NHS Overtime Calculator: Extra-Shift Pay for 2026/27
Last updated: 14 October 2026 · Figures verified against the NHS Employers 2026/27 pay circular.
The calculator
NHS Overtime Calculator
Agenda for Change Section 3 rates on the 2026/27 England pay scale. Split your week's hours by category and the tool applies time-and-a-half, double time, plain time and Section 2 unsocial-hours enhancements exactly as payroll does.
Estimate only. Bands 1 to 7: overtime above 37.5 hours/week is time-and-a-half Monday to Saturday, double time on Sundays and bank/public holidays. Bands 8 to 9 receive time off in lieu (TOIL) instead of paid overtime. Unsocial-hours enhancements follow this site's published Section 2 percentages. Local agreements can differ: confirm with your trust.
Sources: NHS Employers 2026/27 pay circular; Agenda for Change handbook Sections 2 and 3; Health Careers NHS pay rates.
How the calculator applies Section 3
Overtime in the NHS is governed by Section 3 of the Agenda for Change handbook, and its definition is narrower than most staff assume. Overtime is not simply "extra hours". It is hours worked above 37.5 in a single week — the full-time week — and the premium rates only attach above that line. Everything below it is either plain-time additional hours (for part-timers) or simply part of your rostered week, even if it feels like overtime.
The rates the calculator applies are the national ones, effective for the whole 2026/27 pay year:
| Band | Overtime Mon–Sat (above 37.5) | Overtime Sun / bank & public holidays |
|---|---|---|
| Bands 1–7 | Time-and-a-half (1.5× basic hourly rate) | Double time (2× basic hourly rate) |
| Bands 8–9 | No contractual overtime pay — time off in lieu (TOIL) | |
Three rules sit behind that table, and the calculator enforces all three. First, the multiplier applies to the basic hourly rate: your annual salary ÷ 52.2 ÷ 37.5, before any allowances. High Cost Area Supplement, recruitment premia and on-call availability payments are not multiplied up. If you want to check your basic rate against the national table, our NHS hourly rate calculator lists every band and pay step.
Second, bands 8 and 9 have no contractual right to paid overtime at all. Extra hours at those bands are compensated with time off in lieu, under local agreement. The calculator shows "TOIL only" for those overtime lines rather than inventing a payment, and it adds nothing to your total for them. Staff at any band may still elect TOIL instead of overtime pay — banking the hours as leave — which is why the tool shows the hours and the rate it would have used, even where TOIL is chosen.
Third, overtime payments are pensionable. That is good news for your pension pot and mildly sobering for your take-home: the same deductions that hit basic pay (income tax, National Insurance, your tiered pension contribution and any student loan) apply to the overtime line. The calculator shows gross figures before deductions; to see how deductions land, read our NHS payslip explained guide.
Unsocial hours and overtime: the higher rate wins
Most NHS staff do not work overtime in a vacuum: extra hours fall at nights, on Saturdays and on Sundays, exactly the periods that attract Section 2 unsocial-hours enhancements. The rule that governs the overlap is simple and the calculator applies it line by line: you cannot claim overtime pay and an unsocial-hours enhancement for the same hours. Where both could apply, the higher of the two rates wins, and the lower is discarded.
In practice the overtime rate usually wins for premium days. Sunday overtime for bands 1–7 is paid at double time, which beats every Sunday enhancement (even the Band 2 +88%). Bank and public holiday overtime is likewise double time. Weekday night overtime for bands 4–9 is time-and-a-half, which beats the +30% night enhancement, and the same is true for bands 2 and 3, where 1.5× beats +44% and +37% respectively. That is why the calculator asks you to split Sunday and bank-holiday overtime from plain Sunday and bank-holiday hours: the two lines attract different rates, and payroll treats them as separate lines too.
Where unsocial hours within your 37.5 hours fall in unsocial periods, the enhancement applies on its own, with the band-dependent percentages from our unsocial hours and overtime guide:
| Band | Saturday + weekday nights (8pm–6am) | Sunday + public holidays |
|---|---|---|
| Band 2 | Basic + 44% | Basic + 88% |
| Band 3 | Basic + 37% | Basic + 74% |
| Bands 4–9 | Basic + 30% | Basic + 60% |
A small number of other sources quote slightly different Band 2 and Band 3 percentages (41% and 83% appear on some sites, likely pay-year drift). The figures above are this site's published Section 2 percentages, used consistently in the guide and in the calculator. Staff on regular unsocial-hours rotas — most commonly ambulance staff — may instead be on Annex 5 averaged enhancements, where the enhancement is smoothed into salary rather than paid per shift. If your contract mentions Annex 5, the per-shift lines in this calculator do not apply to you.
