Top 50 Indie Penny Petroleum has beefed up its employment package for its nearly 1,000 staff, with improved maternity and paternity rights, time off for fertility treatment, and a private health plan.
The Alnwick-based business, which has recently been re-branded Penny on the Move and operates over 90 forecourts, says that the move builds on earlier efforts to prioritise the welfare of its workforce, who are paid £12 an hour in line with the real Living Wage, set by the Living Wage Foundation.
Its ”colleagues” also have access to a PennyWise discount app which gives them money-off vouchers, discount codes and cash back with more than 1,000 companies, including supermarkets, holiday agents, and pet insurance providers. And its store managers have the opportunity to earn a bonus of 10% of their annual salary if they hit certain annual targets.
Under the new arrangements, the company has raised maternity pay to 90% of salary for 26 weeks. And paternity pay has been increased to three weeks at 90% of pay. Previously, in both cases, it offered the statutory requirements.
Employees going through the adoption or fertility process will also be given the opportunity of paid time off on a case by case basis. And staff have the chance to opt into an insurance plan with Westfield Health, with beneficial rates and monthly payments covering medical, dental, eye test and chiropody expenses.
The latest improvements, which were announced last month, have already been having an impact, says the comapny’s senior human resources business partner Tim Coid. “A store manager has told us that without the change they would have reduced the time they took off to look after their baby, and would have returned to work in a number of weeks rather than months because of the financial pressure they would have been under,” he says.
“As a family business we know the importance of keeping family at the heart of everything we do, and supporting colleagues to grow their own family is important to us, as is removing some of the financial pressures that this may cause,” he adds.
The business, the fifth biggest independent forecourt operator, says that motivating staff feeds through to customers receiving a better service.
