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For decades, pay and employment conditions in adult social care have been determined largely by individual employers, creating significant variation across the sector.

Organisations providing social care are crucial to the health and care system, but staff are often faced with low pay, insecure employment and inferior terms and conditions.

The introduction of a Fair Pay Agreement (FPA) in England aims to change that by establishing a new national framework for collective bargaining in adult social care.

Here, we explain how the new system will work, who it will cover, and what it could mean for nursing staff working in adult social care.

What does collective bargaining mean?

Collective bargaining is a system where trade unions and employers negotiate pay, terms and conditions for workers across a sector. The RCN, and other trade unions, have long been calling for sectoral collective bargaining for social care as a way of ensuring the nursing workforce is effectively represented in negotiations over their pay, terms and conditions.

In adult social care, this means unions, such as the RCN, would negotiate with employers on behalf of social care staff to create a sector-wide agreement that establishes minimum standards for pay, hours and working conditions.

This would create a baseline for all workers, rather than setting them entirely independently, while allowing employers to provide pay and conditions above those minimum standards.

Why is it being introduced?

Adult social care is one of the lowest-paid, highest-turnover sectors in the country. , the median hourly rate for care workers was just 39p above the National Living Wage, and roughly a quarter of the workforce was being paid on or within 10p of the legal minimum.

Unlike the NHS or local government, the sector has never had a national pay-bargaining structure. Pay has largely been set employer-by-employer, shaped by what local authorities can pay in fees.

The Westminster government says the aim is to break this cycle: better pay and conditions should improve recruitment and retention, build a more stable domestic workforce (reducing reliance on overseas recruitment, which has recently been restricted), and ultimately improve the consistency and quality of care.

The FPA is introduced through the Employment Rights Act 2025, as part of the wider Make Work Pay agenda, and is described by government as a building block towards a longer-term National Care Service.

How will it work?

The FPA will be negotiated through the ASCNB, which will bring together employers and trade unions to agree minimum standards across the sector in England.

• A new statutory body, the Adult Social Care Negotiating Body, will be established by secondary legislation.
• Workers will be represented by the RCN and other trade unions. The Trades Union Congress will help coordinate the unions taking part in the negotiations.
• Employers will be coordinated by the Care Provider Alliance, the umbrella group that includes Care England, the National Care Association, the National Care Forum, the Homecare Association and others.
• The negotiating body will have equal numbers of worker and employer representatives, overseen by an independent chair, to be appointed by early 2027.
• Negotiations will happen within a remit set by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, covering pay, terms and conditions, training and career progression.
• If negotiations stall, there is provision for dispute resolution involving .

How is this different to the NHS Agenda for Change system?

Agenda for Change (AfC) is the existing national pay and grading framework that already covers most directly employed NHS staff, negotiated through the NHS Staff Council.

The ASCNB is a new, separate system for the independent, private and voluntary adult social care sector, which has never had an equivalent national framework. It is not an extension of NHS Agenda for Change into social care - it is a distinct structure with its own negotiating body, remit and pay outcomes.

Staff who are already covered by NHS Agenda for Change or by the National Joint Council (NJC) for Local Government Services will be excluded from the ASCNB, though the government has said this exclusion will be reviewed after three years.

What could be covered in the FPA?

The FPA's remit is expected to include:

• minimum pay rates and pay structures/progression
• terms and conditions of employment
• training and career development, linked to the government's Care Workforce Pathway (a new universal career structure for care roles).

If current contracts are already more generous than what's agreed, the more generous term is protected. The FPA sets a floor, not a ceiling.

Who would be covered by the FPA?

Coverage is intended to be broad and include all paid adult social care workers in England, as defined by the Employment Rights Act 2025. This includes:

• directly employed staff in care homes, domiciliary/home care and other regulated adult social care roles
• agency and bank/temporary staff.

It will not cover:

• self-employed workers or those in informal care arrangements (they fall outside the Act's definition of "social care worker")
• unpaid family carers
• staff already covered by NHS Agenda for Change or the Local Government NJC.

What does this mean for nursing staff?

Nursing staff working in adult social care, including registered nurses employed in nursing homes and other social care settings, are expected to be covered by the agreement. This means future negotiations could influence minimum standards on pay, terms and conditions, training and career development.

As with other roles, nursing staff already covered by NHS Agenda for Change would fall outside ASCNB scope.

Will my pay change immediately?

No. The FPA does not yet exist and no changes to pay have been agreed. The current expectation is that negotiations will begin in 2027, with the first agreement taking effect in 2028.

We understand that the current timeline is:

• the ASCNB will be legally established by end of 2026, negotiations start in April 2027
• the first Fair Pay Agreement is expected to take effect in April 2028
• the £500 million of funding attached to it is earmarked for 2028-29.

Could this happen elsewhere in the UK?

The Employment Rights Act 2025 gives powers for similar negotiating bodies to be established in England, Scotland and Wales. However, each nation is developing its approach separately.

• Wales is considering proposals for a Social Care Negotiating Body and FPAs for the social care workforce. A public consultation closed in April 2026 and the Welsh Government is currently considering responses.
• Scotland is developing a separate voluntary collective bargaining approach for social care.
• Northern Ireland is not included in the powers provided by the Employment Rights Act 2025, and there are currently no equivalent proposals. However, the Social Care Fair Work Forum continues to bring together employers, trade unions, government departments and other statutory agencies to influence fair work priorities and policy in the social care sector.

What does the RCN think about it?

We’ve welcomed this as a significant step forward for nursing and other social care staff who have long lacked collective bargaining structures. Historically, many social care staff have had lower pay and less favourable terms and conditions than NHS colleagues, without access to national collective bargaining structures comparable to the NHS.

However, the £500 million funding is small relative to other cost pressures hitting providers at the same time, and there is currently no legal duty on local authorities to fund the pay rises an agreement would require.