Part-time staff: the plain-time band
Part-time working is where most overtime payslip errors happen, so the calculator gives it its own line. If you are contracted for fewer than 37.5 hours, extra hours fall into two distinct zones:
- Between your contracted hours and 37.5 hours a week: these are "additional hours", paid at the plain time rate (plus any unsocial-hours enhancement if the hours fall in an unsocial period).
- Above 37.5 hours a week: these are overtime, at time-and-a-half or double time, on exactly the same basis as full-time staff.
Example — Band 5 nurse, entry step (£16.38/hour), contracted 22.5 hours, works 30 hours. The extra 7.5 hours sit below 37.5, so they are plain time:
7.5 × £16.38 = £122.85
No overtime premium applies. If the same nurse worked 40 hours instead, the first 7.5 extra hours would still be plain time (£122.85), and only the 2.5 hours above 37.5 would attract time-and-a-half:
2.5 × £16.38 × 1.5 = £61.43
Total extra pay: £122.85 + £61.43 = £184.28. Enter this in the calculator as 7.5 plain-time hours and 2.5 Monday-to-Saturday overtime hours and you will get the same figure.
If you enter more plain-time hours than the gap between your contracted hours and 37.5 allows, the calculator flags it: those hours belong in the overtime lines. And because part-timers' pro-rata pay is based on the same hourly rate as full-timers, the rate itself never changes — only which multiplier applies.
Worked examples
Every figure below is calculated on the 2026/27 England scale, using the published basic hourly rates rounded to the penny, exactly as the calculator does. Check any row against the tool above — select the band and step, enter the hours, and the breakdown should match to the penny.
| Example | Calculation | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Band 5, entry step, 4 Sunday overtime hours | 4 × £16.38 × 2 | £131.04 |
| Band 2, spot rate, 8 Saturday hours within 37.5 | 8 × £12.91 × 1.44 | £148.72 |
| Band 4, top step, 6 weekday overtime hours | 6 × £15.92 × 1.5 | £143.28 |
| Band 6, entry step, 5 weekday overtime hours | 5 × £20.41 × 1.5 | £153.08 |
| Band 8a, entry step, 5 overtime hours | No contractual overtime pay | TOIL only |
| Part-time Band 5, 0.6 WTE, 7.5 extra hours below 37.5 | 7.5 × £16.38 | £122.85 |
Two patterns are worth noticing. First, the Band 2 Saturday example (£148.72) pays more than the Band 4 weekday overtime example (£143.28) despite the band gap: unsocial enhancements at the lower bands are generous by design, to compensate the disruption of weekend working. Second, the Band 8a row is the one that surprises people. Five hours of genuine extra work, and the contractual answer is time off in lieu, not £220 in the bank — a trade-off senior staff accept with the band, but one to go in with your eyes open.
Bank shifts versus overtime
Staff use "bank" and "overtime" interchangeably, but Agenda for Change does not, and the difference is worth real money. Bank shifts are extra shifts you pick up, usually through your trust's staff bank, paid at your plain hourly rate. A Band 5 nurse doing a bank day shift earns £16.38 an hour for those hours, nothing more. If the bank shift falls in unsocial hours — a Saturday night, say — the relevant unsocial-hours enhancement is added on top, which is what the enhancement lines in the calculator are for.
Overtime, strictly defined, is time worked above 37.5 hours in a week, and it is paid at premium rates: time-and-a-half Monday to Saturday, double time on Sundays and bank holidays. Staying two hours late after a full week is overtime; picking up a Saturday bank shift on a quiet week is bank work at plain time (plus the Saturday enhancement).
In practice, most extra hours NHS staff work are bank shifts at plain time rather than formal overtime at premium rates, because trusts roster bank shifts to fill gaps and true overtime is the exception. That is one reason to be precise about which you are being paid for. Our agency versus bank pay guide compares bank rates with agency alternatives, where the hourly figures look higher but the pension, sick pay and stability usually favour the bank.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
The rules above describe England. The other nations mostly follow the same Section 2 and Section 3 mechanics, but with local differences worth knowing before you trust a calculation.
Scotland runs its own Agenda for Change deal, and from April 2026 the Scottish full-time week is 36 hours, not 37.5. That moves the overtime threshold too: hours worked beyond 36 in a week attract overtime rates in Scotland, where in England the line is 37.5. The hourly-rate formula is the same shape (annual ÷ 52.2 ÷ weekly hours), but the denominator changes, so a Scottish hourly rate is higher for the same salary. Scotland's 2026/27 award was 3.75% from 1 April 2026, with a CPI-plus-1% inflation guarantee to be checked in early 2027. See our NHS Scotland pay guide for the Scottish scale.
