you

benefits, health and wellbeing

Skills for Care recognises that our most valuable asset is you - our staff. To show how much you are valued, we aim to provide a range of benefits which support your wellbeing both in and out of work.*

Click on each benefit below to learn how you can benefit.

Holidays and time off ■ A generous leave allowance – helping you to rest, see the world or spend time with family and friends ■ Additional days – more time off to enjoy and celebrate special times of the year ■ Time Off In Lieu (TOIL) - time back for unplanned time worked ■ Special leave - time to deal with the unexpected ■ Career break opportunities - life beyond work

Workplace pension ■ Stakeholder pension scheme - saving for the future now

Family friendly ■ Enhanced maternity, adoption and paternity pay – one less thing to

worry about when the little one comes along ■ Keeping in touch (KIT) days - keeping you in the loop ■ Help with child care costs with a child care voucher scheme – it’s tax free too! ■ Flexible working – helping you and us to get the balance right ■ Parental leave - helping you to strike the balance between work and family

Health and wellbeing ■ Simply Health cash plan - us helping take care of you ■ Employee assistance programme – free, confidential and independent support to help you manage

your work, family and personal life ■ Enhanced sick pay – financial help to help you concentrate on getting better ■ Help with eye care costs - encouraging and supporting you to care for your eyes ■ Health and safety at work - helping you to work safely and effectively ■ Occupational health – making work fit for you

Travel to work ■ Travel loan – let the train, bus or car take the strain ■ Cycle scheme – helping you to get on your bike and ride

Shopping and discounts hub ■ Hundreds of savings from everyday items to big ticket items ■ Access to gym discounts ■ Access to the cycle scheme

*subject to eligibility

you

benefits, health and wellbeing

We recognises that our most valuable asset is you - our staff.

Without you we wouldn’t be able to effectively work with more than 17,000 adult social care employers and other partners to develop the skills, knowledge and values of the 1.5 million workers in our sector. By working with employers and sharing best practice, we raise quality and standards across the whole sector and help ensure dignity and respect is at the heart of service delivery.

To show how much you are valued, we aim to provide a range of benefits.

Holidays and time off

We acknowledge that time away from work is important so that that you can rest and recharge. This is beneficial to both the organisation and to you.

A generous leave allowance – helping you to rest, see the world or spend time with family and friends

If you are full time you are entitled to 26 days annual leave. This will be pro-rated if you work on a part time basis. If you join or leave part way through the year the holiday allowance will also be pro-rated.

Time off from work is important to your wellbeing so you should plan your leave effectively to ensure that you take all your leave throughout the holiday year. If this isn’t possible at the end of the holiday year you can carry over up to 5 days with your line manager’s approval.

Additional days – more time off to enjoy and celebrate special times of the year

In addition to your annual leave entitlement there are also 5 office closure days plus 8 statutory bank holidays.

You do not need to book this time off.

you

benefits, health and wellbeing

Workplace pension

We understand that our employees want a worthwhile pension to support them in later life.

Stakeholder pension scheme - saving for the future now

A workplace pension is a way of saving for your retirement that’s arranged by your employer. The money is used to pay you an income for the rest of your life when you start getting the pension. A percentage of your pay is put into the pension scheme automatically every payday. Some employers match the pension contribution made by their staff.

We currently offer a stakeholder pension scheme where we match employee contributions up to 5%**.

**Skills for Care match contributions that start at a minimum of 2% up to 5% for all eligible jobholders.

Time Off In Lieu (TOIL) - time back for unplanned time worked

Time Off In Lieu (TOIL) is defined as time taken off to compensate for planned or occasionally unplanned time worked in addition to contracted hours.

We understand that on occasion, the hours worked by employees may exceed their contracted hours. This may be due to meetings and travel outside of working hours, weekend work or an urgent need to extend the working day. With authorisation from your line manager you have the opportunity to accrue TOIL and take the hours back at a more convenient time.

Special leave – time to deal with the unexpected

Skills for Care know that sometimes there will be times when you need to be away from work to deal with unexpected and unavoidable emergencies or situations.

You are entitled to up to 15 days paid and 15 days unpaid special leave per year to cover situations such as medical appointments, caring for a dependent/child, religious holidays or bereavement/attendance at a funeral.

Career break opportunities – life beyond work

Skills for Care recognises that sometimes there’s more to life than work – this could be travel, education or caring for others; so we offer staff the chance to take a break from work. A career break is an extended period of unpaid leave from work that begins with an intention to resume working at an agreed date in the future.

After 2 years of service you are able to request a career break which is unpaid and can last for up to 1 year. On returning from your career break you would return to the role you had when you left and have continuous service from when you went away.

Family friendly

We are very supportive of mothers and fathers and offer a range of benefits to support them in their work and personal life.

Enhanced maternity, adoption and paternity pay – one less thing to worry about when the little one comes along

Employees who have worked at Skills for Care for one year before the due date/matching date to be eligible for the enhanced maternity, adoption and paternity pay.

We offer enhanced maternity and adoption pay which is 50% of the individual’s salary for 33 weeks. This is on top of Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)/Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP). Individuals have a choice as to whether this is paid over 33 weeks or is split across 46 weeks.

Enhanced paternity pay is 50% of the individual’s salary for two weeks on top of Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP).

In addition to these enhanced pay packages your holiday entitlement will accrue as normal and the contributions to your workplace pension will continue throughout any paid period of maternity, paternity or adoption leave.

