Pay
Salary
The pay for staff covered by NHS terms and conditions (Agenda for Change) is split into nine pay bands. All staff covered by this pay system will be assigned to one of these pay bands on the basis of job weight as measured by the NHS job evaluation scheme; this ensures that all employees are paid fairly and consistently depending on their role. In addition to basic salary, the NHS pay system also offers pay progression opportunities along with additional pay enhancements to recognise out of hours/ shift working and overtime. For More Info Visit : www.nhsemployers.org/articles/pay-scales-202324
Pensions
Its never too early to start planning for the future: The NHS Pension Scheme continues to be one of the most comprehensive and generous schemes within the UK. It supports the NHS People Plan and People Promise by recognising and rewarding our NHS people and allowing them to work and retire flexibly!
Financial security
Your pension depends on your earnings and how long you have been a member of the scheme. Benefits are secure and guaranteed by the government.
Tax Relief
Contributions to the scheme are tax free, bringing down the cost of membership.
Support from your employer
Your employer pays a contribution equal to 20.68% of your salary towards the cost of your pension.
Family protection
The scheme provides valuable protection for your family, including life assurance and a pension if you are too ill to work.
Flexibility
Options are available to increase your benefits and to retire flexibly, to suit your plans for the future.
Future proof
Your pension benefits increase each year during your retirement to help keep up with the rising cost of living.
Annual Leave
From day one with the Trust, you will receive a generous annual leave entitlement of 27 days annual leave per year, plus eight public holidays. This is in great excess of the statutory minimum that you get with most other employers. This entitlement will increase to 29 days after 5 years’ completed service and 33 days after 10 years’ completed service. Previous NHS service elsewhere can also be included in the additional leave accrual.
Health Enhancements
As an employer, we want to support you when the unexpected happens. We offer additional pay in the event of illness, injury or other disability to supplement your statutory sick pay entitlement. Your occupational sick pay entitlement will be dependant on your length of service, but those employees with over five years’ service will be entitled to the maximum entitlement of six months full pay and six months half pay. This will ensure that when you need it most you will have the stability of an income during a period of ill health or uncertainty.
Benefits and Discounts
Being Part of the NHS gives you access to a range of discounts through High Street retailers and reward sites saving you money on your everyday items from food shops and meals out to holidays and gym memberships.
These offers and discounts change over time so for the most up to date savings visit: wellbeing.wmas.nhs.uk/discounts-benefits/
You can sign up to Blue Light Card which provides those in the NHS, emergency services, social care sector and armed forces with discounts online and in-store. Click Here to find out more.
Additionally, you can join the West Midlands Police Sports and Wellbeing Association which offers discounts on cinema tickets and family days out amongst many other things. You can find out more here.
Working Life
Flexible Working
The Trust is committed to providing a flexible place of work, enabling all staff to achieve a healthy work life balance, where it does not affect the Trust’s ability to provide patient care. Part time working, annualised hours, term time only contracts, job sharing, flexi-time, flexible retirement, remote working, and compressed hours are available for consideration. If you would like to know more about flexible working options when applying for a role at the Trust, you can contact our Recruitment Team via [email protected].
Onsite Working
All Trust sites have break and kitchen facilities where staff are able to take breaks, make a drink or meal or grab a vending machine snack.
Our Quiet Rooms provide staff with a space to take time out and lockers are available for operational staff to ensure your valuables are kept safe.
We also offer:
Recycling points.
Access to car parking so there is no need for parking permits.
A comprehensive induction programme and onboarding.
Formal welcome in the Trust’s internal newsletter.
Unions
Trade unions provide support, guidance, advocacy and mediation services for their members when resolving work related issues. The Trust has trade union agreements with 3 unions; Unison, Unite and GMB.
Development Opportunities
The Trust prides itself on providing a range of development opportunities both personal and professional that are available to all staff.
The Trust’s Engaging Managers programme aims to provide managers with the skills to manage themselves, their teams and the projects for which they are responsible much more effectively and productively. This is an in-house programme delivered by the OD Team.
The senior programme, Engaging Leaders, is accredited by Coventry University at level 6 and is built so that each individual may complete their own leadership development plan based on insights gained from a Development Centre, 360 degree feedback, psychometrics and action learning. There is also a version of this programme for staff with supervisory or managerial responsibilities, also accredited through Coventry University, leading to a Certificate in Personal Development and delivered in a similar way.
To enable our staff to achieve their full potential and flourish in their role, we offer all of our staff a yearly Performance and Development Conversation with their line manager to discuss their career goals and make a plan for the future.
Mentoring
We offer mentoring programmes for staff looking to build on their personal and professional development. Mentoring is a partnership between two people and is a process of ongoing support and development. The mentor offers guidance, counselling and support in the form of pragmatic and objective assistance. The Organisational Development Team can help you with finding a suitable mentor, or they can work with teams to develop mentors in the workplace.
