50% unsocial rule (NHS Wales)

Learn how to activate the 50% unsocial rule, and how to manage applicable shifts.

The 50% unsocial rule refers to the NHS Wales decision to pay a whole shift at the agreed unsocial rate if at least 50% of the shift is during unsocial hours. Patchwork allows an organisation to enable the 50% unsocial rule on a per grade basis:

Enabling the rule for appropriate grades on the hub

  1.  Open the 'Org Settings' tab on the left hand menu > Find the desired grade > Click the relevant grade ID 
  2. Under the grade preferences section enable the 50% unsocial toggle > Tap 'Save Changes'

If toggled on and 50% or more of a shift is in unsocial hours, the worker will be paid at the unsocial rate for the whole shift.

Managing applicable shifts within the hub

If toggled on and 50% or more of a shift is in unsocial hours, the shift list and payment pages will display an information bubble explaining that the full shift is paid at unsocial rates in accordance with the 50% unsocial rule. 

💡Shift information (accessed via the shift list view and payment page) will still show the number of hours within the shift that were core, and the number that were unsocial. 

💡 If an applicable shift is escalated the escalated rate overrides the 50% unsocial rate. 

💡Where a rate card is in use with multiple unsocial rates, the 50% unsocial rule will make use of the highest available unsocial rate. 

Applicable shifts within the app

Applicable shifts are marked by an explanatory information bubble within both the mobile and web app. This ensures that a worker understands the rate calculation conforms to the 50% unsocial rule.