Work for us

EDLC provides excellent terms and conditions of employment and career opportunities.

As a forward thinking employer, our employees have opportunities to work in a way that suits them to support their work-life balance.

We offer part time opportunities and employees can apply for Flexible Working from their first day of employment.

We offer generous leave entitlement, starting from a minimum of 189 hours per year (pro rata) rising to 259 hours per year in addition to 6 public holidays for a 35-hour working week.

Fair Work First is the Scottish Government's policy for driving high quality and fair work across the labour market in Scotland by applying fair work criteria to grants, other funding, and contracts being awarded by and across the public sector, where it is relevant to do so.

Through this approach the Scottish Government is asking employers to adopt fair working practices.

East Dunbartonshire Leisure and Culture Trust (The Trust) have progressed, or in some areas, are progressing the Fair Work First criteria below, can evidence our work in this area, and will fully involve and engage with the Trade Unions on updates on changes made, to review actions and outcomes and identify further improvements for advancing the Fair Work First commitments, 

(The Trust) and our Trade Union representatives share a common objective in ensuring we develop and deliver effective and efficient public services for the people of East Dunbartonshire and that our workforce is supported to do so.

The continuing development of our Workforce for the Future is evidence-based and considers the financial context as well as the known demographic and other social and economic pressures in a post-COVID-19 and post-EU Exit environment.

(The Trust) embed fair work practices by:

1. We have an appropriate channel for effective employee voice

• Our approach to partnership at work is consistent with the vision for East Dunbartonshire “Working together to achieve the best with the people of East Dunbartonshire”
• We regard our partnership working as an essential part of our future and involve our recognised Trade Unions in key governance and decision-making structures through the Council’s Joint Negotiation Forum
• We recognise Trade Unions across all employee groups for the purpose of collective bargaining
• Signatory Trade Unions recognised within the Trust and participating within the Council’s Partnership at Work Framework that support The Trust are:
• Unison
• Unite
• GMB

• We recognise the role of Trade Unions in representing the interests of their members in relation to important employment factors, including terms and conditions of employment, health and safety and job security
• We provide facility time to support regular engagement between our Trade Unions and their members. This generates benefits for employees, managers and the wider community from effective joint working between union representative and The Trust
• We make available to Trade Union representatives, wherever possible, reasonable facilities necessary for them to carry out their duties efficiently and communicate effectively with their members
• We engage in constructive dialogue with our employees and their Trade Union representatives to address workplace issues and disputes
• Employees are offered supportive contact with their Line Manager and through our Continuous Professional Development Framework
• We have measures in place to support employees in the workplace.

2. We invest in workforce development​

• The Trust approach to Workforce and Skills Planning considers the linkage to revised delivery models, skills, competencies, and specialist knowledge required to deliver successfully taking account of demographics and succession planning principles
• Our Code of Conduct sets out how all employees are expected to behave at work, creating a better working environment for all.
• We provide learning opportunities for employees at all levels
• Formal and informal learning is offered and encouraged across the workforce, relating to specific roles as well as wider development in consideration of service needs and financial implications
• We have a dedicated Wellbeing section on our Intranet which provides a vast array of information in all aspects of wellbeing and we encourage our employees to visit this site through regular Employee News
• The Moodle Workplace e-learning online portal gives employees easy access to a wide range of training and development opportunities.

3. We do not use zero hours contracts inappropriately

•  We do not use zero-hours contracts within The Trust
• Supply and casual contracts are only used where necessary and workers on these contracts are not obliged to accept work when this is offered.

4. We take action to tackle the gender pay gap and create a more diverse and inclusive workplace

• We gather data to understand our workforce diversity and pay gap information
• We support flexible working across The Trust, offering a wide range of flexible working patterns
• Smart Working for the Future represents the way in which employees will work and the environment in which they will perform their roles
• We support the Armed Force Covenant and provide opportunities for serving members of the armed forces and veterans. We encourage the employment and retention of disabled people and those with health conditions
• We make reasonable adjustments for employees with a disability or who have a short- or long-term impairment that could affect their ability to work.

5. We commit to paying the Real Living Wage

• The Trust pay and grading structure, affords pay rates to be above the Real Living Wage.

6. We offer flexible and family friendly working practices for all employees including:

• We refreshed our approach to SMART working, further defining our four recognised workstyles, which are based on role specific requirements, the way in which services are delivered and the digital, technology and system developments being rolled out across the workforce to facilitate improved ways of working and collaboration
• Special Leave Policy – includes Time off for Family Emergencies, Bereavement Leave, Time off for National, Public & Community Service, Time off for employees participating in International Sporting/Cultural Events
• We support flexible working across The Trust, through our Flexible Working Policy, offering a wide range of flexible working patterns
• We recognise the diverse workforce we employ and the different work life balance requirements of employees at different points in their lives. The family leave policy will promote best practice in retaining and supporting employees when they have a lifestyle change.

7. We oppose the use of fire and rehire practice

• We only consider effecting change where there is a legitimate business need and follow agreed processes in line with the Trust’s Principal of Change Strategy
• We are committed to working with our Trade Unions partners to ensure there is effective consultation and negotiation relating to organisational change.

Our range of family friendly policies have generous entitlements including maternity leave, paternity leave, adoption leave and parental leave.

Focussed on our ‘Employees at the heart of what we do’ approach, employees have access to a wide range of jobs, training and development opportunities to support their career development.

We support the mental and physical wellbeing of our employees, including access to independent counselling services, occupational health and physiotherapy, miscarriage and menopause support.

We have a 24/7 telephone and online Employee Assistance Programme available to all employees at any time.

In addition, we offer a rolling monthly programme highlighting wellbeing campaigns, topical resources and related information and external support that is available.

A comprehensive and modern pay package with incremental progression through our pay and grading system, automatic and contractual enrolment in the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) and access to salary sacrifice schemes.

Access to local credit union offering loans, mortgages and saving accounts and the ability to set up regular savings through payroll deductions.

The Local Government Pension Scheme in Scotland is a funded, defined benefit, statutory occupational pension scheme and is one of the main public pension schemes in Scotland. Strathclyde Pension Fund administer the scheme on behalf of EDLC and eligible employees will be automatically enrolled into the scheme. You will pay contributions on pensionable pay at your contribution rate. Your contribution rate depends on how much you are paid, but it’s currently between 5.5% and 12%. There are five-tiers, with your contributions based on how much of your pensionable pay falls into each tier. EDLC pays the balance of the cost of providing your LGPS benefits. Every three years an independent review is undertaken to calculate how much the EDLC should contribute to the Scheme.

You will be able to transfer pension rights into the scheme from any other public sector scheme provided you make an application within 12 months of joining the authority. Employees are encouraged to sign up to SPFOnline. SPFOnline is a secure site that gives members access to their pension account online.

It delivers:

• A pension that increases each year in line with inflation
• A pension that is payable to your surviving spouse or partner on your death after retirement
• A tax free lump such in exchange for some of your pension
• Death in service protection of three times your pay as a tax free lump sum
• A pension for your surviving spouse or partner on your death in service
• An ill-health pension aid from any age if you have two years’ service and are declared permanently unfit for work