Where a nurse/midwife is receiving either a location, specialist, or red-circled allowance or a combination of these for a period of a year or more, starting pay will be calculated in accordance with the normal pay on promotion arrangements, exclusive of the allowance(s).
Where a loss in basic earnings occurs having applied the normal pay on promotion rules, the nurse/midwife may retain their existing pay, plus the allowance(s) on a Mark-Time basis until the loss is eroded.
Mark-Time will cease when the value of the increments on the higher scale is equal to or greater than the mark-time salary. The value of the increments at the higher scale will be considered on the nurse/midwife's normal incremental date, which will not have changed because of the promotion. At that point the nurse/midwife will be assimilated to the nearest salary point above their Mark-Time rate of pay and will move up the scale on their normal incremental date.
Mark-Time will not attract special increases but will attract general pay rounds.
In no case may the rate of pay of a nurse/midwife on a mark-time basis exceed the maximum of the higher scale to which s/he has been promoted.
Example:
A nurse/midwife is on the ninth point of the enhanced practice salary scale, €55,594 and is also in receipt of a location allowance of €2,663. Total basic salary plus allowance is €58,257.
They are promoted to CNM1 position in an area where no allowances are applicable. Under pay on promotion arrangements the nurse/midwife would be assimilated to the appropriate point of the CNM1 scale, exclusive of allowances, i.e. third point, €57,385. This assimilation, however, would result in an actual loss on promotion of €872.
Under the Mark-Time Scheme the nurse/midwife would be allowed to retain her/his basic salary, inclusive of allowances (€58,257) on a Mark-Time basis.
When the nurse/midwife’s next normal incremental date comes around, they would have moved to the fourth point of the CNM1 scale, i.e. €58,816. Mark-time would then cease because the nurse/midwife’s salary would be higher than the mark-time salary, i.e. by €559. They would then be placed on the third point of the CNM1 scale and would move up the scale on their normal incremental date.