Benefits for staff of Hamberton Hospital IELTS General

Benefits for staff of Hamberton Hospital IELTS Reading General Passage with Answers

 

Reading Passage 2

Questions 15-27
Read the text and answer Questions 15-21.

Benefits for staff of Hamberton Hospital

Our attractive benefits package is one of the ways we acknowledge the contribution they all make in the provision of high quality patient care. Our package is extensive and varied.

As a Hamberton employee you’ll enjoy both National Health Service (NHS) and locally developed schemes, providing you with a range of benefits. These include:

Financial Benefits

• opportunity to contribute to the NHS Pension Scheme – highly regarded by the independent pensions ad insurance sector
• Injury Benefits Scheme
• excellent occupational sick pay ad maternity leave and pay entitlements
• loans to assist with the purchase of housing for employees in the health service

Work-Life Balance

Here at Hamberton we are committed to helping all employees balance their work and home life commitment. We believe by helping people make this balance we are able to recruit, retain ad motivate the most valuable asset of the NHS – our employees. We are committed to making this balance work for all employees equally, not just parents.

Over 50% of our staff work part-time in a range of flexible working options, which include:

• job sharing
• term-time-only working
• part-time working
• individually-tailored working patterns

We also support employees further through our caring ad special leave arrangements.

Health

• our own occupational health department, providing a totally confidential service open to all staff during normal working hours
• a round-the-clock free ad confidential counselling service
• policies supporting phased return to work after long illnesses or injuries

Other Benefits

On-site facilities include:

• excellent food provided in our restaurant
• ample parking
• retail outlets

NHS Discounts

Al NHS employees can access the NHS Discounts scheme. This allows members of staff fee access to a number of discounted products and services. For example, discounts are available at many high street shops and elsewhere, including savings on toys, utility bills, days out, and much more.

Red Guava

This is a further discount benefit, which is available to employees of Hamberton. Red Guava provides discounts on holidays, for example, and can save you money in many other ways too.

Questions 15-21
Complete the sentences below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the text for each answer.
Write your answer in boxes 15-21 on your answer sheet.

15 The hospital provides benefits to show its recognition of the ____________ of staff to its work.
16 Financial benefits include pay for staff who are ____________ or on maternity leave.
17 ____________ are available for staff who wish to buy a home.
18 Helping staff with their work-life balance is not restricted to ____________ .
19 The hospital has ____________ that are designed to help staff return to work after a long absence.
20 The facilities on hospital premises include a large area for ____________ .
21 The cost of ____________ is reduced by using the Red Guava scheme.

Read the text and answer Questions 22-27.

Performance-related pay

There are a number of reasons why your employer might introduce this type of pay scheme. They may:

• be keen to ret current staff
• want to compete for new talent
• be seeking a fairer way of distributing wages.

In order for performance-related schemes to work they should be based on clear, measurable targets agreed by both employer and employee. You will normally find out about these targets from your contract of employment and the performance appraisal meetings you have with your manager.

Short-term schemes

Short-term schemes usually offer bonus payment, or, depending on the type of work, commission on sales achieved. Payments vary and these schemes are normally used just to encourage staff to improve their own performance.

Long-term schemes

Long-term schemes offer rewards like share options, and can help to encourage loyalty to the organisation and its aims. Such schemes tend to be used as a way of retaining senior staff.

What to do if you have problems

If you don’t receive bonus or commission payments which you believe you are owed, check your contract of employment or staff handbook to see how your bonus is paid. Ask your employer if you need more information.

If you think a mistake has been made, you should:

• speak to your employer to see if there has been a misunderstanding
• ask your employer to set out in writing how they have calculated your pay
• keep copies of ay letters ad notes of ay meetings.

There are three ways that the law might cover a case of unpaid bonuses:

• breach of contract
• unlawful deductions from wages
• unlawful discrimination.

Deductions from wages/breach of contract

Any right to a bonus will normally be included in your contract of employment. It may not always be written down. It can be verbally agreed or understood to be there due to normal practice in your particular area of business.

Failure to pay a bonus or commission that you are entitled to could amount to an unlawful deduction of wages.

Discrimination

Your employer must not discriminate against particular groups of people – for example, by giving smaller bonuses to women. Ideally your employer should have some guidelines setting out the normal range of bonuses to give, and these must be followed without discriminating against any specific group.

Questions 22-27
Complete the notes below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the text for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 22-27 on your answer sheet.

Performance-related pay

One of the reasons for introducing performance-related pay is in order to 22____________ existing employees
Employer and employee should agree on some 23____________ that can be measured
Shor-term schemes: bonus or the payment of a 24____________ related to sales
Long-term reward schemes: generally offered to employees at a 25____________ level
Details of bonus payments: may be included in a contract or a handbook for staff
If you think there has been a mistake with your pay:

• discuss the issue with your employer
• keep records of any relevant 26____________

It is illegal for employers to discriminate against any specific group, e.g. by giving less money to 27___________

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Benefits for staff of Hamberton Hospital IELTS General Reading Passage Answers

15 contribution

16 sick

17 loans

18 parents

19 policies/schemes

20 parking

21 holidays

22 retain

23 targets

24 commission

25 senior

26 meetings/letters

27 women

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