Benefits

MyRewards is the reward and benefits platform provided by Reward Gateway. It highlights all the employment benefits provided by Queen Mary beyond salary, making them more visible and easily accessible. It also enables staff to easily access a range of additional opt-in benefits such as retail discounts, payroll giving and discounted gym membership. The MyRewards platform will continue to be enhanced with new offerings. 

Please click on the following link to access MyRewards: https://queenmaryuniversity.rewardgateway.com/SmartHub  

Annual Leave

The full time annual leave entitlement is 30 working days* (plus bank holidays). Additionally staff are entitled to paid holidays on four other days when the university closes. See the Universty Closure Dates. 

* This may vary for some employment contracts.

Family Friendly Policies

Queen Mary provides a range of family friendly policies for maternity, paternity, adoption, fertility and shared parental leave above the statutory minimum arrangements. See our Childcare and Parenting page for further information.

Flexible Working

There are a range of options at Queen Mary to offer you work-life balance and flexible working opportunities.

Hybrid Working

At Queen Mary, we are also able to offer staff the opportunity to undertake hybrid working. 

Cycle to Work

The Cycle to Work scheme aims to encourage staff to cycle to work by offering significant savings on the cost of bikes and accessories. It is a salary sacrifice scheme that allows you to pay for the bike in monthly instalments whilst saving through tax and NI exemptions.  Is a requirement of the scheme that you use your bike at least 50% of work journeys.

In order to acquire a bike via Cycle to Work, you must submit an application, which is subject to HR approval. To be eligible for the scheme, the duration of your employment contract must be for at least 12 months from the date of the first deduction and your wages should not fall below the National Minimum Wage as a result of participation in the scheme. 

You can choose any bike, including electric bikes, providing your chosen supplier is a recognised partner and is able to suply it. You may spend a minimum of £200 and a maximum of £3,000 for the bike including accessories .

Further details and access to the scheme is available through the Cycle to Work service on the MyRewards platform.

 

*Until 31 December 2024, we will continue to honor applications received via the platform provided by our former Cycle to Work partner, Cyclescheme.

 

Occupational Health

The Occupational Health Service provides a range of health services for staff and students and they organise health promotion initiatives to maintain the health and wellbeing of staff.

Qmotion gym/health club

Staff have access to Qmotion, which is a health club located at the Mile End campus. The health club offers excellent discounted membership deals to staff and features a cardio vascular zone, a resistance zone and a free weights area. Additionally, there are dedicated stretching areas, two fitness studios that host classes ranging from yoga to circuits and a treatment room. Visi QMotion's website for further information or take a walk round and have a chat with them.

Queen Mary University also offers a Gym Membership Loan for Qmotion. This is available for all employees with at least 6 months continuous service who are expected to remain in employment for the following year.  Staff can apply to receive a loan for the full cost of the Qmotion Gym membership subscription and will be expected to repay the loan over the course of 12 months by deductions from their salaries.

Guidance, conditions and further details on how to apply for a Qmotion Gym Membership loan can be found below.

Gym-Membership-Loan-Application-Form [PDF 295KB]

Gym-Membership-Receipt-Submission-Form [PDF 127KB]

MyGym Discounts

From September 2024, Queen Mary also offers membership discounts on a range of external Gyms. You will find discounts of up to 25% on gym memberships.  MyGymDiscounts also offers savings on subscriptions to online workout programmes and also provides multi-activity memberships with a range of activities and classes to choose from. 

Further details and access to gym discounts are available through the MyGymDiscounts service on the MyRewards platform.

Running Group

The Running Group meets every Wednesday at 12.30pm at the East Corridor, Ground Floor, Queens' Building, Mile End campus. It is free and consists of staff and student runners. All are welcome, from absolute beginners to experienced runners. For more information, contact Paul Kent.

Dental Insurance

Queen Mary offers Dental Cover for you and your family. Dental Cover helps make costly and essential dental treatment more affordable. You can use this insurance policy to claim towards the cost of your dental treatments up to the policy limits.

You can only join the dental scheme during the enrolment period or within 30 days of your start date if you’re a new employee.

Further details and access to Dental Cover are available through the dental insurance service - information for which is available on the MyRewards platform.

Employee Assistance Programme

Queen Mary offers you and your family a free and confidential counselling and support service. See our Employee Assistance Programme for further details.

Green Mary Garden

The Green Mary Garden at the Mile End campus gives staff and students the chance to grow vegetables, fruit and herbs. Please contact the Sustainability team for more details.

 

Pension Scheme

Queen Mary offers you membership of one of 3 defined benefit pension schemes, depending on your role and terms and conditions – USS, SAUL or NHS. They all offer excellent benefits including life assurance. We provide these via salary sacrifice which means you save on tax and NI.