Wales kept the 37.5-hour week and took the same 3.3% award as England, implemented on time. The overtime threshold and multipliers match England's; only the underlying scale differs slightly (Band 5 runs £32,557, £35,114 and £39,631).
Northern Ireland is the outlier: the 3.3% award for 2026/27 was recommended but not yet implemented at the time of writing, with industrial action balloted for autumn 2026. Do not treat the figures above as applying in Northern Ireland until the award is confirmed and paid.
Checking overtime on your payslip
NHS payslips are issued through ESR, and overtime should appear as its own clearly labelled line, separate from basic pay. To verify it, work backwards from the payment: divide the overtime payment by the hours and compare the multiplier with the rates on this page (1.5 for weekday overtime, 2 for Sunday and bank-holiday overtime, the enhancement multipliers for unsocial hours). If the effective multiplier does not match any of them, something is wrong.
The common errors are predictable. Part-time thresholds are the biggest source: payroll sometimes applies the 1.5× rate below 37.5 hours, or misses plain-time additional hours entirely. Band changes after a promotion are another: enhancements and overtime calculated at the old band's rate for a month or two. Bank holidays are a third: overtime on a bank holiday paid at 1.5× instead of double time. And midnight-spanning shifts — a night shift crossing from Saturday into Sunday — can land in the wrong day's enhancement bucket.
If a line looks wrong, compare the payslip hours against your rota or e-rostering record before contacting payroll; most queries are resolved faster with the rota to hand. Keep in mind that overtime worked during a late pay award may later attract back pay, because enhancements and overtime earned in the arrears period are recalculated at the higher basic rate once the award lands.
Frequently asked questions
How is NHS overtime calculated?
Overtime is time worked above 37.5 hours in a week. For bands 1 to 7, it is paid at time-and-a-half Monday to Saturday, and double time on Sundays and bank or public holidays, all calculated on the basic hourly rate. Staff in bands 8 and 9 receive time off in lieu (TOIL) instead of paid overtime.
What is the NHS overtime rate on bank holidays?
For bands 1 to 7, overtime on a bank or public holiday is paid at double time (2x the basic hourly rate). Unsocial-hours enhancement cannot be claimed for the same hours; the double-time rate applies instead.
Do part-time NHS staff get overtime pay?
Part-time staff earn plain time for extra hours between their contracted hours and 37.5 hours a week. Premium overtime rates (time-and-a-half, double time) only apply above 37.5 hours, the same threshold as full-time staff.
Do Band 8 and Band 9 staff get overtime pay?
No contractual overtime pay exists for bands 8 to 9; extra hours are compensated with time off in lieu (TOIL), subject to local agreement. Unsocial-hours enhancements for shifts worked in unsocial periods still apply at these bands.
Can overtime and unsocial-hours enhancement be claimed for the same hours?
No. Where both could apply, the higher of the two rates is paid, not both. Sunday overtime is double time rather than the Sunday enhancement, and weekday-night overtime for bands 4 to 9 is time-and-a-half rather than the 30% night enhancement.
What is the difference between bank shifts and overtime?
Bank shifts are extra shifts picked up through the trust bank, paid at the plain hourly rate. Overtime is hours worked above 37.5 in a week, paid at time-and-a-half or double time. Most extra hours staff work are bank shifts at plain time rather than formal overtime.
What hourly rate is NHS overtime based on?
The basic hourly rate: full-time annual salary divided by 52.2 weeks, divided by 37.5 contracted hours in England. For example, a Band 5 nurse at the entry step (£32,073) has a basic rate of £16.38 an hour, and time-and-a-half is £24.57.
Keep exploring
The full rules behind every line in the calculator are in our unsocial hours and overtime guide, with payslip-checking walkthroughs for each band. To check your underlying hourly rate against the national table, use the NHS hourly rate calculator, and to follow the money through to your bank account, read our NHS payslip explained guide.
Sources and independence
Source: NHS Employers: 2026/27 pay award announcement.
Source: NHS Employers: unsocial hours factsheet.
Source: Health Careers NHS: Agenda for Change pay rates.
NHS Bands Pay is an independent guide and is not affiliated with the NHS. Figures were verified against official sources on 14 October 2026 and can change: always confirm with the relevant official body before making financial decisions. The calculator is an estimate only.