For parents or carers, working as part of a team that delivers care 24 hours a day, juggling family and work responsibilities can be a real challenge. Parents working in the NHS need practical solutions to enable them to strike a better work/life balance and improve their working lives. The Trust’s Childcare Co-­ordination team can help find childcare and acts as an advocate, advisor and source of information for NHS staff. They can help with Tax Credits through to flexible working, maternity/adoption and paternity rights. The Childcare Co-­ordination team has set up and facilitates various initiatives including:

• Childcare Vouchers
• Advice and support
• Support in securing Childcare options
• A co-ordinated approach to managing Paternity/Adoption and Maternity leave and addressing the needs of pregnant staff.

You can phone the Childcare Co-ordination lead Linda Carpenter on 01872 25 2476 or email: lindacarpenter@nhs.net More detailed information for staff already working within the NHS in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly is available on the staff intranet.

The Occupational Health service promotes the health of all staff and advises on health in the workplace on a confidential basis. This includes comprehensive health promotion programmes, for example assistance to stop smoking, immunisation programmes, and a confidential counselling service for employees. With three main offices and a number of satellite clinics the Occupational Health service aims to create a friendly, supportive environment for the benefit of all employees.

You can contact the Occupational Health team by telephoning 01872 252770.

Funded from the Improving Working Lives (IWL) Cornwall NHS Staff Lottery, the IWL Staff Benefits Group aim to support health and wellbeing in the workplace, help create a healthy work life balance and offer a range of staff benefits. The IWL staff group is run by staff for staff and open to all employees.

Application to join the staff lottery

The Trust is committed to promoting a healthy work­ life balance to enable employees to combine work with non­-work and domestic responsibilities through a number of flexible working and leave policies. The Trust is committed to ensuring that all employees have equal access to flexible working and leave policies. Options include, job sharing, part time working, term time working, compressed working and annualised hours.

It is important to the Trust that our staff can come to work in an environment and atmosphere that treats everyone equally and respects diversity.

We support our staff from minority groups or those that can face discrimination. We have established an Equality and Diversity Group to promote the interests of all, and represent groups in areas such as sexuality, faith, ethnicity and gender identity.

The Trust has been accredited as being positive about disability and awarded the Two­ Tick symbol to demonstrate this.

To be able to display this symbol we have demonstrated our commitment to take the following 5 actions:

• to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for job vacancy and consider them on their abilities
• to ensure there is a mechanism in place to discuss, at any time, but at least once a year, with disabled employees what can be done to make sure they can develop and use their abilities
• to make every effort when employees become disabled to make sure they stay in employment
• to take action to ensure that all employees develop the appropriate level of disability awareness needed to make these commitments work
• each year to review the five commitments and what has been achieved, plan ways to improve on them and let employees and Jobcentre Plus know about progress and future plans.

Membership of the NHS Pension Scheme is available to all health service employees, except those in receipt of their NHS Pension. (Re­employed NHS Pensioners may join the Trust’s alternative pension scheme, NEST ­ the National Employer Savings Trust).

There are now 2 sections of the NHS Pension Scheme running, the 1995 Section and 2008 Section – membership of which is determined by when you commenced your NHS employment.

The rate of contribution is based on the amount of your whole­time equivalent rate of pay and varies between 5 and 13.3%. Your employer currently contributes 14%.

The scheme offers you:

• A retirement pension based on your years of scheme membership
• Tax free lump sum on retirement – not automatic in the 2008 section
• Life insurance of 2 years pay from your first day of Scheme membership
• Early Benefits after only 2 years membership (subject to NHS Pensions Agency approval) if you have to leave work due to permanent ill health before your normal retirement age (60 in the 1995 Section, 65 in the 2008 Section).

The facility to make Additional Voluntary Contributions through the Prudential or Standard Life is also available. You can also make payments towards the purchase of Additional Pension in the NHS Pension Scheme. Details on all pension top ups described are available on the Agency website: www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/pensions.

This scheme is open to all staff, and provides a top up to your salary if you suffer a reduction in pay, due to extended sickness absence caused by an injury sustained at work.

For more information visit the Agency’s website as detailed above. Alternatively you can contact the NHS Pensions Agency direct 0300 330 1346 or the Trusts Pension Officers on: 01872 258420/8421/8423/8425

The Trust offers some funding for tuition fees for relevant professional qualifications. Conditions apply and depend on availability of grants.

We work closely with all trade unions and professional bodies to develop employee relations and consult on important policies and procedures. Contact information for the Trade Unions and professional bodies can be found on our staff intranet site.

In accordance with the Trade Union Act 2016, and subsequently the Trade Union (Facility Time Publication Requirements) Regulations 2017, the Trust is now required to collect and publish information on Trade Union Facility Time.

The first requirement to publish this information will be by 31st July this year, for the period April 1st, 2017 – March 31st, 2018. The report is available here Facility Time Report.

Limited staff car parking is available at each of our main sites and in Truro there are two Park and Ride facilities. Salary sacrifice schemes are available to purchase car parking permits. We also encourage sustainable travel and promote cycle to work schemes, public transport and car sharing schemes. Cycle storage facilities and showers are available on all our main sites.