04
Band 5 £16.40 £24.60 £32.80
Band 6 £20.44 £30.66 £40.88
Band 7 £25.26 £37.89 £50.52
Band 8a £29.42 not eligible not eligible
Band 8b £34.05 not eligible not eligible
Band 8c £40.66 not eligible not eligible
Band 8d £48.25 not eligible not eligible
Band 9 £57.68 not eligible not eligible

Hourly rate = annual basic pay divided by 52.143 weeks and 37.5 hours. In NHS Scotland the full-time week is 36 hours from 1 April 2026, which gives a higher hourly rate for the same salary, and overtime applies beyond 36 hours.

Overtime or additional hours? The part-time rule

The key rule for part-time staff is that extra hours up to the full-time week are paid at plain time, not time and a half. Only hours beyond the full-time week in that week are overtime. Worked examples for a Band 5 nurse on point 2 (£17.69 an hour):

SituationPlain time hoursTime and a half hoursDouble time hoursGross pay
Full-time (37.5 hours): one extra 8-hour shift on a normal day 0 8 0 £212.28
Full-time: one extra long day (12.5 hours) on a bank holiday 0 0 12.5 £442.25
Part-time (30 hours): two extra 8-hour shifts, 46 hours in the week 7.5 8.5 0 £358.22
Part-time (22.5 hours): one extra 8-hour shift, 30.5 hours in the week 8 0 0 £141.52

In the 30-hour example only the 8.5 hours beyond 37.5 are overtime; the first 7.5 extra hours are additional hours at plain time. That distinction is worth £75.18 in this example, and is the most common reason part-time payslips differ from expectations.

Public holidays: double time and a day in lieu

Overtime hours on a general public holiday are paid at double time. Staff who work or are on call on a general public holiday are also entitled to equivalent time off in lieu at plain time, in addition to the pay. Ordinary (non-overtime) hours worked on a bank holiday are paid at the Sunday rate for unsocial hours. See NHS bank holiday pay explained and the Unsocial Hours Calculator for those hours.

Time off in lieu (TOIL): plain time, and the three-month rule

You can ask for TOIL instead of payment if your manager agreed the work as overtime. It is hour for hour at plain time, so an hour of overtime that would be paid at time and a half is repaid with one hour off. If your employer cannot let you take the time within three months, you must be paid at the overtime rate instead. Rival sites sometimes say overtime TOIL is doubled on Sundays: under the handbook it is not. Local trust policies set how TOIL is recorded and the maximum balance.

Overtime, unsocial hours and on-call do not stack

Unsocial hours payments are for standard hours and are not included in overtime pay, and only one unsocial rate applies to any one hour. An hour of overtime on a Saturday night is paid as overtime, not overtime plus a night and Saturday enhancement. On-call payments and unsocial hours payments are not paid for the same hours either. Read the overtime rates guide and the on-call guide.

Overtime, pension, tax and holiday pay

  • Tax and National Insurance. Overtime is taxed at your marginal rate with National Insurance on top, so you keep less of each pound than your headline rate suggests. The calculator works out your own figure.
  • Pension. Overtime is generally non-pensionable: it adds to take-home pay but not to your pension, and does not move your contribution tier.
  • Holiday pay. The handbook says pay during annual leave includes regular payments for work outside normal hours, and NHS Employers says regularly worked overtime must be included. If your holiday pay looks low, ask how it was calculated. See NHS annual leave explained.
  • Working time. Keep an eye on the 48-hour average week and 11 hours of daily rest. See NHS working time regulations, and whether you can be made to work overtime.

ℹCheck your trust's policy too

The national rules above come from the NHS Terms and Conditions Handbook (Section 3). Trusts set local detail such as how overtime is approved, TOIL balances and recording. If your payslip does not match, ask payroll to explain the line, and use the Payslip Checker to compare it with what we expect.

