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Working with us

Photo: Working with us

Our passion and dedication to making a difference has enabled us to grow rapidly and become the leading charity dedicated to creating a world without barriers for deaf children and young people.

Our vision and values reflect the fact that we are dedicated to the needs of all deaf children, their families and carers.

Without the right support, deaf children and young people are vulnerable to isolation, abuse, bullying, poor self-esteem and low levels of achievement, and this is where our work comes into play.

Whether we are campaigning to change the law, fundraising to collect funds that will improve the lives of deaf children and young people or giving legal advice we are actively improving the lives of the ones who need it most.

We recognise that our people are our most valuable asset and we care about their well-being and development. That’s why we’ve created tailored benefits and rewards that support all our employees through their journey with us.

To read about some of our staff's experiences, visit our Staff Stories page.

Your work life balance

Annual leave, family leave and compassionate leave
We provide a generous annual leave entitlement of 25 days per year plus bank holidays. We adjust this if you are part time. We are also closed over the Christmas period for 3 days and you don’t need to book this as annual leave! After five years’ service your annual leave entitlement increases to 30 days plus bank holidays (adjusted for part-time staff). In addition to our generous annual leave, we also provide compassionate leave and family leave.

Buying additional annual leave and work breaks
We appreciate that you might like to spend some more time with your family, go for an amazing adventurous holiday or simply take some “me” time and that’s why we offer the opportunity to buy up to 20 days of annual leave per year. We also offer work breaks to staff who have worked with us for over 2 years.

Flexible working hours
We actively encourage all our employees to achieve the right balance between work and home, as we believe this will strengthen the work of the charity and enhance the well-being of our staff. That’s why we operate flexible working hours and are open to considering suggestions to suit your needs.

Your wellbeing

A healthy work-life balance plays an important part in well-being. Looking after your health is important too. We aim to support our employees with this by working closely with our occupational health providers, talking to you about your health and wellbeing, paying for eye-tests and ensuring that all work-spaces are ergonomically designed and set up. We also offer:

Employee Assistance Programme
We offer an Employee Assistance Programme to all our employees who would like support with day-to-day challenges. This is a self-referral service which offers counselling, advice and information on various subjects, whether it’s work related or personal. We also offer a bereavement counselling service.

Supportive menopause, fertility, maternity, paternity and adoption leave
Our supportive menopause, fertility, maternity, paternity and adoption leave provisions support your health, happiness and wellbeing during your employment journey with us.

Clubs and activities
We offer various activities such as softball, BSL conversation clubs, a signed choir, pay-day drinks and lunchtime running clubs that are free to join. They are aimed to support inter-department relationships and are also a good way to help you relax! The clubs are organised by employees and might change slightly, depending on demand and the office you work in.

Induction and 1:1 meetings
We aim to help you settle in as quickly as possible by providing you with a thorough and supportive induction. Monthly 1:1 meetings between you and your manager form an important part of the support you’ll be provided with during your employment. Our culture is based on open communication, two-way feedback and trust. Your 1:1 meetings form part of this, and provide a great opportunity to establish open and supportive relationships and for you to discuss any issues that may arise during your time with us.

Reasonable adjustments
We recognise that everyone’s needs are different and we strive to provide reasonable adjustments to all employees who need them. This could include assistive technology, adjustments to furniture or amended duties. We are here to support your needs and make sure you have a comfortable and efficient working environment.

How we reward you

Annual increase and annual increments
Discretionary salary increments are awarded annually, subject to your performance. If given, the increment will be awarded on the anniversary of your start date. This is our way of saying “Thank you for your hard work!” We also review pay annually in June. If a percentage increase to pay is approved, this is added to your salary on top of the increment.

Pension scheme and life assurance
It’s essential to save for your retirement, and that’s why we automatically enrol you into our pension scheme. We currently contribute the equivalent of 5.5% of your salary to your pension. You’ll also be enrolled into our life assurance scheme which is three times your salary.

Interest free annual season ticket loan
Once you have successfully completed your six month probationary period, you are eligible for an interest free annual season ticket loan which will help you keep your travel costs down.

Recognition and rewards
You’ll have access to our fantastic benefits website offering many discounts, offers and services, e.g. shopping vouchers, re-loadable cards, discounted holidays, gym memberships and cinema tickets and more. Throughout the year, our benefits website runs various competitions giving you the chance to win exciting holidays! We also like to say “thank you for being brilliant” to staff who have gone the extra mile in our weekly newsletter, In the Loop.

How we develop you and help you grow

We are keen to support all of our staff to learn and develop. We do this by making it an ongoing focus throughout your employment. We provide various resources tailored to your needs and are happy to support you through your journey.

Induction
We want you to settle in as quickly as possible and will provide you with a thorough induction to help you do this. Your induction will include a deaf awareness workshop, an opportunity to meet our executive team, training, as well as tailored support provided by your manager and an induction buddy.

Online resources
Our e-learning platform, Discovery Zone, allows you to access learning opportunities at any time that suits you. We offer a number of courses - from management and leadership to equality and diversity and safeguarding.

Secondments
Secondments are a great way to develop new skills by experiencing a different role or department.

Mentoring
We have joined forces with a number of other charities to develop a mentoring exchange programme. This programme provides you with the opportunity to widen your network and exchange learning and ideas with others in similar organisations.

Continuing Professional Development
As you build your career with us, we can sponsor you to achieve qualifications related to your job role. We also support continuous development by providing interest-free learning loans if you are looking to improve your knowledge and skills in other areas. We also offer a suite of courses and workshops to ensure that you have the knowledge and skills you need to develop and carry out your role.

Equality and Diversity

We are committed to eliminating discrimination, encouraging diversity, promoting equality and recognising the value of every individual in all aspects of our work. We take it as our responsibility to treat everyone with respect and fairness.

To achieve this we work towards ensuring we have taken all reasonable steps to not unfairly discriminate in any way in terms of the services people receive or in their opportunity to volunteer or work for us. We also work to prevent indirect discrimination by ensuring our policies and practices do not unfairly or unjustifiably limit opportunities.

Under Section 158 of the Equality Act 2010, and where appropriate, the charity will promote positive action in the form of proportionate measures to encourage or train people from under-represented groups.

You can find out more information in our Equality and Diversity Policy (PDF).

Code of conduct

Learn more about what is expected of our staff in our Code of Conduct policy (PDF).