Membership of the NHS pension, enhanced annual leave and free parking at work are the three most common job perks offered to practice managers, results from our Practice Manager Salary Survey 2023/24 have shown.
Much rarer is for practices to offer a cycle to work scheme (which allows an employee to obtain a bike and/or cycling equipment at a reduced cost), gym membership and paid volunteering days – benefits that are more widely expected in the private sector (see also box below).
The survey of 975 UK practice managers in permanent jobs also revealed that just over half (54%) are offered occupational sick pay (i.e. more generous than statutory sick pay).
Meanwhile, 4% of respondents said they received ‘other’ benefits, including access to an employee assistance programme (EAP), private health insurance, flexible working or extra days off for special occasions, such as for birthdays or even Christmas shopping.
In the report Liz Willett, head of business partnership at Kraft HR Consulting, said that while practices are now trying to offer a wider variety of benefits in order to compete with the private sector and attract and retain the best practice staff, this was becoming more difficult as cost pressures have intensified.
She admitted she was ‘taken aback’ by some of the findings, including that there isn’t greater participation in the NHS pension scheme and there isn’t a higher proportion of practice managers offered enhanced sick pay.
‘Enhanced sick pay is much more common among practice managers I work with,’ she said.
Ms Willett also indicated that including employer assistance schemes (EAPs) schemes in benefits packages is becoming more popular.
EAPs are designed to support wellbeing and would typically comprise access to confidential services, such as counselling or advice, that assist employees with both personal or work-related concerns.
‘In my experience, they have proved popular and may be worth adding to the suite of benefits offered to practice managers to make packages more competitive and improve recruitment or retention,’ Ms Willett added.
Practices should also consider offering practice managers protected time for learning and thinking, the report said, since this is a ‘key benefit pactice managers want and don’t seem to be able to get.’
The pay report, Practice Manager Salary Survey 2023/24: gauging the state of the profession, was launched last week by Management in Practice.
The average annual salary of a full-time GP practice manager is £48,802, a survey from Management in Practice launched today has revealed.
It revealed that the average annual salary of a full-time GP practice manager is £48,802.
You can download a full PDF of the report here.
What employee benefits do practice managers receive?
- NHS pension scheme (78%)
- Enhanced annual leave i.e. more than the statutory 28 days (62%)
- Free parking (60%)
- Occupational sick pay i.e. over and above statutory sick pay (54%)
- Expenses for mileage (32%)
- Enhanced paternity pay, beyond what is offered under statutory paternity pay (17%)
- Enhanced maternity pay, beyond what is offered under statutory maternity pay (17%)
- Training grants (16%)
- Cycle to work scheme (12%)
- Gym membership (7%)
- Volunteering days (6%)
- Other (4%)
Source: Practice Manager Salary Survey 2023/24
