SPS employs approximately 4,600 staff across our prisons, headquarters, and other sites. The hard work of our staff is the most critical component in the successful delivery of Scotland’s prison system.
It is essential that staff feel a sense of satisfaction from work and can see that their contributions are recognised and rewarded. Our Reward Offer has been designed to meet our employees’ diverse needs and aspirations and enable the achievement of our Corporate Objectives.
Pay
Each role in the SPS is attached to a Pay Band within our Pay Structure and the annual Pay Review ensures that salaries are both competitive and fair. The SPS is proud to be a Living Wage employer; representing our commitment to ensuring that employees can earn a wage which is enough to live on.
On successful completion of Probation, employees can also progress through the relevant Pay Band, receiving an annual incremental pay increase up to the Pay Band Maximum.
Current SPS employees can access their Payslip on the iPayview portal.
Pensions
Along with your salary, your pension is one of the most important benefits of joining the Civil Service. If this is the first time you’ve worked for a public sector employer, you’ll be able to choose between alpha (a ‘career average’ scheme) and partnership (a ‘defined contribution’ arrangement).
- In alpha your pension builds up quickly when you add your member contribution to your generous employer’s contribution. For example, if you earn up to £34,199, you will contribute 4.6% of your salary and the SPS will contribute 28.97%. (2024-27 contribution rates).
- The partnership pension account is an alternative to the Civil Service Pension Scheme and is managed by a third party - Legal & General. You can choose how much you want to contribute and the money that you and/or the SPS pay into your plan builds up your pension pot. Your pension pot is invested in investment funds.
Full details of both schemes can be found on the Civil Service website.
Work-Life Balance
• The SPS has a generous annual leave allowance, rising to 42 days per annum after five years’ service.
• Qualifying employees are entitled to 27 weeks’ full basic maternity/adoption pay, followed by 12 weeks’ statutory maternity/adoption pay.
• Shared Parental Leave and Pay enables eligible parents to choose how to share the care of their child during the first year after birth or adoption.
• Qualifying employees are entitled to 2 weeks paid paternity leave.
• Special leave allows staff members to apply for time off in addition to annual leave in certain circumstances and for compassionate reasons. Special leave can be granted with or without pay.
• Flexible working covers a variety of arrangements for organising working time, whether it be the number of hours worked, the number of days attended and/or the place an employee carries out their duties from. SPS staff have the right to request flexible working from Day One of employment.
Benefits
Within the first two months of employment, all SPS employees can access our employee benefits platform which provides:
• Exclusive discounts and savings with hundreds of retailers and service providers.
• Affordable access to home and technology products via salary deductions.
• Save up to 47% on a bike and/or cycle safety accessories via the Cycle to Work Scheme.
• Claim 100% of NHS dental treatment costs and claim towards the cost of your private treatments with Dental Insurance.
• Discounts of up to 25% across more than 3700 different gyms and leisure providers.
• Resources to support your financial wellbeing.
Recognition
There are several awards, internal and external to SPS that employees may be eligible for. The type of award that is appropriate will depend on the reason for the nomination, for example it may be in recognition of a one-off impact success story or for a consistent high achiever. Visit the Butler Trust site to see how SPS staff past and present have been recognised externally for the extraordinary work they do.
Employees with long service bring valuable knowledge and experience of working at SPS. To recognise this contribution, there are two categories of award available to staff who meet long service and good conduct criteria.
Give As You Earn to Charity
Give As You Earn is a straightforward way to make a direct gift from pay to chosen charities. If an employee makes a donation, SPS will deduct the chosen amount from earnings each month before tax is calculated, making the donation tax-free.