For more details visit our Pensions page or contact the Pension team.

Payroll Giving (also known as Give As You Earn)

Payroll Giving is a way of giving money to a charity of your choice without paying tax on it. Through our Payroll Giving service, your charity donations are taken from your pay before income tax is deducted, which allows your donation to go further while costing you less.

The tax relief you get depends on the rate of tax you pay, however for a basic rate taxpayer, this is 20%.

The Government also adds an extra 10% to every gift you make. This means if you pledge £10 a month from your gross salary, it will only cost you £8.00, but the charity will receive £11.

In other to set up a new donation or to amend an existing one, please visit the Payroll Giving service on the MyRewards platform.

Free parking

Free parking is offered for staff at the Mile End Campus though demand is high and you will need to apply for a permit. For further information and information about parking at other campuses contact the Security team.

Independent financial advice

We offer you access to one session of free independent financial advice through Austin Chapel, who offer advice on mortgages, life assurance, investments, ISA’s and retirement planning. This service is independent of Queen Mary. To arrange your free appointment please contact Gary O’Neill.

Legal Advice

Our legal students, supervised by qualified barristers/solicitors can provide you with free preliminary legal advice on matters such as family law, immigration law, law for forces etc. Visit the LAC website to book an appointment.

Season Ticket Loan

The season ticket loan  is an interest free loan for employees to cover the cost of travelling to and from the workplace via modes such as tram, rail, bus or others. After 6 months service, you can apply to receive a loan to cover the full cost of your annual season ticket.  You will then repay this back interest free through your salary in 12 equal monthly installments. 

Full guidance, terms and conditions, and details on how to apply are available in the below application form.

Season-Ticket-Loan-Application-Form [PDF 154KB] 

We have various mechanisms for rewarding staff’s contribution and development. Please refer to the pages linked to see eligibility requirements.

Staff Development

Organisational and Professional Development (for all staff) and the Queen Mary Academy (for academic staff) both provide excellent development opportunities across all areas of the University’s work. This includes e-learning, professional development, coaching, mentoring.

LinkedIn Learning

Queen Mary is committed to supporting all colleagues to develop and flourish during their employment. This includes free access to LinkedIn Learning. LinkedIn Learning provides over 17,000 hours of video content for staff to engage with. Through Queen Mary's licence, staff can leverage the benefits from an industry leading learning tool worth £240 per person per year.

Academic Promotion

Queen Mary’s academic promotion process is designed to recognise and enable the development of our Lecturers, Senior Lecturers and Readers. The scheme is launched in November each year. 

GEM Awards

The Going the Extra Mile (GEM) Awards is an informal recognition scheme for Professional Services colleagues.

Staff and students are encouraged to nominate any member of Professional Services they believe does an excellent job and has exceeded expectations in helping to support, enable and contribute to the delivery of our strategic aims and values, in whatever their role at Queen Mary.

There is no formalised criteria. It is non-competitive and is totally separate to and quite different from the annual bonus scheme.

Staff Bonus Scheme

The annual staff bonus scheme rewards exceptional performance that supports the Queen Mary Values, with either a one off payment or an extra salary increment.

Staff Networks

The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team support staff networks. There is currently a LGBTQ+ Staff Network (QMOut), Parents & Carers Network and a Staff Disability Network. 

We are keen to start networks for black and minority ethnic staff and disabled staff. We would love to hear from you if you are interested in developing one.

To find out more about their role and current initiatives contact the Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Team.

Union Membership

There are five recognised trade unions at Queen Mary: these are Unite, UCU, Unison, BDA, and BMA.

Faith

There are a variety of Faith societies at Queen Mary, including Christian, Bahai, Hindu, Islamic, Jewish, Krishna and Sikh. To contact or join these societies, go to the St Benet’s Chaplaincy’s Faith Society page.

Free Lectures and events

There are a variety of free lectures and events that you can attend. Just keep an eye on Connected and the e-bulletin for details of these events.

Sustainability

Queen Mary is highly committed to addressing its environmental, social and economic impacts and creating opportunities to build a sustainable future.

Our Sustainability team work with all things green and organise work with the local community including charity work. If you would like to volunteer or get involved, please contact the Sustainability team for more details.

Places to Eat

Whether you are based at Mile End, Charterhouse Square or Whitechapel, there are a variety of great places to eat both on and off campus.

Former Staff Association of Queen Mary

The Former Staff Association of Queen Mary (QMFSA) is a congenial social group of staff who previously worked at Queen Mary University of London or one of our constituent colleges: Queen Mary College, Westfield College, St. Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical College and The London Hospital Medical and Dental Colleges. All are eligible for membership.