Employee Benefits

Employee benefits

'Here at The Students’ Union at UWE our people are our biggest resource, facilitating the things students get involved in and the services that are provided. Having the right people, passion, skills and experience are vital to our future success. To support our teams to deliver the services, we have a wide range of benefits that staff can enjoy and engage with. Many of these are listed below along with some testimonies about how staff find working for The Students’ Union.'

Tim Benford, CEO of The Students' Union at UWE

Healthshield

•Individual Member Portal and Individual Plan

•Claim back costs on various medical and holistic treatments (sports massages, optical appointments, counselling, CBT, MRI Scans etc)

•Employee assistance including counselling sessions, financial support and tax advise 

•Discounts

•Blogs, wellbeing articles and support

https://www.healthshield.co.uk/

 

Current employees: log in with your member login to see how Healthshield can support you

 

Work Environment and Holiday

•27 Days Holiday Entitlement + Bank Holidays + Closure Days (Christmas and Easter)

•Wellbeing Room (Frenchay Campus), Sanitary Station and Wellbeing Resources

•Relaxed working/ office environment

•Monthly pay day events

•Christmas party/ activities

•Summer Party

•Various working groups and committees (Wellbeing Committee, Inclusion and Diversity working group, VOICE Committee)

Current employees: log-in to PeopleHR to view your holiday entitlement. Keep an eye on your emails for details of pay day events, parties and social activities. Email the HR team to get involved in a working group or committee

Discounts and Schemes

•Cycle to work scheme

•Bike scheme

•Free access to University learning/ library resources

•WISER – Opportunity to learn new skills in different roles/ departments

•Discount in Union 2 (Frenchay Campus)

•Death in Service Benefit

•Affordable Parking

•Ability to purchase a TOTUM card

Current employees: speak to your manager or email HR to find out more about these discounts and schemes

Partnerships and Mental Wellbeing

•Employee Assistance Programme

•Partnership with Mind (training, resources etc.)

•Wellness Action Plans

•Community Volunteering Policy

•Reading materials

•Sleep trackers

Current employees: keep an eye on the monthly wellbeing newsletters or speak to HR about these resources


 

Testimonies

‘I love working in a relaxed inclusive office, people always comment when they walk in that it has a different ‘feel’ to other offices, we are here to facilitate the students enjoying their time at UWE , on a good day we will be busy with students meeting their friends, there is usually music playing, and the place is busy with activity.

Due to this relaxed environment of the Students Union, I always enjoy coming in, I enjoy chatting to all the students and visitors that come into the building as well as all my colleagues. I never know what tasks  I’ll be doing from day to day, one day I might be organising a Silent disco, putting on a super smash tournament, making mocktails or giving out condoms, I love the variety that my job brings. I feel that everyone has an input in the running of the organisation no matter what their position and I feel looked after as an employee, through all the wellbeing and engagement activities offered, and the option of personal career development.’
‘I always wanted to be the stay at home dad, unfortunately my personal circumstances didn’t allow for that.

I did however make the conscious choice to my current level/role and be content with my career in an interesting and diverse sector renowned for its flexibility. The Students Union have been able to accommodate a flexible working pattern that has enabled me to be as involved in my sons life as I can be. A chance to really be present.
If a big part of the fight for equality includes tackling the gender pay gap then allowing fathers the opportunity to be more involved in their children’s lives is one of the biggest influencers enabling equal opportunity for parents to earn and parent.  

Then there’s the social side. We work hard….we play hard! Part of the well-rounded nature of this business is the well managed work-life balance that also feeds into my job satisfaction. We have always maintained a fun and professional atmosphere, whilst engaging with our teams and across the company on a wide variety of events, training and wellbeing activities.   I am never clock watching here!
‘I started working at the Students’ Union at UWE in December 2019. I immediately felt welcomed from the entire office, and very quickly felt like I was apart of the team. The Students’ Union at UWE is an incredibly supportive workplace, with plenty of opportunities and avenues to ensure your voice and opinions are heard, for example through the VOICE representatives and ‘Start, Stop and Continue’ surveys. Along with the supportive network, there are also lots of opportunities for continuing professional development. In the past year, I have had the opportunity to participate in a Mental Health First Aid course and ‘Student Minds Mental Health in Sport, Train the Trainer’ programme, which allows me to provide Mental Health workshops to student groups, and is also a great edition to my CV!‘
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