Employee benefits

Employee benefits

With a talented and skilled workforce of over 3,600 employees, our people enjoy a work-life balance and award-winning training opportunities in a wider range of careers than you might expect.

We value our employees’ voice, recognise the strength in diversity, and prioritise employee well-being while offering attractive remuneration and benefits. These include salary packaging and financial benefits, a nine-day fortnight, flexible working arrangements, health and wellbeing initiatives and programs, and personal and professional development.

Financial Wellbeing

A range of financial wellbeing benefits are available to all employees in addition to the highly competitive wages and allowances payable under relevant enterprise agreements.

Superannuation
Eligible employees are guaranteed to receive a minimum 16% employer contribution to superannuation. To support our employees on Parental Leave, superannuation contributions will continue to be made for employees on all periods of paid or unpaid Parental Leave for up to a maximum of 12 months.

Salary Sacrifice
Eligible employees may elect to receive superannuation benefits in lieu of a proportion of their wages.

Boarding School Scholarships
Boarding School Scholarships are available to support eligible employees and their families with sending their children to boarding school for the duration of their child’s high schooling.

Novated Leases
We offer private vehicle novated leasing to all employees.

Employee Benefits Platform
As an Essential Energy employee, you can access employee benefits anywhere, anytime using our Achievers app. Achievers allows you to access a wide variety of discounts and offerings from Australia’s leading brands and service providers across a variety of categories such as Entertainment, Home, Fashion & Retail, Wellbeing, Travel and Food.

Lifestyle

We offer a wide variety of lifestyle benefits to support our employees with their work life balance including a nine-day fortnight, 26 weeks non-gendered parental leave and flexible working arrangements.

Nine-day Fortnight
Eligible employees ordinary hours of work reflect 36 hours per week to be worked in eight consecutive hours per day, over a nine-day fortnight.

Parental Leave
We recognise the importance of parental leave for all employees through the provision of non-gendered parental leave. Eligible employees can receive 26 weeks full pay upon the birth, surrogacy or adoption of a baby. To support our employees on Parental Leave, superannuation contributions will continue to be made for employees on all periods of paid or unpaid Parental Leave for up to a maximum of 12 months.

Flexible Working Arrangements
Essential Energy understands that everybody’s circumstances are different and unique, and that the traditional workday doesn’t work for everyone. Eligible employees can request a Flexible Working Arrangement to suit their personal circumstances.

Purchased Leave
Eligible employees have the option to purchase additional leave, up to four weeks per year, beyond their standard paid leave entitlements.

Prorated Long Service Leave
Eligible employees can access their prorated Long Service Leave after they have completed seven years of continuous service.

Annual Leave at Half Pay
Employees with an annual leave balance of eight weeks or less at the time of commencing leave can choose to take their annual leave at half pay.

Blood Donor Leave
Employees, including casual employees, will be granted leave with pay to donate blood to a recognised blood bank during normal working hours, up to two hours on each occasion.

Travel Discounts
Employees can access discounts on accommodation, flights and car hire, for both international and domestic trips, through our corporate partner, Escape Beyond, Travel Beyond’s Leisure Experts.

Health and Wellbeing

Essential Energy understands that the wellbeing of our employees is integral to their overall productivity and happiness. We offer a range of health and wellbeing benefits designed to support the different needs of our employee’s physical and mental health.

Fitness Passport
Access for employees and their immediate families to over 300 gyms, pools, and fitness centres in NSW at a reduced cost.

Employee Assistance Program
Employees, their family and household members have access to social workers, psychologists and other professionals that provide confidential counselling and coaching support. Employees can also access an app and platform for support with physical, emotional, personal, financial and career wellbeing and a wealth of wellbeing resources.

Health Insurance Discounts
Health Insurance premiums at discounted rates is available through a corporate affiliate program.

Influenza Vaccination
Free flu vaccinations are provided to employees at specific Essential Energy depot/office locations, or employees may pay for their own vaccination and claim a reimbursement.

IGNITE Healthy You
Provides employees with access to up to four consultations with a dietitian and exercise physiologist in a 12-month period to set and achieve nutrition and exercise goals.

IGNITE Health Screenings
IGNITE Health Screening is aimed at helping employees manage the cost of attending recommended health screens relevant to their age and gender. Essential Energy will cover the gap paid for an extended visit with a General Practitioner and/or any pathology/screening fees of up to $200 per person per financial year.

IGNITE Health Checks
Free and confidential 30-minute health checks are available to all employees.

Wellbeing Subsidy
Essential Energy promotes activities that enhance employees' physical and mental wellbeing. Eligible employees can apply for a reimbursable subsidy of up to $299 to cover expenses related to their health and wellbeing.

Professional Development

Ongoing learning, professional and personal development for our people is a priority. By offering tailored solutions and programs we help employees grow their skills, knowledge and careers.

Learn and Grow
Our employee development programs are designed to support employees to build their skills and capability for current and future roles. Through collaborations with leading experts in the learning and development industry, the program offers self-service blended opportunities that enable every employee to enhance their personal and professional growth.

Leadership Programs
Our leadership programs focus on developing the capabilities required for present and future needs and are available to current and emerging leaders at all levels through a blend of self-directed learning, experiential opportunities, and structured programs.

Mentoring Program
The Essential Mentoring Program enables participants to access experienced leaders across the business. Mentors commit to supporting mentees in achieving their objectives, overcoming challenges and maximising their capability to further their careers through 1:1 mentoring.

Field Training
Our employees can participate in a range of network training activities ensuring the knowledge, skills and experience to work safely and effectively.

Study Leave
Eligible employees participating in our career development program may access additional leave each quarter to support their studies.

Culture and Engagement

A sense of purpose and belonging is very important at Essential Energy and recognising peers and supporting our employees as they positively contribute to their local communities is at the heart of what we do.

Recognition Platform
Illuminate, our social recognition platform allows you to recognise your colleagues and accumulate points to spend on rewards through our online marketplace.

Employee Referral Program
Our Employee Referral Program rewards employees who identify and refer successful external candidates for roles within the organisation with a one-off financial payment.

Essential Giving Program
Our workplace giving program is about helping employees support charities that are active within our communities. Through this program, employees can make regular donations to selected charities via pre-tax, payroll deductions that are dollar matched by Essential Energy, doubling the impact of individual contributions.

Employee Request for Funding
Employees can request dollar matching by Essential Energy for fundraising activities that support not-for-profit or charity organisations. This initiative provides support to those causes that employees care about.

Inclusion & Diversity

We are committed to building an inclusive and diverse workforce, reflective of the communities we serve, where people can bring their whole selves to work every day.

Our five reference groups create opportunities for employees to play a crucial role in advocating for inclusion and diversity across Essential Energy, these include, Gender, Indigenous, LGBTQIA+, Multicultural and Disability.

Find out more about Inclusion and Diversity at Essential Energy.

Cultural Leave
We recognise and support an inclusive and diverse workforce and encourages employees to participate and support in community cultural events and activities such as NAIDOC week. Eligible employees are entitled to two days of unpaid cultural leave annually.

Alternative Religious Benefits
In recognition of our diverse workforce, eligible employees may request to substitute Christian based public holidays with those relevant to their religion or culture.