Keeping in touch (KIT) days - keeping you in the loop

Those on maternity/adoption leave are also able to have up to ten “keeping in touch days” throughout their leave which is paid at their normal rate.

Help with child care costs with a child care voucher scheme – it’s tax free too!

Childcare vouchers allow parents the freedom to choose the most appropriate care to meet their needs for children up to the age of 15 or 16 if they have a disability. Childcare vouchers are a flexible, simple and cost effective way to cover childcare costs. Every permanent member of staff is eligible for childcare vouchers. Currently we offer childcare vouchers with Edenred, Computershare and Busy Bees.

If you wish to take advantage of this you will be entered into the child care salary sacrifice scheme where an amount of your salary is turned into a non-cash benefit.

You can sacrifice up to £243 per month*** (£55 per week) of gross pay in exchange for childcare vouchers, this amount is then exempt from tax and National Insurance. This results in a cost saving to you of up to £1196 per year.

*** This depends on your tax code so the maximum amount that can be sacrificed may differ.

Flexible working – helping you and us to get the balance right

All employees have the right to request flexible working arrangements; this is a permanent change to their contract but allows them to manage their work/life balance.

Parental leave

Parental leave is the right for all parents to take a period of time off to look after a child. Parents can use parental leave to spend more time with children and to strike a better balance between their work and their family commitments. Parental leave is per child.

To qualify you need to have one years service by the time you wish to take the time.Parental leave is unpaid and offers parents 18 weeks unpaid leave during the period up to the childs fifth birthday. Parents of disabled children are entitled to 18 weeks unpaid parental leave up to a childs 18th birthday. A maximum of four weeks can be taken per individual child per year.

Health and wellbeing

We recognise that your health and wellbeing are important factors to how you contribute to the work you do.

Simply Health cash plan – us helping take care of you

If you opted-in to the Simply Health cash plan you will now be able to take advantage of everything the cash plan has to offer, the cash plan will help you budget for the cost of visiting the dentist, optician, physiotherapist and a number of other healthcare professionals. Whether it’s a check-up, treatment or an emergency, we’ll give you cash back, up to annual limits. With this plan you are able to claim up to a maximum of £920 per annum for various healthcare treatments.

For more information on the Simply Health cash plan log on to your benefitting you account at www.benefittingyou.org.uk.

Employee assistance programme – free, confidential and independent support to help you manage your work, family and personal life

Talking to someone outside of the workplace can be useful for anyone who wants to explore the way they’re thinking or feeling further. It can also be useful for anyone experiencing a problem or issue they are keen to resolve.

Skills for Care offers a comprehensive employee assistance programme to all employees and to immediate family members. This is provided by Insight who provide services and professional support to help with a wide range of issues. They offer a counselling helpline as well as legal and financial help.

This is a free, confidential advice service, available 24 hours a day on 0800 027 7844.

Enhanced sick pay – financial help to help you concentrate on getting betterWe provide an enhanced level of sick pay when you are unable to attend work due to sickness. To be eligible you have to have been employed for more than four months and the level of sick pay available increases as your length of service does.

Please see an illustration of the plan below:

Full pay Half pay

During 1st Year (after four months) One Month One Month

2nd Year of Service Two Months Two Months

3rd Year of Service Four Months Four Months

4th Year of Service + Five Months Five Months

Help with eye care costs - encouraging and supporting you to care for your eyes

We recognise that although the use of Display Screen Equipment (PCs, laptops, tablets, mobile phones) can be undertaken without undue risks to health, we appreciate that some staff may experience genuine eye discomfort when using the equipment.

You can have the cost of an eye test reimbursed, and if the glasses prescribed are for VDU use only, you can claim for up to £50 on the cost of the frames and the full cost of standard lenses.

Health and safety at work

To support your health and wellbeing at work you will be required to complete a number of e-learning modules to provide you with information that ensures we work in a safe and effective manner. The modules cover manual handling, fire safety, office health and safety as well as a workstation module with an assessment specifically for your working environment.

Occupational health – making work fit for you

We know that everyone should be comfortable at work, whether you’re just doing your job or perhaps have returned to work following an illness. We also know that employees may be struggling to cope at work because of something at work or outside of it. We therefore offer occupational health to see how things can be improved for you.

Travel to work We want to help you to find cost effective ways of travelling to and from work.

Travel loan – let the train, bus or car take the strain

Once you have completed your probation period you can request an interest-free travel loan which pays for a season ticket for travelling (either by bus, train or car park), this is then deducted from your salary each month.

Cycle Scheme – helping you get on your bike and ride

By joining the company cycle scheme you are able to save up to 42% on the cost of a new bike which you can use to travel to work and / or to keep fit. You are able to have money deducted from your gross salary on a salary sacrifice scheme which goes towards a loan for a bike and equipment (all of which is chosen by you.) After 12 months you will be given the bike as a gift from Skills for Care, this means that you will only need to pay tax on the depreciated value of the bike rather than the bike itself making even further savings.

Shopping and discounts hubHundreds of savings from everyday items to big ticket items

We know that everyone loves a bargain. Discounts are available in lots of places for lots of things. Imagine if there were lots of discounts in one place available for you to peruse and take advantage of. We will soon be bringing you a benefits platform through Reward Gateway, the UK’s number 1 employee discounts provider. This will include discounts and cash back on a range of areas from automotive to wellbeing, including groceries, fashion, gym discounts and mobile phones.

“Please be aware that the discount hub, cycle scheme and Simply Health cash plan are all non-contractual benefits and their continuation will be reviewed annually in line with funding.”

you

benefits, health and wellbeing