Back pay if you leave WSCC or another NJC employer after 1st April
The NJC Pay award is due for the pay year that runs from 1st April 2026 to 31st March 2027. It seems likely, given that UNISON is rejecting the pay award due to it being insufficient, that any award made will not be paid until later in 2026 when the bargaining process has completed. This means that upon implementation there will be likely be back pay owed to staff for the months the award was not implemented in 2026-27.
If you have left or will leave WSCC or another NJC employer after 1st April, you may be owed this back pay for your wages paid from the period from 1st April to your leaving date, when your leaving date is before the pay award is implemented.
You can claim this missing back pay within 6 months of the pay day when the award is paid. This pay day is usually the 24th day of the month. For example, if the pay award is settled on 30th June and paid for the first time in salaries on 24th July, WSCC leavers will have until 24th January 2027 to get in touch with WSCC to request back pay.
Where relevant, contact WSCC Payroll by email at hr.customer.services@westsussex.gov.uk or call 01243 642148. This also is back pay which will be added to your LGPS.
Support and advice is available of course to members by contacting the UNISON West Sussex branch.