NHS Christmas and New Year 2026 Shift Pay

This page is for Agenda for Change staff who work shifts over Christmas and New Year 2026, and want to know which days are bank holidays, what rate applies on each, and what a night shift across 24 to 26 December pays. Because 26 December falls on a Saturday this year, the usual bank holiday list and the NHS Handbook do not line up neatly, which is why the question comes up. The worked rates are for England; Wales and Northern Ireland use the same Table 2, Scotland has its own. FrontlinePay is independent.

The dates, by nation

These are the GOV.UK bank holidays for the period, re-read on 19 October 2026. A bank holiday on a Saturday or Sunday is replaced by a substitute day on the next weekday.

Source: GOV.UK bank holidays. Scotland also lists St Andrew's Day on Monday 30 November 2026, which is before this window. For the full 2027 and 2028 lists and the best days to book, use the Bank Holiday Leave Planner.

The rates by band

Section 2 of the Handbook (Table 2, from 1 April 2020) pays a percentage on top of your basic hourly rate. The same table applies in England, Wales and Northern Ireland; Scotland has its own (for example Band 2 is time plus 88% on Sundays and public holidays there).

Two rules matter for shifts. You only get one rate for each hour worked (paragraph 2.12), so a public holiday that is also a Sunday is not paid twice. And the payment is worked out on basic salary, not high cost area supplement (paragraph 2.8). Christmas Day is not paid more than any other public holiday under the national rates. See NHS bank holiday pay explained and unsocial hours payments explained.

Which days count at Christmas: Annex 25

The Handbook says that when Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year's Day falls on a Saturday or Sunday, arrangements must preserve staff's right to three public holidays in the Christmas and New Year period (England paragraph 2.28). Annex 25 sets out what applies to staff who work in that period. For a year when 25 December is a Friday, as in 2026, the table reads like this:

Annex 25 also sets a cap: anyone working on 25, 26 and 28 December is entitled to two public holidays, and anyone working all four days from 25 to 28 December is entitled to a maximum of two public holidays and one Sunday. Annex 25 says staff are entitled to the rate of pay that would normally apply to public holiday working, and that local partnerships can vary the provisions as long as there are no more than three public holidays in the combined Christmas and New Year period. In practice that means up to two across 25 to 28 December and one for 1 January. Because Sunday and public holiday hours share the same Table 2 rate, our reading is that the cap changes time off in lieu, not the pay rate. Confirm that with your payroll team.

Worked example: three 12-hour nights, 24 to 26 December

A Band 5 nurse on the bottom point (the 2026/27 England scale, £32,073), a basic rate of about £16.40 an hour on our usual conversion of annual pay divided by 37.5 hours and 52.143 weeks. She works three consecutive 12-hour night shifts, each 8pm to 8am (12 paid hours), starting on Thursday 24, Friday 25 and Saturday 26 December. Each hour takes the rate for the calendar day it falls on, midnight to midnight, with one rate per hour.

The first night is the only one with a lower rate: the four hours before midnight on Thursday are weekday night hours at time plus 30%. Every other hour of the three nights is at time plus 60%, because 25 and 26 December are public holidays and 27 December is a Sunday. Example only: it assumes 12 paid hours per shift. If your shift has an unpaid break, use your paid hours.

If your trust pays Saturday 26 as a Saturday. Should your payslip treat the 26th as an ordinary Saturday (time plus 30%), the same three nights would pay £275.57 in enhancements instead of £334.62, a difference of £59.05. That is the gap to raise with payroll, citing Annex 25. New Year's Eve. The same nurse working 8pm on Thursday 31 December to 8am on Friday 1 January 2027 earns £98.42 in enhancements (4 hours at 30% and 8 hours at 60%) on £196.83 basic.

The same three nights by band

The same pattern (three 12-hour nights from 8pm on 24, 25 and 26 December) at the bottom point of each band, using Table 2 for that band. Basic hourly rates come from the 2026/27 England pay scale.

Before tax, National Insurance and NHS Pension contributions, and without any other payments. To enter your own rota use the Unsocial Hours Calculator.

Time off in lieu and leave

The enhancement pays for the hours. Time off in lieu is the separate protection of your public holiday entitlement. Paragraph 13.4 of the Handbook says staff required to work or be on call on a general public holiday are entitled to equivalent time off in lieu at plain time rates, in addition to the payment for the duties. A full-time person has 8 public holidays, which is 60 hours (8 x 7.5), counted in hours if you work 12-hour shifts (paragraph 13.5). Your trust may consolidate public holidays into your annual leave (paragraph 13.2), in which case you would not normally also receive TOIL. NHS Employers published guidance in August 2025 with the principle that you should not lose time off but should not be paid twice for the same time. We could not retrieve that document to re-check it for this page, so see our TOIL and 12-hour shifts guide for how we read it.

Practical points: check whether the public holiday hours were deducted from your balance on your rota system; check how your trust records the 26th and the 28th, and whether the Annex 25 cap applies to your pattern; and book any leave around the dates early, using the Bank Holiday Leave Planner.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

• Wales and Northern Ireland use the same Table 2 rates in their Handbook sections. GOV.UK lists the same dates for England and Wales together, and for Northern Ireland: 25 December, 28 December and 1 January.
• Scotland has a different Table 2 (for example Band 1 is double time and Band 2 is time plus 88% on Sundays and public holidays), and its Handbook section says there are four public holidays over the Christmas and New Year period. GOV.UK lists 25 December, 28 December, 1 January and 4 January 2027 as Scottish bank holidays. We have not read the Scottish annex, so check your board's circular.
• Doctors and dentists are on separate contracts. Bank and agency staff may be on different terms.

What to check on your rota and payslip

• ✓ Your band, nation and pay point, since the rate differs for Bands 1 to 3 and in Scotland
• ✓ Whether the 26th is treated as a public holiday on your rota (Annex 25) and the 28th as the substitute
• ✓ That a night shift across midnight shows two rates, one per calendar day, not one
• ✓ That the 1 January hours show the public holiday rate, and the hours before midnight on 31 December the weekday night rate
• ✓ Whether your TOIL has been added, and whether your trust consolidates bank holidays into leave
• ✓ Ask payroll for the calculation in writing if the enhancement line does not match. Our payslip guide and the payslip checker help

Related guides

General information as of 19 October 2026, based on GOV.UK and the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook. Worked figures are examples and rounded. Local arrangements, bank and agency terms differ. FrontlinePay is independent and not affiliated with the NHS.