Monmouthshire County Council has introduced voluntary benefits for the first time for its 4,600 employees to help improve motivation and recruitment.
The programme offers staff a wide range of savings at more than 1,500 local and national retailers, including John Lewis, Argos, Asda and Arcadia. Employees can also earn cashback when they shop online and order retail vouchers at discounts of up to 13%.
The MCC Benefits programme, launched in October with Asperity, also includes several salary sacrifice options, such as childcare vouchers and charitable donations.
David Bartlett, principal HR manager at the council, said: “We are in quite a small marketplace, but we have got other local authorities and NHS trusts knocking on our door. We really needed to find an edge that other public sector organisations have not got.”
Bartlett said the new scheme was the first step towards implementing a total reward strategy that will include statements for employees in 2009.