Annual Leave
29 days, of which 5 can be carried over into next leave year as of right. All other aspects of A/L are governed by Thames Reach Annual Leave Guidelines
Pay increments
Annually, as per established Thames Reach practice: if start date is 1 Oct – 31 Mar, 1st increment awarded on completion of probation; if start date 1 April – 30 Sept, 1st increment awarded next 1st April after completion of probation. No extra increments for long-service.
Sick pay
As per Thames Reach Managing Absence Policy. (Occupational Sick Pay entitlement, once confirmed in post: 3 months full pay followed by 3 months half pay).
Maternity, Paternity, Adoption & Parental leave
As per Thames Reach policy. Occupational Maternity Pay: 3 months full pay, 3 months half pay, 3 months statutory maternity pay , or 19½ weeks full pay. Occupational Paternity Pay: 2 weeks full pay.
Occupational Adoption Pay: as OMP above. Parental leave as per statutory entitlement.
Pension
6.5% employer’s contribution to Thames Reach group personal pension scheme with Scottish Equitable.
Critical Illness Cover
This cover is applicable for all staff from day 1 of their employment with Thames Reach:
- In the event of a critical illness which is covered by the policy the staff member will receive 1 year's salary tax free. They do not have to be off work for the whole year.
- The employee must survive the critical illness for 14 days.
Further details available on request.
Group Life Assurance
This benefit is applicable to all employees once they have been in post for six months.
If a Thames Reach employee dies before reaching the retirement age of 65 then their spouse/next of kin will receive 4 x basic salary as at the time of death.
The money is paid to the Trustees (i.e Thames Reach) who will then pay out the money to the employee's next of kin.
Employee Assistance Programme
24 hour, 7 day per week confidential support, advice and counselling service.
Redundancy
As per Thames Reach policy. Redundancy Pay is one week’s salary per year of service plus a lump sum of £360 pro rata.
Pay date
28th of the month for all.
Notice periods / termination
Thames Reach will give at least four weeks notice to permanent employees, except during Probationary Periods. A further week's notice per year of continuous employment, to a maximum of 12 weeks notice, will be given to an employee after completion of four years continuous employment.
Employees are required to give at least four weeks' notice in writing, the minimum being eight weeks for posts on Grades I and J.
Union recognition
We recognise both UNISON and ACTS unions.
Union or public duties
As per Thames Reach contract.
Lunch breaks
By local agreement with line manager. Minimum half hour lunch break for all, apart from exempt shift workers.
Car and motorbike users
Casual users only – no essential users. As per Travel Policy.
Bicycle allowance
As per Travel Policy.
Sleep-in payments
NJC sleep-in allowance.
On call payments
NJC ‘standby’ allowance for staff who are directly on-call to service-users.
Management on-call duties should be reflected in core salary, not separate allowances.
On-call workers doing night shift in emergency
Paid as ‘extended hours’ as per Thames Reach policy
Resident holidays
Locally agreed, depending on duration of holiday and number of staff attending.
Season ticket loans
As per Thames Reach policy.
Subsistence allowance
Use NJC rates as guide. Will need to produce new Thames Reach guidance re limited circumstances in which these can be claimed (e.g. outreach shifts; resident holidays; not during course of ‘normal’ duties).
Bank holiday
Pro-rata-ed annually for part-timers. Added to annual leave entitlement annually for salaried shift workers.
