Employee perks and benefits

Many jobs at Colchester City Council can be undertaken flexibly, depending on the needs of the service you work for. Flexible working options are available to all staff - not just those with children or caring responsibilities.

When you come into work and when you leave does not necessarily have to follow the traditional 9 to 5 routine. Staff can apply for flexible working on either a temporary or permanent basis.

Flexible working at the council

We encourage our employees to talk to their manager about flexible work hours that suit both their lifestyle and the day-to-day needs of Council services.

We offer several options to ensure that employees maintain a healthy work-life balance.

• Flexible contracts - not everyone wants to work full-time so we encourage services to employ people on contracts such as job share, part-time, term-time, casual or annualised hours.
• Flexitime scheme - the working hours and working patterns of most jobs can be flexible within the contracted weekly/monthly total. If you work more than your contracted hours, you can take time back as 'flex'.
• Hot desking - employees share an area with other colleagues throughout most of our offices. 'Clear desks' with adjustable IT kit and chairs mean that people can work together or independently in different parts of the office.
• Working from home - with agreement from your manager, this can be done on a regular or occasional basis, depending on the needs of your service.
• Special leave - in certain circumstances you will be able to take additional time off, which may be either paid or unpaid.
• Extended holidays/sabbaticals - with agreement from your manager and Head of Service, employees can take unpaid time off work to pursue other personal interests, family commitments and so on.
• Pre-retirement flexible working - a number of the above options are of benefit to people considering retirement.