Aberdeen City Council

Our shared purpose as a whole organisation is to ensure that the people and place of Aberdeen prosper and are free from harm. No matter what role you undertake at Aberdeen City Council, you contribute to this purpose.

We value our employees and offer a number of benefits for working with us including but not limited to:

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

We are an equal opportunities employer and are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. We are proud to be a disability confident employer, a carer positive employer and an armed forces friendly employer. We are a Young Person’s Guarantee employer and also hold the Defence Employers Recognition Scheme Gold Award. We run regular events, activities and awareness raising initiatives with a focus on equality, diversity and inclusion across the organisation and have a number of policies and procedures which support this.  For more information, please visit: Aberdeen City Council equality, diversity, and inclusion and our Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Recuitment pack.

Flexible Working

We are happy to talk flexible working and offer flexible working for most roles in the organisation meaning that many of our employees enjoy the freedom of choosing a working pattern that suits them as much as it suits the organisation.

Smarter Working

For most roles in the organisation we encourage, as much as possible, our employees and teams to work smartly. This includes making the most of our ongoing digital investments and improvements to work at alternative locations.

Generous Annual Leave

We offer a generous amount of annual leave to our employees. Employees on our non-teaching and non-craft terms and conditions get 28 days annual leave per year plus 7 public holidays. After 5 years of continuous service, this increases to 33 days and after 10 years of continuous service, this increases to 36 days. Our employees also have the opportunity to purchase up to 5 additional annual leave days per year.

Our craft employees get 26 days annual leave per year plus 7 public holidays. After 5 years of continuous service, this increases to 31 days. After 10 years of continuous service, this increases to 36 days.

Pension Scheme

Aberdeen City Council has a pension scheme run by the North East Scotland Pension Fund. As an employer we pay in two thirds of the cost of the pension for our employees who choose to be part of the scheme. To learn more, please visit North East Scotland Pensions Fund.

Salary Sacrifice Schemes and Discounts

We offer a number of salary sacrifice schemes including a car lease scheme, annual leave purchase schemes and a cycle to work scheme. Your Aberdeen City Council ID badge and employee number can also offer you great discounts on retail, eating out, travel & other great services across the city (and further afield).

Training and Development

We offer excellent training and development in all roles in the organisation with both corporate and role-specific training. We have an annual appraisal process which allows employees to grow into their role as well as highlight opportunities for further career development.

Public Sector Leadership Summit – joint commitment 

The Scottish Parliament’s Equalities and Human Rights Committee inquiry of 2020 has highlighted the persistent issues that impact on outcomes for minority ethnic people in Scotland moving into, staying in and progressing in employment. Their recommendations below highlight both systemic issues perpetuating race inequality in recruitment practice and in the workplace, as well as the need to improve practices such as the gathering and analysis of workforce data to inform action plans and determine measurable outcomes: 

• The Committee recommends those in public authority leadership positions undertake an assessment of their organisation’s understanding of racism and the structural barriers that may exist within their organisations. Public authorities should integrate their ambitions into their next strategic plan. Their strategic goal should be underpinned by specific outcomes and supported by timely monitoring. Public authorities should be transparent about their targets and their progress in delivering their outcomes. 

• The Committee recommends public authorities should review their recruitment procedures and practice against the Scottish Government’s toolkit and make the necessary changes. 

• The Committee recommends that all public authorities subject to the Scottish specific Public Sector Equality Duty should, as a minimum, voluntarily record and publish their ethnicity pay gap and produce an action plan to deliver identified outcomes. 

We accept these recommendations, and are absolutely committed to taking them forward, as well as supporting other public sector organisations to do so. We must recognise that a team Scotland approach is required and our public sector should lead the way as we work to make Scotland a Fair Work nation.  

The importance of employment in addressing racial inequality cannot be overstated, and in this current climate where inequalities have not only been highlighted, but further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, never has there been a greater need to take action. 

As public sector leaders, we will be bold and transparent. We will embed the recommendations into the strategic objectives of our organisations and the performance objectives of our senior leaders. We will take responsibility to assess our organisation’s understanding of institutional racism and proactively challenge and change practices that disadvantage minority ethnic communities. Vitally, we will ensure that minority ethnic communities are involved in shaping this change. 

We recognise that taking forward the recommendations represents not a final, but a further step, and therefore this work will form part of the continuum of activity to tackle racial inequality in employment, including the Race Equality Framework 2016-2030. It is important that we make this commitment clear, not just to each other, but to our staff and service users, who will hold us to account. We have therefore published this commitment on our website and social media.