Just as there’s more to life than work… there’s more to how we reward your contribution to Osborne Clarke than simply your salary. We want you to have the freedom and flexibility to select the benefits that are right for you. We pay for your core benefits as we feel they are so important for you and your family. These include:

  • Critical illness (treated as a taxable benefit)
  • Employer pension contributions
  • Income protection
  • Life assurance
  • Private medical insurance (treated as a taxable benefit)
  • Virtual GP

You will also have the opportunity to make changes to your core benefits as well as select additional benefits to suit your lifestyle through FLEX, our flexible benefits platform. You will receive information on how to log into FLEX when you join the Firm.

See what’s on offer…

Your financial wellnessYour health and wellbeingYour lifestyleFamily-friendly policies

 


Your financial wellness

Benefits to help you with your financial planning – now and in the future

Bonus and recognition
At the heart of our bonus philosophy is the principle that as our business does well so do you.

  1. Profit share The objective of the Profit Share Scheme is to encourage you to contribute towards our success through team working, collegiality and a one-firm approach. This is done by rewarding you for your contribution to our performance.
  2. Performance bonus We are committed to recognising and rewarding top talent, high performance and a wide variety of contribution. Performance bonuses, including a Long Term Investment Plan (LTIP) have become a key element in our overall approach to reward as they directly and very personally reward specific contributions and performance that are aligned with the achievement of our business objectives. The LTIP aligns top talent by having a larger bonus option with a phased pay out.
  3. Recognition awards We also operate a non-cash recognition award scheme that is designed to recognise exceptional effort, contribution or performance in a very timely fashion when someone has gone ‘the extra mile’.

Critical illness – spouse/partner
This is a specialised insurance providing a lump sum payment should you suffer from certain specific critical conditions. Cover is also available for your spouse/partner. You can select to pay for cover between £10k - £250k.

Life assurance
This benefit gives financial support to your family if the worst were to happen. It pays out a one-off tax-free lump sum if you die while working for us. We automatically provide you with cover that’s equivalent to 4 x your salary at no cost to you. However, you can pay towards a higher level of cover if you want to, in multiples of 1 times your salary, or choose a lower level (minimum of 2 x salary) and receive some cash back into your salary.

Life assurance – spouse/partner
Life assurance for your spouse or partner provides a tax-free cash lump sum in the event of your spouse or partner’s death while you are employed by the company.

Pension
We all want to look forward to a secure retirement, so it’s important to start to make provision for our retirement as early as possible, however far off it may seem. Contributions start at 3% of your basic salary, with a 5% employer contribution from Osborne Clarke. The more you contribute to your pension, the more Osborne Clarke will contribute (up to a maximum of 8%). Contributions are via salary sacrifice and therefore qualify for tax relief, meaning contributions are deducted from your gross pay (prior to tax and NI).

Will Writing
A large part of our lives is spent working to provide for ourselves, and our family. But we should also think about what will happen after we are gone. This benefit offers you preferential rates with a firm that specialises in will writing.

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Your health and wellbeing

Benefits that focus on your physical, mental and emotional health

Cancer screening for you and your spouse/partner
We offer reduced corporate rates for various cancer screening options, including online questionnaires, easy-to-use advanced home-testing kits, personalised programmes, hospital appointments and referrals.

Dental
You have the option of taking out private dental cover for you, your spouse/partner and/or dependants. This benefit offers you preferential rates with three levels of cover to choose from.

Eye tests
All employees are entitled to an eye examination every two years. If your optician recommends that you need glasses solely for PC use, we will contribute up to £70 to meet the cost of a pair of lenses and frame.

Health assessments for you and your spouse/partner via Nuffield
We offer reduced corporate rates for health assessments through Nuffield. The health assessment programme helps to maintain your health by identifying risk factors and suggesting changes to your lifestyle. It provides you with a detailed picture of how healthy you are and enables you to take control of your health and lifestyle for the future. Health assessments may also diagnose an illness at an early stage.

Income protection
Our income protection ensures that you’ll continue to receive a proportion of your salary in the event of an illness or injury that prevents you from working for a prolonged period. The premium is paid for by us and is not a taxable benefit.

