Benefits
As well as offering the opportunity to make a real difference to people’s lives, a career with the Home Office comes with a range of amazing benefits.
As well as offering the opportunity to make a real difference to people’s lives, a career with the Home Office comes with a range of amazing benefits.
When you join us you’ll receive:
- A competitive starting salary
- A Civil Service Pension with employer contribution rates of at least 26.6%
- The ability to potentially adopt flexible working options that suit your work/life balance
- 25 days annual leave on appointment, rising with service
- 8 days public holidays, plus 1 day for the Queen’s birthday
- 26 weeks maternity, adoption or shared parental leave at full pay, followed by 13 weeks statutory pay and a further 13 weeks unpaid
- Maternity and adoption support leave (also known as paternity leave) of 2 weeks full pay
- Up to 5 days paid leave for volunteering
- Support and study leave for accredited learning and development relevant to your role
- The option to apply for a season ticket or cycle to work loan
- The ability to apply for a rental deposit loan
- Access to staff support networks to support your wellbeing
- An employee assistance programme
- Discounted gym memberships
- Access to employee discounts from a variety of retailers and staff recognition schemes including retail vouchers
- The opportunity to make tax free donations to charity through payroll giving
Pay and allowances
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Starting pay on recruitment is normally the minimum of the pay range for the grade, or the specific ‘spot rate’ for the Administrative Assistants (AA) and AO grades. The pay range for the role you are applying for will always be detailed in the job advert.
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The pay for individual roles can vary if, for example, we offer a supplement for specialist skills.
For external candidates, we also have discretion to set salaries above the minimum of the pay range, in all cases subject to the maximum of that range and where candidates have exceptional relevant skills and experience. Where candidates have exceptional relevant skills and experience, we may also offer a Recruitment and Retention Allowance (RRA). The job advert will set out whether or not RRA or any supplement for specialist skills may be applicable.
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We offer additional payments for overtime, shift and on-call duties in line with the flexibility employees offer to cover duties and responsibilities.
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If you are joining us on promotion from another government department, you will receive either a 10% increase in salary (basic pay plus London Allowance, if paid separately) or you will move to the higher-grade range minimum, whichever is greater. If the pay resulting from the 10% increase is above the maximum of the new grade, the difference will be held on a ‘mark-time’ basis.
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If you are joining us on level transfer you will retain your existing basic pay if your location, either London or National, remains the same. Any London Allowance, if paid separately, will be added to basic pay and honoured if the new role is at a London location.
If you join us on level transfer and move from one geographical area to another, you will be placed on the Home Office pay range for your grade and area, and then moved to the relevant position on the new pay range area. If the other government department’s salary is above the Home Office maximum for that area, the difference will be retained on a ‘mark-time’ basis in the new area.
Pension
All Home Office civil servants are invited to join the Principal Civil Service Pension scheme, which offers generous defined benefits, including:
- A Defined Benefit (DB) scheme open to new joiners – member contribution rates start at 8% and as the employer we will contribute at least 26.6%, rising to 30.3% of your pensionable earnings, depending on your salary.
- Death in Service benefits for your loved ones, including lump sum payments
- Options to boost your pension
- Ill health retirement options
- A Defined Contribution pension option if Defined Benefits aren’t right for you.
Pensions can be a complicated subject, so this is only a summary of what could be available to you. You can find out pretty much everything you might want to know about the Civil Service Pension schemes via the dedicated Civil Service Pension scheme website.
You might also find it useful to refer to the government’s free, impartial Money Advice Service pages which explain some of the technical jargon and help you consider what might be right for you.
Cycle to work scheme
The Home Office’s cycle to work scheme is managed by Edenred and allows staff to save on the cost of a new bike and safety equipment.
The scheme works through the staff member allocating part of their salary to pay for bike and safety equipment for either 12 or 18 months, saving them money on tax and National Insurance contributions.
Recognition – Performance and thank you vouchers
This scheme allows managers to reward staff for instances of excellent performance or significant contributions to the department. These rewards take the form of vouchers that can be spent at a variety of high street retailers.