For more information please email [email protected]
Springboard
Our Springboard programme is designed for women who want to take control, become more assertive, increase their confidence and build themselves a more positive attitude in both their work and home lives. The programme gives the participants the time to reflect, share and most importantly, set achievable goals for now and the future. Springboard empowers women and helps them to enhance their own skills and abilities, and challenge power and inequality, while also building assertiveness, a positive image, and giving them a voice.
All Ideas Matter
The Trust is fully committed to continually reviewing and improving services and processes to ensure that we are providing the best care and service for patients, staff and visitors. “AIM” is open to all staff. Let us help to grow your ideas into tangible improvements. There is a feedback process that ensures that all ideas are considered and outcomes are communicated to anyone who sends in an AIM and provides their contact details. No idea is too small or too simple if it makes a difference!
Apprenticeships and Training
The Education and Training team currently offer level 2 – level 6 funded programmes for all employed staff wishing to progress through local colleges/training providers, and in addition the Trust offer 17 different funded apprenticeship routes specific to different roles within the Trust. If you do not currently hold qualifications in functional skills (Maths and English) at level 2, we can offer you the opportunity to gain these qualifications.
Additional Support
For staff who may require additional educational support, our education and training team will work with you to provide support that is tailored to your individual needs.
Family Friendly
The Trust attaches great importance to supporting employees when they wish to start a family. We offer a wide range of family friendly benefits.
Tax Free Childcare
You can get up to £500 every 3 months (up to £2,000 a year) for each of your children to help with the costs of childcare. This goes up to £1,000 every 3 months if a child is disabled (up to £4,000 a year). For More Information Visit : https://www.gov.uk/tax-free-childcare
Maternity Leave and New Parent Support
All employees are entitled to 52 weeks maternity leave, irrespective of length of service. Our occupational maternity pay, for eligible employees, consists of:
- 8 weeks on full pay followed by
- 18 weeks on half pay, plus flat rate SMP, followed by
- 13 weeks SMP
- The remaining 13 weeks of the full 52 week period are unpaid
- New Parent Support (Paternity) Leave and Pay: Eligible employees are entitled to 2 weeks new parent support leave providing they meet the criteria.
Shared Parental Leave and Pay
Shared Parental Leave allows working parents more flexibility in how to share the care of their child in the first year following birth or adoption. Providing they meet the eligibility criteria, parents may be entitled to the following shared parental pay:
- 6 weeks on full pay
- 18 weeks on half pay plus flat rate statutory ShPP
- 13 weeks at Statutory ShPP
- The remaining 13 weeks of the full 52-week parental leave period is unpaid
Adoption Leave and Pay
All employees who qualify for adoption leave are entitled to 52 weeks adoption leave, irrespective of length of service. Occupational adoption pay, for eligible employees is made up of
- 8 weeks full pay, followed by
- 18 weeks half pay, plus flat rate SAP, followed by
- 13 weeks SAP
- The remaining 13 weeks of the full 52-week period are unpaid
Enhanced Maternity and Paternity Support
The Trust’s Maternity and Paternity policies include the range of support available for people who experience baby loss and those who are undergoing fertility treatment.
We offer paid leave to parents who have a miscarriage, abortion, ectopic pregnancy or medical termination – up to 10 days paid leave for the mother and five days paid leave for the partner.
- Paid time off to attend appointments (or to accompany their partners) relating to pregnancy loss, which do not fall within an agreed period of leave, including but not limited to medical examinations, scans and tests, and mental health-related appointments.
- Paid leave for fertility treatment – the Trust will consider all requests and where appropriate, grant paid leave up to a maximum of five calendar days in a rolling 12-month period.
We offer additional support by signposting staff to relevant organisations such as SANDS, Tommy‘s, Petals Charity and a Facebook Support Group called Love from George.
If you would like to find out more about the family friendly policies we offer, you can contact our Human Resources team on [email protected]
Health and Wellbeing
We offer a wide range of health and wellbeing services, ranging from mental health, physical health, financial health and many more.
