About the Forestry Commission

The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for protecting, expanding and promoting the sustainable management of woodlands.

The Forestry Commission is made up of Forestry England, Forest Services and Forest Research.

The Forestry Commission is a vibrant organisation with highly talented staff, working to improve people’s lives through the many benefits that woods and forests provide.

Rewards and Benefits

We believe in rewarding our people by providing an excellent benefits package. These benefits include:

Staff discounts

Discounts on many high street big brands and retailers. This includes cinema tickets, dining out and grocery stores to name a few.

Civil Service Pensions

The Civil Service pension is considered one of the most generous pensions available. Further details can be found at Civil Service Pensions

Annual leave

• a generous 25 days’ annual leave allowance plus additional ‘privilege’ days off (pro-rata for those who work part time)
• annual leave increases to 30 days with 5 years’ service
• options to buy or sell up to 5 days annual leave

Work-life balance

• a range of flexible working options depending on your circumstances, including part-time working, job share, annualised hours and a compressed working week
• many roles also offer the option of working from home for part of the week

Family friendly

• flexible and inclusive working patterns
• significantly more than the statutory minimum maternity, paternity, shared parental and adoption leave benefits
• opportunity to apply for unpaid career breaks
• a variety of special leave options to help cope with those unexpected times in your life

Lifelong Learning

• all staff are entitled to five days professional development a year to target the skills you need to take your career forward
• Civil Service Learning (CSL) online platform provides access to a host of training courses, workbooks, e-learning and videos
• nurturing early talent: Apprenticeship and Graduate Development Programmes

Wellbeing

• our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) giving you access to free, independent and confidential expert advice and support, including specialist counselling, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
• occupational health to help keep you safe and healthy whilst in work
• free eye tests
• mental health awareness, including a trained team of mental health first aiders
• local wellbeing champions organise events, share information and support your wellbeing

Volunteering

• three paid volunteering days per year (pro-rata for those who work part time)

Diverse and inclusive work environment

We believe in listening to our staff to ensure that everyone is treated with respect and feels included every day:

• our Employee Networks bring people together to embrace the full range of diversity. We listen to our diverse groups to understand what they love and to find ways to make things better
• we are working hard to improve female representation across our organisation
• local inclusion ambassadors are enthusiastic about making our workplaces inclusive spaces and know how to challenge inappropriate behaviours, and model inclusive behaviours

Additional benefits

• generous sick pay entitlement
• free parking at Forestry England sites and entry to our National Arboretums
• an employee benefits portal that provides discounts on everyday supermarket shopping, as well as purchases such as gadgets, clothes, mobile phones, electrical items, medical insurance, holidays and Headspace
• cycle to work scheme, where you can save tax and NI on a new bike
• discounted gym membership
• salary advances to purchase season tickets for public transport or IT equipment
• the Civil Service Sports and Social Club, Insurance Society, Charity and Motoring Club also offer discounts and support

Diversity and Wellbeing

At the Forestry Commission, we know that we are stronger as a business when our workforce is diverse and inclusive. Everyone who works for our organisation is unique. We want to ensure that every single member of staff feels truly valued and included so that they feel able to share their diverse and unique perspectives and reach their full potential.

Our Diversity and Inclusion strategy sets out how we are doing this, alongside making sure we fulfil our requirements under the Public Sector Duty Act and the Equality Act 2010. You can read our Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2021-2024 Click Here. Read our Annual Equality Monitoring Report: 1 April 2019 – 31 March 2020 Click Here

Building culture from the bottom up is helped by enthusiasts across the organisation. Many of them are in staff networks, volunteering their time, going above and beyond their job description and contributing to the work of the Diversity and Wellbeing Team. Reinforcing the team are:

• 44 trained inclusion ambassadors.
• Bullying and harassment and discrimination ambassadors
• 34 wellbeing champions
• 130 Mental Health First Aiders trained

Staff networks

• The Forestry Commission has 4 staff networks: REACH (Race Equality and Cultural Heritage), Rainbow Canopy (LGBTQ+), Disability, Neurodiversity and Carers and Women’s staff networks.
• The networks complement a range of ways in which the organisation engages, consults and supports employees. They provide mutual support to staff with certain protected characteristics, help inform all staff about inclusion and diversity and advise managers on how to improve the quality of working life for all staff.
• All staff and managers are encouraged to attend the network meetings and participation is viewed by senior managers as an important element in improving the organisation’s performance on inclusion and diversity.

Related information

The Forestry Commission’s Inclusive Wellbeing Culture - Click here

Forest Runner Event Includes Non-Binary Entrant Category for the First Time - Click here

Creating an Inclusive Wellbeing Culture

Leveraging data to drive engagement with your racial equity strategy

Jobs with the forestry commision

For up to date job information please click here