Pay and hours

Your contract will tell you your working hours, salary, place of work, annual leave entitlement, sick pay entitlement, pension information and notice periods.

Ask your manager or the HR team if you have any questions. 

PCH pay your salary competitively and we always check against other housing associations on how we’re doing.

Depending on our finances, our Board may agree a pay award after the yearly review. Any agreed increase comes into effect from the 1 April.

We also pay additional allowances for employees who have added responsibilities like being a First Aider for instance.

You will receive your pay by BACS transfer to a bank or building society of your choice in twelve equal monthly payments on the last working day of the month unless you’re told otherwise.

Make sure you send in any expense or petrol claims by the payroll deadlines that we’ll let you know about on Jannet.

We have a dedicated Payroll team who will make sure that we are paid. Your payslip will be available via Cascade and payroll will inform you when this is ready

We are unable to pay salary advances to any employees. If you find yourself in financial difficulty, please speak to your line manager in confidence or Care First our Employee Assistance Provider.

We operate a Flexi Scheme at PCH for some roles, If your role or service supports this you may be able to work flexibly so that you can balance your home and work life. 

• Flexi time – a system that allows employees scope to vary their start/finish work time, built around Core Time, to suit their personal circumstances and business needs (must fulfil their monthly contracted hours)

• Flexi leave - employees who build up a surplus of hours may take additional leave (flexi-leave) which does not count against their contractual annual leave entitlement.  

You can find more information and guidance on Sharepoint.

Different arrangements will apply to different jobs. Occasionally for business reasons (emergencies, during very busy periods), you may need to work beyond your usual hours.  Any overtime will be at the discretion of management.  We look to maintain a healthy work/life balance by keeping overtime to a minimum and there will be occasions where overtime is not appropriate and where you may receive extra time paid in Time off in Lieu (‘TOIL’).  Time off in lieu is to be agreed upon by your manager in exceptional circumstances only. If you are expected to work overtime as part of your role you will be made aware of this in your Contract of Employment.

Your contract of employment will say how many hours a week you need to work. 

The European Working Time Regulations became effective on 1st October 1998. These regulations require that employers take all reasonable steps to ensure that workers do not exceed an average of 48 hours of weekly working time, and that adequate rest periods are provided. The term ‘additional employment’ refers to ANY work that you carry out for PCH or another employer, whether paid or unpaid which is in addition to your position at PCH.  As an employee, it is your responsibility to keep an eye on the hours you are working and to discuss with your manager and to complete a Declaration of Interest as soon as you take on additional employment.

From time to time you may have expenses from carrying out your role. You can claim these in line with the Staff Expenses Policy.

Claims for expenses need to be submitted through Cascade. Cascade should also be used for travel expenses, parking charges, bus fares and mileage.

Should you have any queries regarding expenses, the payroll team can be contacted via payroll@plymouthcommunityhomes.co.uk.

Social Housing Pension Scheme

We believe that we should all make adequate provision for our futures as the state pension provisions alone are likely to be insufficient for a secure retirement in years to come. PCH contributes generously to your pension savings and we encourage all our staff to join and remain in a scheme.

PCH is a member of the Social Housing Pensions Scheme (SHPS) operated by The Pensions Trust (TPT) and we offer a Defined Contribution (money purchase) pension. The company will contribute twice your contribution to a maximum limit. Some long-serving colleagues may have different pensions arising from historical arrangements which are no longer available.

Employees who meet the Government’s criteria for Workplace Pensions eligibility will be automatically enrolled into the SHPS Defined Contribution Scheme on joining but retain a right to opt-out after enrolment. In accordance with regulations, we will re-enrol you again 3 years after your opt but you continue to retain the opt-out right.

For more information on the scheme, please visit the Jannet page. 

Peninsula Pensions

This scheme is sometimes also referred to as the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) and is closed to new employees.

For PCH current employee/employer contribution rates please contact the payroll team on 389758.

We are a Family Friendly Company.

We understand the importance of maintaining a healthy balance between home life and work and are committed to supporting you where possible to maintain that balance. More information about our processes, along with details of eligibility, policies, procedures, pay and how to apply can be found here: https://intranet.ourpch.co.uk/hr/SitePages/Family%20Friendly.aspx

Flexible working

Our flexible working procedure offers employees, subject to eligibility, the opportunity to request changes to their employment to allow them to work more flexibly. The flexibility can be in terms of working time or the pattern of working. Flexible working practices may include:

• Part-time working

• Compressed hours

Details on how to apply for flexible working and the process can be found in the Flexible Working Procedure.

Maternity Leave & Pay

All expectant mothers are entitled to up to 52 weeks maternity leave (made up of 26 weeks of ordinary maternity leave & 26 weeks of additional maternity leave). In addition to Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), PCH offers an enhanced benefit of Occupational Maternity pay (OMP).

Adoption Leave & Pay

Adoption Leave & Pay is available to staff with 26 weeks of continuous service as of the week of notification of matching. Under PCH adoption provisions, there are two types of Adoption Pay, Statutory Adoption Pay and Occupational Adoption Pay. 

Paternity Leave & Pay

Paternity leave is for 1 or 2 weeks subject to meeting eligibility criteria.

Shared Parental Leave & Pay

Shared Parental Leave enables eligible parents to choose how to share the care of their child during the first year of birth or adoption. Its purpose is to give parents more flexibility in considering how to best care for, and bond with, their child. All eligible employees have a statutory right to take Shared Parental Leave. There may also be an entitlement to some Shared Parental Pay.

Parental Leave

Unpaid parental Leave is a provision for parents to take time off to look after a child or make arrangements for a child’s welfare.

Time off for Dependents

Time off for dependants is available to allow you the opportunity to manage unexpected or sudden problems relating to a dependant and make any necessary longer-term arrangements. 

In most cases, time off for dependants will be 1 to 2 days unpaid.

Bereavement Leave

In the event of the death of a member of your close family you may be granted up to 6 days paid bereavement leave (pro rata for part time employees).

Family Support Leave

In the event of an injury, critical illness or to come to terms with severe personal problems of a member of your close family, you will be entitled to take up to 3 days leave with pay following 2 days booked annual leave (pro rata for part-time employees). This is restricted to a maximum of 3 days for each one-off incident. 

All procedures can be found on the intranet or can be requested from your line manager or the HR department.

More information about each of the following, along with details of eligibility, processes, pay and how to apply can be requested from the HR department or online.