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Benefits

Check out the wide variety of benefits available to our team.

Feeling rewarded for your hard work is a big part of feeling at home in your career. That’s why we offer all kinds of benefits that go far beyond a pension and annual leave.

So, what can you expect if you join our team?

There are benefits to help you stay fit and well, such as loans to help you buy a bike and an Employee Assistance Helpline. There are also financial benefits including season ticket loans and an occupational sick pay scheme. As a Living Wage employer with generous annual leave - plus the chance to buy and sell holiday - our benefits give you the chance to live life to the full. Then, there are benefits to help stay motivated: from wide-ranging learning and development opportunities to staff celebrations, internal awards and team-building events. Together, these extras give every role an added dimension and enhance your working life in many ways.

It’s all about making your life easier and helping you make the most of your money, skills and time. See below for a detailed breakdown of our full benefits package.

Feel good about yourself

  • Employee assistance helpline – access a free, 24-hour confidential helpline, operated by First Assist Services, offering telephone counselling and lifestyle, health and legal advice.
  • Eyecare vouchers – get discounts for eye examinations, glasses and contact lenses with Vision Express.
  • Healthcare cash back plan – provided by Health Shield, this scheme reimburses your treatment costs (up to an annual limit) for everyday healthcare needs including dental treatment, physiotherapy, and chiropractic and health screenings. You can also access preferential rates for a network of health clubs and hotels.
  • Ride to work scheme – get a loan for a bike and cycling equipment through our retail partner, Evans, as a tax and National Insurance-free benefit through salary exchange.

Feel like you can achieve anything

  • Learning and development – access a huge range of learning and development opportunities including skills and management development training, e-learning, secondments, job swaps, tasters, mentoring and coaching.

  • Professional qualification sponsorship and study leave – we support professional qualifications relevant to your role via the apprenticeship levy.

  • Staff awards scheme – we recognise staff excellent performance with regular awards. 
  • Team-building events – teams are free to hold activities that help people work better together.
  • Women in Leadership and Rising Star awards – these special awards recognise special employees with career development funding of up to £10,000.
  • Staff celebration – every year, we get together and celebrate each others’ successes.

Feel financially secure

  • Living Wage – we pay the Living Wage, an hourly rate that’s independently set and updated annually.
  • Pension and death in service benefits – you will automatically be enrolled in our social housing pension scheme (SHPS) when you join us. You’ll contribute 5% and we’ll contribute 3%. Alternatively, you can choose a matched contribution arrangement (with a minimum contribution of 4%) via salary exchange. This means the amount of salary exchanged is exempt from National Insurance. The scheme includes a death in service lump sum of 3 x your annual salary.
  • Season ticket loans – access an interest-free loan if you travel to and from work by public transport. Pay it back over five or 10 monthly instalments.
  • Occupational sick pay scheme – get up to 12 weeks of sick pay once you’ve completed your probation period. This benefit also depends on length of service.

Feel like living life to the full

  • Annual leave – at least five weeks off pa (pro-rata for part time employees) plus statutory days (your annual leave entitlement increases with your length of service).
  • Other leave - we offer enhanced benefits over and above the statutory rates for maternity, paternity, adoption and dependency leave (see our family-friendly policy for further details).
  • Flexible holiday scheme – ‘buy’ or ‘sell’ up to a week’s holiday in per year, subject to certain conditions. Buying holiday offers tax and National Insurance savings through salary exchange.
  • Employee discount scheme – access the UK’s largest employee discount scheme, offering discounts in over 1,300 retailers and cash-back options.
  • End of year celebrations – we give everyone here £20 towards an end of year celebration, to enjoy time with their team.
  • Sabbatical leave – take up to 12 months’ unpaid leave and then return to a permanent role within the organisation (subject to management authorisation).

Take the first step to feeling at home in your career. Apply for a role with the dedicated Look Ahead team.

Apply Now