Sources and accuracy

Frequently asked questions

What is the NHS overtime rate? +
Under Section 3 of the NHS Terms and Conditions Handbook, overtime for Agenda for Change staff in Bands 1 to 7 is paid at time and a half (1.5 times your hourly rate), with double time (2 times) for hours worked on a general public holiday. It applies to work beyond the standard full-time week (37.5 hours in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, 36 hours in NHS Scotland from 1 April 2026) that your manager has agreed as overtime.
What hourly rate is overtime based on? +
Basic pay plus any long-term recruitment and retention premium, and nothing else. High Cost Area Supplement, short-term premia and unsocial hours payments are not part of the rate. That is why the calculator asks for your basic hourly rate and lets you type your own if your payslip rate includes a long-term premium.
Do part-time staff get overtime rates? +
Not straight away. Part-time staff are paid plain time for additional hours until their total hours in the week exceed the full-time week. Only the hours beyond that earn time and a half. For example, someone contracted for 30 hours who works 46 gets 7.5 hours at plain time and 8.5 hours at time and a half in a 37.5-hour week system. The calculator splits this for you.
Do Band 8 and Band 9 staff get overtime? +
No. The handbook states that Bands 8 and 9 are not entitled to overtime payments. Extra hours may be recognised in other ways, such as time off in lieu or local arrangements, so check your contract and trust policy.
Is double time paid on bank holidays? +
Overtime hours worked on a general public holiday are paid at double time. Separately, staff who are required to work or be on call on a general public holiday are entitled to equivalent time off in lieu at plain time on top of the appropriate payment. Normal-hours work on a bank holiday attracts the Sunday-rate unsocial hours payment instead, which you can price in our Unsocial Hours Calculator.
How does time off in lieu (TOIL) work for overtime? +
You can ask for TOIL instead of payment. It is given hour for hour at plain time, so an hour of overtime that would be paid at time and a half is repaid with one hour off. If your employer cannot allow the time to be taken within three months, you must be paid at the overtime rate. Rules for recording and approving TOIL are set locally.
Do unsocial hours and overtime stack on the same hour? +
No. Unsocial hours payments apply to your standard hours and are not part of the calculation of overtime pay, and Section 2 allows only one unsocial rate for any hour. If you work overtime on a night or weekend, you are paid the overtime rate for those hours rather than overtime plus an unsocial enhancement. Local policies can differ at the margins, so check your payslip against your trust's policy.
Is NHS overtime pensionable? +
Overtime is generally not pensionable under the NHS Pension Scheme, unlike unsocial hours payments which are. That means it raises your take-home pay but does not build extra pension, and it does not count towards your contribution tier. The calculator assumes overtime is non-pensionable.
Does overtime count towards my holiday pay? +
The handbook says pay during annual leave includes regular supplements and payments for work outside normal hours, based on what you would normally have received, and NHS Employers says regularly worked overtime and additional standard hours must be included. Reference periods are the previous three months for regular hours or the last 52 weeks for irregular hours. If your holiday pay looks too low, ask payroll how it was calculated.
How much of my overtime do I actually keep? +
It is taxed at your marginal rate, with National Insurance on top, so a basic-rate taxpayer keeps roughly 72p of each £1 and a higher-rate taxpayer about 58p, before any student loan. The calculator shows your own figure using your pay, because the pension tier is not affected by non-pensionable overtime.
What is the difference between overtime, bank shifts and agency work? +
Overtime is extra hours on top of your substantive post, paid under the handbook. Bank shifts are worked through the trust's staff bank at bank rates, and agency shifts are on an agency's terms. Rates and rules differ, so compare them on take-home pay. See our bank versus agency guide.
Is there a limit to how many hours I can work? +
Yes. Under the Working Time Regulations, as written into the handbook, you should not average more than 48 hours a week over a 17-week reference period unless you have opted out, and you are entitled to 11 hours of rest between shifts. Overtime can take you close to these limits, so keep a record. Our Overtime Log helps.

More NHS pay tools and guides

NHS Pay Calculator

Your hourly rate and take-home by band.

Unsocial Hours Calculator

Nights, weekends and bank holidays.

Overtime and Extra Shifts Log

Keep a tax-year record, no account needed.

Rota and Take-Home Calculator

Basic pay, enhancements and overtime combined.

NHS overtime rates explained

The rules in full.

NHS bank vs agency pay compared

Compare extra-shift options.

NHS working time regulations

The 48-hour average and rest breaks.

NHS Pension Calculator

What counts towards your pension.