Employee Benefits
Colleagues at Lothian have access to a wide range of in-house benefits, as well as everyday purchases online and on the high street.
Competitive Salaries
All of our colleagues earn a competitive salary, with an enhanced overtime rate for our driving and engineering colleagues. Colleagues enjoy attractive holiday packages in their contract of employment, allowing for generous time off throughout the year.
Company Pension
The Lothian Buses Group Personal Pension Scheme is administered by Scottish Widows and is available to all new colleagues.
Employee contributions are set at 5.0% and employer contributes are set at 3.0% but employees can pay more if they wish.
From July 2023, Lothian Colleagues can take part in a salary exchange scheme to make pension contributions. Under the scheme, colleagues will exchange part of their salary in return for an equivalent pension contribution into their own personal pension. This ensures that National Insurance Contributions are reduced and net pay (after income tax and NI contributions) will increase.
Life Cover
In the unfortunate event of a death in service, family members will receive a payment whether or not the deceased employee was a member of a company pension scheme. For more information, contact our Payroll team.
HSF Health Plan
All permanently employed colleagues are automatically enrolled into the Hospital Saturday Fund (HSF) health plan on the V1 level which is fully funded by Lothian.
HSF provides affordable money back plans for you and your family, with other 35 benefits, cover is available on optical and dental bills, numerous treatments and special consultations. The plan allows colleagues access to a GP Advice Line and a virtual doctor. Colleagues can also add their children to their health plan, covering them up to the age of 18 provided they live at the same address.
For all colleagues, HSF will set up an account within the first month of employment and then contact you via email confirming your policy number and instructions on how to set up your HSF online account.
If you do not receive a policy number, please email [email protected] - please make sure to include your date of birth, postcode and that you work for Lothian in your email.
Perkbox
Perkbox is an employee benefits platform which gives you access to a numerous perks and benefits, including retail discounts, entertainment deals and much more.
Alongside great discounts, HSF Perkbox’s wellness section offers colleagues visual content and tips to improve mental wellbeing and physical fitness.
Perkbox is available to Lothian employees through HSF Health Plan. To access these discounts, colleagues must set up their HSF account first.
Once the HSF online account is set up, employees can access the Perkbox page within the HSF website to set up their account, using their name, email address and HSF policy number.
The Perkbox account should be activated within 48 hours and colleagues will receive a welcome email from Perkbox.
For technical support, please contact HSF on 020 7202 1380 or by email to [email protected], providing name and date of birth.
Colleague Offers
There are also amazing local offers for colleagues to enjoy throughout Edinburgh and the Lothians. These offers allow access to great discounts at some local businesses as well as discounted entry to some of Edinburgh’s iconic attractions.
Privilege Ridacard
All Lothian colleagues benefit from FREE travel on all of our buses across our network as well as Edinburgh Trams. Colleagues can also get a Privilege Ridacard for a family member or friend at a heavily discounted price of £76 which gives unlimited travel across Lothian’s network for 12 months. This is a 90% discount on our annual Adult Ridacard prices. Colleagues can apply by downloading a form from MyLothian, or by picking up a form from their main workplace.
Cycle to Work Scheme
Our new Cycle to Work Scheme offers you the chance to purchase a new bike and equipment up to the value of £1,000. Those eligible under the scheme will be able to apply for a Hire Purchase Agreement up to the value of £1,000 for a new bike and equipment, which you can pay back weekly or monthly depending on the frequency of your salary.
The initiative, provided by Cyclescheme, lets you make savings by paying for a bike and/or accessories directly from your gross salary (before tax) through salary exchange. This means colleagues in the scheme can access significant savings on a new bike, which can be used on their daily commute, 50% of their daily commute or to exercise within their spare time.
bYond Card
bYond card is a prepaid card which enables cardholders to earn up to 15% cashback with every use. Colleagues use their card as they would a debit card, achieving cashback through everyday purchases at participating retailers. Your cashback is saved into your vault/savings pot which you can build throughout the year and use at a later date.
For just £5 a year, colleagues access savings at over 80 retailers including Asda, Boots, John Lewis and Primark and many more!
BHN Extras Discounts
BHN Extras Discounts grants colleagues access to amazing discounts across some of the high street’s biggest brands. Save up to 15% on physical and digital gift cards which can be used for your everyday purchases. There are also offers on theatre tickets, experience days and gifting options for special occasions.
Lothian Catering
At Lothian, we are incredibly lucky to have an amazing in-house catering team. Across our canteens, great nutritious food is available to colleagues. Our team have prepared a four-week rolling menu, using the finest quality, Scottish produce in their meals.
There is also a deli-bar offering fresh salad products every day. As we have our own catering team at Lothian, we are able to offer subsidised dining, meaning colleagues can access great food for less.
Canteen Hot Drinks Loyalty Card
Colleagues who buy a hot drink in our canteens will be given a loyalty card, and after the 7th purchase of a hot drink, the 8th is on us!
TRiM
Here at Lothian, our teams have rolled out a support service called Trauma Risk Incident Management (TRiM). TRiM is designed to assist people who have experienced a traumatic event to deal with it effectively. Lothian’s TRiM team will ensure a risk assessment is offered 72 hours after the incident for colleagues affected.
Lothian has 11 TRiM practitioners and 5 TRiM managers who have undergone specialist training to enable them to help support colleagues following a traumatic experience or event at work. These colleagues are non-medical personnel who understand confidentiality and are able to listen to what you have to say and offer practical advice and assistance.
Wellbeing Volunteers
Our Wellbeing Volunteers are available to offer colleagues a safe place to speak and voice any concerns they are having.
The volunteers, made up of Lothian colleagues from across the business are there to listen in confidence and without judgement. Some already have experience of helping others when they’ve found themselves in a difficult situation or struggled with their mental wellbeing. Our volunteers can signpost you to further help if you feel you need it, including places to get financial advice too.
Crisis Counselling Services
Colleagues can access counselling from Crisis, who offer professional, confidential one-to-one support, either at one of their centres or the workplace. They have experts who can advise on financial difficulties, should they arise.
Help@Hand App
Help@Hand is the award-winning health and wellbeing employee support app, offering high quality, on-demand support and lifestyle assistance.
On the app, colleagues can access 1-2-1 lifestyle coaching and other services, such as wellbeing resources on topics such as ‘Home & Life’, ‘Body’, ‘Mind’ and ‘Money’. The app also enables colleagues to access unlimited remote GP appointments, medical second opinions, mental health consultations and bereavement support.
The app also grants colleagues access to the Help@Hand benefits hub, where you can choose from a range of discounts and special offers.
To access this fantastic support, download the Help@Hand app from the Apple Store or Google Play store. When prompted to login/register, click on the register with company PIN button and enter the code 911726. All that’s left to do is to fill in your personal details and verify your account on your device.
As an insured employee, your partner/spouse and children are also eligible to access some of the app’s services. Please read the service eligibility guidelines for more details