Private medical insurance
Our private medical plan allows you to receive treatment for a wide range of acute medical conditions at a time and place convenient to you. The level of cover funded by us is confirmed in your employment contract and you can choose to increase cover to one of the following options:

  • Couple
  • Family
  • Single parent

The plan covers pre-existing medical conditions, but does have limitations when it comes to conditions that are deemed by the insurance market as ‘chronic’, in other words not currently curable, only manageable through lifestyle changes or medication; for example, diabetes or asthma. The private medical insurance premium is paid on your behalf. However, this is a taxable benefit As such, you will pay an additional amount in tax via the monthly payroll. You will be issued with a revised tax code to take account of this and the amount paid will be detailed in your annual P11D form (please note, this amount will vary year on year). Virtual GP This benefit provides 24/7 cover, enabling you speak with a GP anytime, anywhere and, if appropriate, you can be issued a private prescription and/or a GP referral. We provide cover for both you and your family.

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Your lifestyle

Benefits that help you enjoy life in and out of work – while making savings at the same time

Government childcare scheme
Parents with children aged 11 or under, and who meet the eligibility criteria, can now join the scheme by accessing the Government’s Tax-Free Childcare website. The scheme works by topping up every £8 you pay in with an extra £2. You can receive up to £2,000 per child – that’s up to £500 every three months.

Car leasing scheme
Thinking of a new car? You can be the driver of a new Ultra Low Emission car via a leasing arrangement in exchange for a reduction in salary saving you money on your Tax and NI. This is a taxable benefit. The value of the benefit is calculated as a percentage of the list price of the car based on a scale of the CO2 emissions. This amount will be detailed in your annual P11D form and as such, you will pay a small additional amount in tax via the monthly payroll.

Cycle to work
If you’re keen on cycling to work, we can offer you a bicycle through the Government’s cycle-to-work scheme, saving you up to 42% off retail prices (depending on your tax bracket).

Employee assistance programme
From time to time, we all have issues that affect our wellbeing, whether it’s a personal matter such as buying a new house or a relationship breakdown, or something that’s happening at work. We understand the importance of having information at your fingertips or someone to talk to when you need it so we have an independent Employee Assistance Programme that you and your family can access anonymously all day every day.

Give as you earn
Hands On Payroll Giving is a professional fundraising organisation we have chosen to work with to help promote and manage payroll giving. You can make regular, tax-free donations to any charity of your choice, with donations being taken each month from your salary before tax, which means more money goes to your charity.

MyGymDiscounts
This benefit provides you with access to reduced membership rates for over 3,000 gyms, health clubs, leisure centres and more.

Holiday 
his benefit gives you the option to buy or sell holiday to fit with your plans for the next year. You can buy or sell up to a maximum of one working week – that’s five days if you work full time, or pro rata if you work part time.

Long-service rewards
In recognition of your commitment to the Firm, long-service rewards are awarded on 10 years, 15 years, 20 years, 25 years, 30 years, 35 years, 40 years and 50 years’ continuous service anniversaries.

Personal travel insurance
You have the option of taking out personal travel insurance for you, your spouse/partner and/or dependants. This benefit offers you peace of mind while you’re away, by giving you comprehensive insurance cover for personal insurance. You can choose from two levels of cover to suit your needs:

  • Worldwide (with winter sports); or
  • European (with winter sports).

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Family-friendly policies

Going on family leave is a significant moment in your personal and business life and we are committed to investing in and supporting you through such a significant transition. One of the ways we do this is through providing Family Leave Coaching.

Maternity Leave
We offer an enhanced maternity-leave package. We pay 26 weeks at full pay if you have at least one year’s continuous employment with us at your expected week of childbirth. We offer paid leave if you are pursuing a programme of IVF treatment.

Paternity Leave
We offer two weeks’ paternity leave at full pay if you have at least one year’s continuous employment with us at your expected week of childbirth.

Shared parental leave
We offer an enhanced shared parental leave (ShPL) package. In addition to statutory shared parental leave pay, we offer up to 26 weeks’ full pay to employees who have at least one year’s continuous employment with us at the expected week of childbirth.

Dependant care/compassionate leave
Paid leave will be granted to help you manage unexpected family situations or bereavement. 

Family Caring
We have made a commitment to helping you manage your caring responsibilities by partnering with My Family Care. As members of Carers UK’s Employers for Carers network, you also have complimentary access to resources and support for carers which include advice, emotional and practical support in preparing for managing your day-to-day life as a working parent or carer.

Fertility and Reproductive & Sexual Health Support
Through our partnership with Fertifa, we provide you with personalised guidance and support on your fertility journey. You also have access to a dedicated, trained reproductive and sexual health advisor. Women’s reproductive health includes guidance and support on preparing for, or going through, the menopause, STIs, fibroids, endometriosis and other conditions. Men’s reproductive health includes prostate or testicular cancer, as well as  sexual health.

We also provide paid initiatives including flu jabs, online yoga and Pilate classes and professional subscriptions.

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