Rewards and Recognition
Good employee retention depends in part on appropriately rewarding staff for their contribution to the company's success. Our Group Pension Director is responsible for the development and implementation of our Total Rewards Programme in the UK.
We aim to provide equivalent pay rates to those of similar businesses in our geographical areas, along with a broader package of benefits developed in consultation with our employees.
Share Schemes
One of the key components of our benefits package is our highly successful employee share scheme offering savings and investment opportunities for employees buying shares in First.
Our Save As You Earn (SAYE) scheme enables employees to make regular, risk-free savings to a 'sharesave' account. After three years a guaranteed, tax-free bonus is added and there is the option to use the savings to buy discounted FirstGroup plc shares. Our 2003 SAYE offer matured in February 2007, resulting in windfalls of more than £2,500 for those saving an average of £50 each month.
"We helped our youngest son buy a house." Surjeet, Northampton on SAYE.
Our Buy As You Earn (BAYE) scheme offers employees the opportunity to buy FirstGroup plc shares from their gross pay, saving income tax and National Insurance. The Company also contributes the equivalent number of shares without charge.
We keep our employees abreast of monthly BAYE purchases and movements in our share price via workplace posters and our intranet.
Financial Management
All of our UK Bus employees have access to two credit unions, one for England and Wales and the other for Scotland, and over 10,000 participate in them. The credit unions encourage regular saving and offer loans at reasonable rates. This is a particularly valuable facility for those who may find it difficult to borrow elsewhere.
This year we also introduced a Financial Education programme in partnership with the Financial Services Authority. This helps our employees to understand the financial opportunities available within and outside First, as well as advising on how to avoid unscrupulous dealers.
Pension
We are committed to providing good pension options for our employees. The First UK Bus Pension Scheme is a salary-related pension scheme. The scheme's Benefits Builder Plan enables employees to target the pension they want with a choice of benefit levels. In addition, First pays 60% of the overall costs.
Recognition
We also seek to recognise our employees for their commitment to the company, in particular where they go above and beyond the call of duty. An employee recognition initiative has recently been launched to reward those employees who have played an important part in the delivery of quality service to our customers.