Employee Benefits
At Test Valley Borough Council we recognise that our employees are key to realising our vision - to be an organisation of excellence committed to improving the quality of life of all the people of Test Valley.
We aim to be an employer of choice, employing and retaining good people with a reputation as a great place to work. We therefore offer a range of benefits and working arrangements to support employees in both their working and personal life.
1. Pay
You will receive a competitive salary for your role. Our local pay arrangements at Test Valley enable us to keep pay competitive and provides flexibility to manage pay in line with recruiting and retaining talented people at all levels in the council. Local annual pay awards are negotiated and agreed directly with local trade unions.
All jobs are evaluated using a job evaluation scheme, which enables them to be aligned to salary bands that reflect the job size and responsibilities. Each band has three pay points, providing room for growth and development. Our pay framework ensures pay remains fair, competitive, and transparent.
Pay day is on the 18th of each month (or the last working day before the 18th if this falls on a weekend or bank holiday). Payment received on the 18th covers the entire calendar month in which it is paid. For example, pay received on 18th July is for the period 1st to 31st July.
2. Learning and Development
We are committed to investing in your personal learning and development with a focus on encouraging and supporting you and the team you work with to continually improve. This is achieved in multiple ways including through on-the-job learning and experiences, getting involved in projects both within and beyond your team, support from managers and colleagues, e-learning and formal training courses. We also support people by fully or part funding professional qualifications.
We have high standards of leadership and management across the council and invest in an active leadership development programme which all our managers at all levels in the organisation take part in. This includes through formal learning courses as well as being part of one of our leadership forums and action learning sets where managers and leaders share best practice and learn and develop together. Our annual leadership conference, which all leaders and managers attend is the highlight of our programme each year, and in the past has included talks from nationally recognised speakers.
Where a job requires membership of a professional body, we will reimburse the annual subscription fee paid by employees in that role.
3. Flexible and hybrid working
We offer a range of flexible working options, where roles allow, such as part-time working and hybrid working. Hybrid working enables people who work in office roles to work in a flexible way, mixing their time working in the office with working at home or another agreed location.
Flexibility is balanced with the needs of the council, always putting our residents first. The ability to work in a flexible and/or hybrid way is dependent on your job role, the needs of our residents, the wider team and the service you work in. Arrangements for hybrid working are flexible and may change over time as the needs of the role or service change.
4. Holiday
We offer generous annual leave allowances to enable time off with friends and family. This is based on an employee’s grade and their length of service in Local Government. In addition to bank holidays, holiday entitlements are:
Grade Basic After 5 years After 10 years After 15 years 1 - 8 25 days 28 days 30 days 32 days 9 - SM3 26 days 29 days 31 days 34 days Chief Executive/
Directors 28 days 31 days 33 days 36 days
5. Family friendly leave
We offer a range of family-friendly leave policies, including enhanced maternity leave, paternity leave, adoption leave, and shared parental leave. Eligible employees may receive enhanced pay during these periods, reflecting our commitment to supporting work-life balance and family responsibilities.
6. Saving for retirement
Another key benefit is the Local Government Pension Scheme, with a significant employer contribution of c.18%
We’re all aware of how important it is to save for retirement and all employees aged between 16 and 75 who work for us for three months or more are automatically enrolled into the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).