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PaperclipPerfector  14hr ago (text post)   432 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for February 1, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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I have a confession. I have no idea how my salary works, and my efforts to disentangle it using LLMs has even them scratching their heads.

Why do I bring this up? I just got a 25% raise on my last payslip, and there is absolutely nothing different in terms of work, and I haven't moved to doing more nights or on-calls (or extra locum shifts) which pay more per hour.

Is it due to an increase in seniority? I don't think so, though I'm not certain. It's grossly out of sync with the annual bumps that come with becoming a more senior trainee. If that was the case, I'd have expected a raise in August.

Is it to do with a recent increased pay offer from the Scottish government? The last time it happened, it was a decent boost, but not a whole 25%.

I'm on vacation, and actually examining my payslips requires an NHS computer, so the mystery will persist. If anyone has a clue, I'm all ears, but I'm certainly not looking the gift horse in the mouth, mostly because I'm not a dentist or vet. For now, I'll wait to see if this is a one-off or a regular thing.

Depending on local regulations this could be end of year overtime/excess vacation days being paid out as cash due to you going over the limit for how much you're allowed to save on a yearly basis. So if you were like ~7 days over the limit it would show up as a 25% pay increase. These things often get sorted with the January pay due to Christmas and New year's holidays.

Hmm.. That's a possibility, though I've never actively applied for overtime. My understanding is that the NHS doesn't pay for unused vacation days, but I'll take a look at the finer details!

Something like this can easily be caused without your knowledge by a mismatch between your scheduling and your salaries hours.

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