Benefits and rewards

Bedfordshire County Council provides more than competitive salaries and benefit packages. As an organisation we provide clear training and development programmes; performance evaluation processes and established organisational values. Together these provide a firm foundation to develop and reward our most valuable resource – our people.

What we offer you

From the moment you join our organisation we want your employment journey to be a positive one. Please see below a summary of some of the benefits on offer.

A Supported Welcome

The recruitment process does not end when we send a contract out, and the new employee arrives. We are committed to providing every new employee with a clear and planned induction programme at an organisation, service, team and individual level.

Competitive Employment Packages

We provide comprehensive employment packages which include wide ranging benefits. For instance in addition to our competitive salaries, we offer Essential Car user Allowances and a Removal Assistance Scheme. All employees may also become a member of The Local Government Pension Scheme which provides a range of benefits including such as a lump sum and monthly pension at retirement age and Benefits if you retire due to ill health.

Learning and development

We retained our Investors In People status in August 2005. Driving our comprehensive learning and development programme is The Bedfordshire Academy, a cutting edge on-line facility launched this year. It provides our people with a gateway to all our learning and development opportunities.

Work life balance and well-being

We offer a raft of arrangements to ensure that all our employees can achieve a healthy balance between their work and personal lives. We want you to come to work with enthusiasm, less stress and therefore in the right mind, set to help us achieve our goals. To make this practically possible these are just some of the standard benefits provided:-

Annual Leave

Annual leave entitlement – in addition to Bank and Public Holiday - is based upon length of service.

• up to 5 years’ continuous service - 24 days
• Completion of 5 years’ continuous service - 29 days
• Completion of 10 years’ continuous service - 31 days

Hours of work

Starting and finishing times will depend on where you work. Flexible working hours may be available depending on the needs of the service which enables employees to maintain a work life balance and gain control over their working routine. Also home working is an employment option offering certain employees greater flexibility. Other provisions include job sharing and part-time and term-time only working.

Employee Healthcare and Employee Support

The health of our employees is very important to us. Our Occupational and Health Service offers rapid and easily accessible support which includes medical referrals, health screening, counseling, work place assessments, specialised health checks and health promotions.

Employee discounts and other benefits

We provide a range of benefits including childcare vouchers, discounted rates at local nurseries, cycle loan scheme and a car loan scheme this provides loans to approved staff who need a car to carry out their official duties. Together our unique benefits and rewards package enables us to meet our aim of increasing employee satisfaction and continuing to retain and meet the expectations of talented individuals within our business.