Benefits of Being a Partner

We offer competitive pay for all roles in The Partnership.

Determined by our overall performance, the John Lewis Partnership bonus is our annual share-out of profit, and all Partners receive it as a percentage of their salary. The 2021/22 bonus was 3% of a Partner’s pay.

Once you’ve been with us for three months, you’ll get Partnership discount in store and online. That’s 25% off in John Lewis & Partners (12% off electrical products, some exclusions apply) and 20% in Waitrose & Partners (some exclusions apply) You’ll also be able to nominate someone you live with to share your discount.

The Partnership has a Defined Contribution pension scheme where your contributions, up to an agreed level, will be matched by the Partnership. In addition, after a qualifying period of service you may receive an additional Partnership contribution.

Our life assurance scheme provides a lump sum benefit, which may be paid to a chosen benefactor in the event of your death.

Depending on your Partnership job level, if you work full time you’ll get between 22 and 30 days holiday a year, plus bank holiday entitlement.

After ten years’ service, all Partners who work full time get 30 days’ holiday.

Once a year, you’ll also have the option of buying up to an extra week of holiday, spreading the cost over 12 months.

All holiday entitlement is pro-rated depending on when you join during the holiday year and how many days you work per week.

Across our shops, head offices and distribution sites, we offer free hot drinks, selected cold drinks and fruit, alongside dining rooms serving subsidised meals and snacks for Partners while at work (some exclusions apply).

The HMRC-approved salary sacrifice scheme lets Partners save on the cost of buying a bike for cycling to work.

We know that not all families are the same, so, we’ve got a range of support available, whether you’re a same sex couple, a new mum, a father, you’re adopting or using a surrogate. The John Lewis Partnership supports all Partners to find the right balance between parenting and satisfying careers in our business. We offer equal parenthood, parental and shared parental leave.

We’ve won Working Mum’s People‘s Top Employer 2022 Award for ‘Best for Family support’ and Working Dad’s Leadership and Culture Award for 2023. These awards recognise the market leading policies and the environment we’ve nurtured to support working families in the Partnership.

At the heart of this culture is our Working Parents Network. One of the eight networks (employee resource groups) in the John Lewis Partnership that exist to educate, influence and challenge the business.

We are also proud to be a Foster Friendly employer, accredited by the Fostering Network. We know that a supportive employer can make all the difference to those who foster, therefore, the experience of the children in their care. This is why if you work for us, we will support you with time off to attend appointments and training.

Each year, you can claim up to £250 to cover half the cost of a range of tutored courses through our Leisure learning subsidy. This benefit is open to all Partners, but you can also use it to claim for baby and child courses such as NCT and hypnobirthing or parent and baby swimming lessons.

Wellbeing is important to us and we are committed to supporting our Partners.
Our Wellbeing team offer a range of services to support Partners no matter what journey they are on, including a dedicated wellbeing support line that offers confidential practical and emotional support, financial assistance, couselling and mediation.

We have health services including direct access to Physiotherapy and Occupational Health practitioners.
And through our dedicated benefits platform any Partner can access a Digital GP service as well as Unmind, our mental health platform at no cost.

Private Healthcare

The private healthcare scheme, run by Bupa, is offered to Partners at levels 1-6 . It aims to provide Partners who need medical attention, to obtain it with minimum interference to their work.

The Partnership will pay the cost of healthcare for eligible Partners with Partners paying the tax on the value of this benefit

We’re really proud of our exclusive hotels based in some of Britain’s most beautiful areas and once you’ve been with us for three months, you’re welcome to explore them. Find out more about our hotels here.

Every Partner can claim up to £60 a year towards the cost of event tickets such as concerts and festivals and £250 a year to help towards learning a new skill or exploring an interest.  If music’s your thing, make sure you take advantage of our VIP suites at the O2 and Wembley Arena. We also arrange large events and tournaments – past events have included exclusive Partner days at Legoland and Thorpe Park.

You’ll also get free entry to many attractions such as Historic Royal Palaces and museums and take advantage of over 200 discounts and deals on holidays, restaurants and theme parks across the country.

And as a Partner you’ll also be able to join our sports clubs and societies that cover everything from abseiling and skiing to drama and photography.

Partners can support the charities they care about the most by donating through their pay. It’s a simple and tax-free way to donate to charities and is one of the most cost-effective ways for charities to raise funds.

Partners can buy their season ticket for train travel through the Partnership and spread the cost over a period of time via their pay.

There are also money saving offers available to Partners for bus travel to work. A personal use car (or an allowance as a cash amount if preferred) is offered to Partners at Partnership levels 1-5.

The scheme allows Partners to select from most car brands with insurance, recovery, fuel card and service plans included. Essential use cars are available for Partners who are required to travel on business regularly.

Flexible working is welcomed and encouraged. It’s not where, when, or how you fulfill your role that is important to us, it is the contribution you make to our business. Partners should feel comfortable to have conversations about flexibility at any point in their career with us, whether this is through formal or informal arrangements and we’ll always carefully consider requests and accommodate them where we can.

Learn more about flexible working at the Partnership.

Our equal parenthood leave gives all new parents 26 weeks paid leave (14 weeks at full contractual pay and 12 weeks at 50% contractual pay). It’s available for all Partners who’ve worked for the Partnership for one year at the qualifying week or you’re notified of being matched with a child, regardless of how you become a parent. It tops up any statutory maternity leave and pay, statutory paternity pay and leave or statutory adoption leave and pay.

There might be times when you need some extra flexibility to accommodate your parenting responsibilities. We want you to know that you can take up to 18 weeks’ unpaid parental leave to care for your child if they’re under 18 years old. If you have more than one child, you’re entitled to take up to 18 weeks’ leave for each child e.g., if you have two children you can take up to 36 weeks.

You can take up to four weeks per child per year. It needs to be taken in weekly blocks, if you take less than a contractual working week, it will still be counted as one week of your entitlement.

To qualify, you must have at least one year’s continuous service with the Partnership and:

• Be the biological parent or adoptive parent, or
• Have legal parental responsibility for the child.

Shared parental leave allows you to take a flexible approach to deciding when you’ll be away from work after your baby is born or when you adopt or foster a child.

If you’re the mother of the child, the first two weeks following the birth or adoption of your child must be taken as statutory maternity or adoption leave. After this, you’re free to end your statutory leave when you wish and share some or all of the remaining statutory leave and pay entitlement with the child’s father or your partner. You can also take shared parental leave when an adoption or foster agency has placed a child with you and your partner as adoptive or foster parents.

If you’re the father, or the mother’s partner, and share the main responsibility for the care of the child with the child’s mother (where the child’s father doesn’t), or an adoption or foster agency has placed a child with you and your partner or foster parents, shared parental leave is available to you.

If you wish to take statutory paternity leave, this should be taken during the first 56 days following the birth or placement of your child. Once shared parental leave is started, you will lose any untaken statutory paternity leave entitlement. Find out more on statutory shared parental leave and pay.

You’re usually eligible for shared parental pay if one of the following applies:

• You’re eligible for statutory maternity pay or statutory adoption pay
• You’re eligible for statutory paternity pay and your co-parent is eligible for statutory maternity pay, maternity allowance or statutory adoption pay.