NHS unsocial hours rates by band, 2026/27

These are the Section 2 rates in the NHS Terms and Conditions Handbook (England, Wales and Northern Ireland), published by NHS Employers. The hourly figures use the starting point of each band as an example.

Rates are paid on basic pay plus any long-term recruitment and retention premium, never on High Cost Area Supplement or short-term premia. The percentages do not change when the pay scales are uplifted, but the hourly rate they apply to does.

What counts as unsocial hours

The windows run from midnight to midnight by calendar day, so the rate changes at midnight whatever time your shift started. Monday between midnight and 6am is a weekday night, but Sunday between midnight and 6am is Sunday and attracts the higher rate.

Worked examples: Band 5, point 2, England

Basic hourly rate £17.69. Each shift has an unpaid break taken off pro rata (60 minutes for long shifts, 30 for early and late shifts). The figures come from the same engine as the calculator above.

Why a long night shift is paid in full, and why Saturday night is worth more

Take the Monday long night in the table above. Only 20:00 to 06:00 falls inside the weekday night window, which is 10 of its 12.5 hours. Because that is more than half the shift, the whole shift qualifies at the night rate: 11.5 paid hours at +30%, an enhancement of £61.03.

The Saturday long night is different. The first part falls on Saturday (4.14 paid hours at +30%), but after midnight the shift runs into Sunday, so the rest (7.36 paid hours) is paid at +60%. That takes the enhancement to £100.09, nearly double the Monday shift for the same hours. The calculator splits every shift this way, which is why we ask for the start day and the start and end times rather than a single hours total.

Do unsocial hours stack with overtime, bank holiday pay and on-call?

Section 2 pays unsocial hours on your standard hours, and allows only one unsocial rate for any one hour. Hours beyond a full-time week are overtime under Section 3, paid at time and a half (double time on public holidays) for Bands 1 to 7, so they are not given a second enhancement on top. On-call payments and unsocial hours payments are not paid for the same hours. See the overtime rates guide, the on-call guide and the bank holiday pay guide for those rules. If your payslip combines them differently, ask payroll to explain the line, because local policies can vary.

Bank holidays in 2026/27 (England and Wales)

Public holidays are paid at the Sunday rate for every hour worked, midnight to midnight. Dates from gov.uk:

Scotland and Northern Ireland have different bank holidays, listed on the same gov.uk page, and trusts may apply local public holiday arrangements. Tick the bank holiday boxes on the shift in the calculator for any shift that falls on one. Staff who work a general public holiday are also entitled to time off in lieu at plain time on top of the payment, under the handbook.

Unsocial hours, pension and your wider pay

Unsocial hours payments are pensionable, so they add to the pension you build in the 2015 scheme and they count for sick pay and contractual maternity pay. They can also push your total pensionable pay over an NHS Pension contribution tier threshold, which is why the after-tax figure above is lower than a flat tax rate would suggest. See the NHS Pension Scheme 2015 guide and our deeper explainers on unsocial hours payments and night shift pay.

NHS Scotland: the 36-hour week

From 1 April 2026 the standard full-time week in NHS Scotland is 36 hours rather than 37.5 (Scottish Government circular PCS(AFC)2025/8). That raises the hourly rate for the same annual salary, which this calculator reflects when you choose Scotland. If the change reduced your unsocial hours earnings, the circular describes mark-time protection: see our pay protection explainer and the Scottish pay scales.

Sources and accuracy

• ✓ Rates, windows, the more-than-half rule, one-rate-per-hour and the HCAS exclusion: NHS Employers, unsocial hours payments (NHS Terms and Conditions Handbook, Section 2).
• ✓ Hourly rates use the 2026/27 pay scales on our Agenda for Change pay scales page.
• ✓ After-tax figures use the same tax, National Insurance and NHS Pension engine as the NHS Pay Calculator, assuming the standard tax code.
• ✓ Runs in your browser. Inputs are saved only on your own device.
• ✓ Last updated October 2026. Read our editorial policy. FrontlinePay is independent and not affiliated with the NHS.