Benefits and Rewards

Benefits

Wiltshire Council recognises that our employees work hard to support and deliver services to the people of Wiltshire, so we feel it's only fair that they're well rewarded for their efforts. We have developed a benefits package to help us to attract, motivate and retain the best people. There is a good selection of benefits currently on offer and we are always looking for new ways to make our employees feel valued.

Benefits you can look forward to include:

• Competitive salary - benchmarked against other local government authorities and reviewed annually (please be aware that a two year increment freeze will operate for 2012 and 2013).
• Annual leave and bank holidays - a minimum of 23 days annual leave per annum, rising to 28 days after five years, plus public and bank holidays.
• Flexible working - including options to work flexi-time, compressed or part-time, on a job share or term-time contract, or from home (where operationally feasible).
• Local government pension scheme - A contributory fixed pension scheme. Contribution rates depend on full time equivalent pensionable pay and vary between 5.5% and 7.5 %.  All new employees will be assessed against criteria and automatically enrolled into the scheme in line with auto-enrolment legislation.  Employees, if not automatically enrolled, can choose at any point to opt into the scheme.
• Occupational sick pay - your entitlement will increase as your continuous service builds.
• Occupational health - offers a variety of employee wellbeing services to ensure our employees are fully supported to maintain a healthy work/life balance. These services include; occasional health screening, smoking cessation sessions, free financial seminars etc.
• Discounted leisure membership - various discounts are available across the county.
• Chaplaincy Service - this is provided by independent trained ministers, irrespective of whether the person seeking the service has a faith. The service gives employees the opportunity to discuss any issues affecting their personal or professional lives, to seek encouragement and support, and to be signposted to other services where appropriate.
• Moving home allowance - to support new employees who need to relocate.
• Family friendly policies - including generous maternity and paternity entitlements.
• Childcare voucher - enabling you to save tax and national insurance contributions on the cost of your childcare.
• Green car scheme - is a salary sacrifice scheme enabling you to have a new low emission car which is fully maintained and insured by the provider. It operates for a period of 36 months, during which time you make a monthly payment, leading to savings in tax, national insurance and pension contributions.
• Subsidised bus tickets - up to 35% discount with First Bus
• Subsidised rail tickets - 25% discount on rail season tickets
• Car share scheme - this scheme allows you to benefit from reduced travel costs, and contribute towards reducing the number of cars on the roads, pollution emissions and ultimately help to protect the environment.
• Facilities - refreshment facilities and break-out areas are available throughout all of our offices. In some cases, bike storage, lockers and showers are also present.
• Local business discounts - please see our staff benefits website for more detail.

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Rewards

Wiltshire Council appreciates every employee and values the contribution that they make towards building a strong and effective organisation, enabling us to deliver a wide variety of high quality services, improving the lives of our local residents. It is important to us that our employees feel appreciated and to believe in themselves and their abilities to contribute to the overall aims of the council.

There are several ways in which the council approaches this:

• Shaping the future corporate awards - these awards are to celebrate and recognise the excellent work being done by Wiltshire Council employees. Nominations can be made for a colleague, team, manager, or elected member it is felt has made a real difference and deserves to have their effort and commitment formally recognised. Ceremonies take place on a monthly basis and there are a total of nine awards to present. Once a year, all the nominees shortlisted are invited to attend a gala awards ceremony to present, amongst others, the awards for Team and Employee of the Year.
• Long service awards - Wiltshire Council recognises the commitment demonstrated by employees who have continuously worked for the authority for 25 years, by awarding £150 of vouchers. Employees who have completed 40 years service for Wiltshire Council will have their annual leave entitlement increased to 30 days per year.
• Recognition of hard work - council employees often receive compliments from the public for their 'can do' attitude and the professional service that they provide. A selection of these compliments are displayed on our intranet to highlight the hard work that is taking place across the county. 

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