Rewarding staff: payments, perks and incentives

Understand the financial and non-financial rewards and incentives you can give staff, so you can show appreciation and stay compliant.

Last reviewed on 3 January 2025See updates
School types: AllSchool phases: AllRef: 5099
Contents
  1. Speak to your LA or trust before making changes
  2. Payments for teachers
  3. Payments for support staff
  4. You can also offer inexpensive incentives or initiatives 
  5. Establish a staff social fund to pay for 'perks'
  6. Staff perks/benefits package: examples from schools

Speak to your LA or trust before making changes

This article suggests perks or incentives your school or trust could use. 

Before changing your pay policy, it’s a good idea to speak to your local authority (LA) or academy trust, and get legal or HR advice to check your policy is watertight.

You may need to report any employee benefits or expenses, and pay tax or National Insurance on them. Find out more here.

Payments for teachers

Under the School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD), the relevant body sets recruitment and retention awards for teachers. The 'relevant body' is usually the governing board, or the board of trustees. Remember to check your scheme of delegation if you're in a trust. 

If your school or trust doesn't follow the terms of the STPCD, you can set out your own rules on recruitment and retention awards.

Teachers can receive