5. Benefits

Being a detective constable in London is a genuinely rewarding experience, not just for the satisfaction you'll get from helping make the capital safer for everybody, but for the pay and benefits you'll receive too.

As a trainee detective constable in the Met, your total starting salary will be £30,369, made up of a basic salary of £23,586, plus London weighting and allowances of £6,783.

This rises to a current maximum of £45,933, made up of a basic salary of £39,150, plus London weighting and allowances of £6,783 in line with relevant Home Office guidelines and police regulations.

You'll have 22 days' of paid annual holiday, rising to 30 days a year depending on your length of service. This is on top of public holidays and an average of two rest days each week.

Throughout your initial 20 week training period, opportunities to take any annual leave will be extremely limited and only granted in exceptional circumstances for a very short period – this is an intense course, and it's vital to your future development that you don't miss any aspect of the training. Please speak to the recruitment team if you require further information. However, once you've completed your initial training, you'll have the opportunity to take leave.

We make provision for a number of other forms of leave, including:

  • Maternity, paternity and adoption leave
  • Special leave with and without pay
  • Carers leave
  • Parental leave
  • Career breaks of up to five years

You will have free use of TfL services through the provision of an Oyster card.

You will have access to the Rail Delivery Group Scheme (RDG), which will allow travel within 35 miles of London using National Rail.

Both of these schemes allow unlimited travel for business and private use, although the RDG scheme requires a small monthly payment. The RDG scheme runs from April each year, with this year's full payment being £813.29 deducted from your monthly salary in twelve instalments. If you join part way through the year, you can expect to pay a proportion of the annual payment in your first year.

We'll always try to take your individual, religious and cultural needs into account so you can fit your work around your personal commitments. But we're an emergency service with a 24/7 responsibility to the people of London, so this may not always be possible.

When you start as a new detective, you'll automatically become a member of the New Police Pension Scheme 2015 (NPPS).

Metfriendly offers a number of financial services for Met employees, including:

  • Savings products
  • Investment products
  • Protection products

We offer a contributory health scheme to our officers, along with other benefits such as free eye tests and spectacles for those who are regular computer users.

We pride ourselves on being a caring employer, and provide a range of support initiatives to help with both your personal welfare and that of your family:

  • Support for employees with caring responsibilities, such as flexible working arrangements
  • Occupational health and welfare counselling, ranging from psychotherapy to financial guidance
  • Resettlement and outplacement support and services
  • A subsidised convalescence home
  • Holiday play schemes to help with childcare
  • A range of development and mentoring schemes
  • Membership of the Police Federation and Staff Associations to support and represent your needs

We offer our employees, as well as their family and friends, a range of subsidised leisure and sporting activities / opportunities.