The following benefits can be selected through Barhale Connect.

• Critical Illness - Employee and Partner
• Dental Insurance
• Give As You Earn
• Gym Membership
• Group Personal Pension (GPP)
• Healthcare Cash Plan
• Health Screening
• Holiday Trading
• Life Assurance - Employee and Partner
• Private Medical Insurance
• Restaurant Card
• Travel Insurance

By reducing your salary in return for the company benefits you select, you can also reduce the salary your tax and/or National Insurance is calculated on, saving you money.

Tax rules can change over time and benefits depend on individual circumstances.

In addition, you can take advantage of the buying power Barhale has as a company, so in some cases the rates you receive on benefits such as health insurance are lower, saving you more than you could expect in the retail market.

Income Tax and National Insurance savings

The following table outlines a brief guide to the types of savings you could take advantage of:

Existing employees
Each Scheme Year you'll be given the opportunity to review your existing benefits selections and make changes. This is known as the Annual Enrolment Window and is generally a period of 3/4 weeks.

The annual enrolment window will run in February/March each year. Your selections will then become effective on 1st April.

You'll need to have submitted any selections/changes before the window closes, otherwise you'll receive the default choice of benefits (the benefits you receive automatically unless specifically removed by you).

New joiners
If you're new to the company, you'll be invited to select your benefits after joining the company. However, some benefits may be restricted as they can only be selected during the Annual Enrolment Window.

You can choose as many benefits as you wish, although your salary cannot reduce to below the National Minimum/Living Wage. When you log in, this portal will notify you if you select benefits that reduce your salary below this level.

In addition, you won't be able to reduce your salary below the Lower Earnings Limit. Whilst this will only affect part-time employees, the limit has been imposed because reductions below this amount means you cease to retain rights to State Benefits such as Statutory Sick Pay.

Your future salary and Barhale benefits will not be affected.

Barhale will confirm your Reference Salary, the amount you have agreed to exchange for a pension contribution, and your new revised salary in your payslip. The Reference Salary is your original salary before the exchange and will continue to be the basis for calculating future pay reviews and benefits.

If you wish, you can choose to opt out of Salary Sacrifice and have your pension contributions deducted from your net pay. If you opt out you won't benefit from National Insurance savings and you will need to reclaim any higher or additional rate tax relief from HM Revenue and Customs separately.

You can opt out of Salary Sacrifice in each Annual Enrolment window. To opt out, simply log in to your account and select the 'edit' button next to 'pension' on the company benefits page. Then choose the 'net deduction' option from the drop-down menu.

Please note the above company-specific Salary Sacrifice information is provided by Barhale and is based on their understanding of UK law and HMRC practice as at date of publication.

Find out more general information about Salary Sacrifice

Flexible benefits give you the opportunity to select additional benefits that are appropriate to the needs of you and your family. You can select a wide range of benefits that mean the most to you.

You pay for the additional benefits by taking a reduction in your salary (known as Salary Sacrifice) and in return, Barhale will provide you with the benefits you've selected.

By selecting benefits through a reduction in your salary you could take advantage of income tax and/or National Insurance savings, as well as any group discounts achieved by Barhale that wouldn't normally be available outside the workplace.

Every Scheme Year (see below) you will be given the opportunity to review your existing selections and make further choices.

Using Barhale you'll have access to the following tools:

• Flexible Benefits: A one stop portal for all the information you'll need about each benefit. View and select benefits that mean the most to you and your family.

  Total Reward Statement: Understand the value of your total company package, including salary, bonus and benefits.

The scheme year runs from 1 April to 31 March.

Certain benefits can be joined at any time, these include:

• Pension

• Restaurant Card

Outside of the Annual Enrolment window, all other benefits can only be selected if you have a Life Event.