WMAS Funded Provision
- 1-2-1- Psychological assessment and interventions via Mental Wellbeing Practitioners
- Counselling sessions face-2-face via EAP
- Counselling online live text via Qwell
- Assessment, advice and occupational recommendations via Occupational Health
- 24/7 access to psychoeducation, wellbeing tools and peer forum on Qwell
Workforce and OD Teams
- Human Resources
- Mental Health Wellbeing Practitioners
- Occupational Health Contractor
- Organisational Development Team
- Local Leaders/Oms
- Clinical Team Mentors
- Training Officers
- Senior Managers
- People Director
- Wellbeing Guardian
WMAS People and Third Sector Provision
- NHS People Guides / Webinars / Events
- Funded Digital Mental Health Subscriptions
- Dedicated emotional and bereavement support telephone and text services
- TASC/MIND/RETHINK and similar
- Access to work / MH Support Workers
Organisational Processes
- Recruitment
- Induction
- Mandatory training
- Personal Development Conversations
- Individual Stress Risk Assessments
- Welfare and Sickness Meetings
- Performance Management
- Flexible working and reasonable adjustments
- MH related training
- HR processes
SALS – Staff Advice and Liaison Service
Our SALS team works independently to provide 24/7 advice, guidance and support to staff for any personal or work related concerns. Our SALS team acts in confidence when handling staff concerns, liaising as necessary with staff, managers, Occupational Health and other organisations to sort out problems quickly. They also offer debriefs following traumatic or major incidents to ensure our staff stay safe and well.
Qwell
Our in house Mental Wellbeing Practitioner Service offers private counselling provided by The Listening Centre for any staff who needs mental wellbeing support. We also partner with Qwell, mental health platform available 24/7, for staff who wish to seek support through alternative methods such as text, phone or mindfulness techniques.
Optima Health
Our Occupational Health provider, Optima Health, offers specialist support and advice to our staff for any health conditions they may be experiencing, whether they are still in work or off sick. Optima Health offers support for short term or long term health conditions and provides expert advice on any workplace adjustments that may be required. Our staff can request a referral to Optima Health at any time, through their line manager or HR representative.
Man MOT
We all know that our car needs a regular MOT, but what about an MOT for ourselves? Men’s Health Forum provides our staff with access to a DIY Man MOT tool, they promise it doesn’t involve any spanners and is a free health check.
Slimming World
The Trust is supporting staff in their health and wellbeing by providing the next phase of the successful Weight Management programme in conjunction with Slimming World. To qualify for free membership and 12-week programme to Slimming World your BMI must be above 25.
VDUs
To promote good eye health, the Trust supports all members of staff who regularly use a Visual Display Unit (VDU) with paid eye tests and a contribution towards their frames.
The Decider
The Trust offers Decider Skills training which uses Cognitive Behaviour Therapy to teach children, young people and adults the skills to recognise their own thoughts, feelings and behaviours, enabling them to monitor and manage their own emotions and mental health. Complex psychological theory has been distilled into highly effective, evidence based skills for individuals and organisations.
Chaplaincy Services
The Trust chaplains provide a space for all employees and provide a listening ear, emotional, spiritual and pastoral support. They can provide support during a crisis, bereavements, as well as during normal times. They will pray for you, be available with an on-going presence, visit you, provide care for you and lead any formal religious services. The Trust has several faith chaplains that are available to contact visit the Health and Wellbeing website for further information.
Health and Wellbeing Roadshows
Our health and wellbeing team organises annual Health and Wellbeing roadshows where they visit various Trust sites, offering staff free health checks, signposting and make them aware of support available to all employees.
The roadshows are a great way to learn about the health and wellbeing offerings available and to take part in our competitions for the quickest distance on our Trust rowing machine and exercise bike.
Mental Health First Aiders
The Trust currently has 428 trained Mental Health First Aiders (MHFAs) who have completed the two-day course. A wide range of people have undertaken then MHFA training from operational staff, corporate and staff in support roles. You can identify a MHFA by this logo, which may be displayed on their email footer, or lanyard.
What Else?
We also offer an annual flu vaccination programme; free sanitary products; menopause champions and health and wellbeing champions to support our staff.
Travel
We work in partnership with Fleet Solutions to offer lease car options through a salary sacrifice scheme. Find out more here
In addition, we operate a Cycle to Work scheme with Evans Cycles. Find out more here.
Expenses
Mileage is paid to employees who are travelling for work purposes in excess of your normal home to be base mileage.
Networks
The Trust’s staff network are employee run communities that provide a space to discuss issues, help raise awareness of issues within the wider organisation, positively influence change, and provide a source of support for individuals who may be facing challenges at work. We have six staff networks:
- Disability, Carers & Advocates (DCA) Network
- ONE Network
- Proud Network
- Military Network
- Women’s Network
- Student Network
To find out more, please click here.
Recognition
It is extremely important to recognise individuals who go the extra mile. Staff of West Midlands Ambulance Service are honoured at an annual awards ceremony for their long-standing commitment and good conduct by receiving the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (for 20 years’ frontline service), and certificates for 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 years long service. Chief Officer Commendations are awarded with an array of other award categories to staff who have gone above and beyond the call of duty. In a separate event on the same day, a second awards ceremony celebrates those who do not pass by when someone is in need. Members of the public from across the West Midlands including young children and those who work as volunteers supporting their community and the Ambulance Service, are all invited to receive awards for their brave and selfless actions. 2022 saw the introduction of 10 and 15 Years’ Long Service awards and an afternoon tea is now held annually to recognise these achievements.