Benefits and Rewards

All staff receive 31 days annual leave each year and also the eight recognised public holidays (in England) [pro rata if part-time]. For every five years continuous service (five full holiday years need to be completed – January to December), staff will receive one day’s extra leave per annum, providing that the maximum will be 35 days leave in total, irrespective of length of service.

To provide flexibility around working hours it is possible for staff to work a nine day fortnight, in agreement with your line manager. This is achieved by working the extra seven hours into the nine working days. Staff are not encouraged to work through their lunch break in order to build up time. This arrangement is available to staff that work 21 hours or more per week.

TACT provides a number of generous family friendly policies that provide benefits that exceed the statutory requirements. These include:

Maternity leave
Parental leave
Paternity leave
Time off for dependants
Adoption leave
Flexible working / working from home

TACT provides life cover which will pay a lump sum of £137,500 to your nominated beneficiaries in the event of your death.

From the date you start working for TACT, you’re entitled to join the stakeholder pension scheme, currently through Scottish Widows at a minimum 4% of basic salary. You may opt-out of the scheme. TACT will contribute up to 5% of your annual salary on a matched basis. You can, of course, pay higher than 5% to secure yourself a better pension.

TACT has a specific Menopause Policy outlining responsibilities and expectations for managers and employees, encouraging flexible working and adjustments to working arrangements for those experiencing potential detrimental symptoms at work.  In addition, TACT will fund a 45 minute menopause consultation session with a qualified clinician for staff who need advice and support.

TACT will contribute towards the cost of eye tests. You may also be eligible for a voucher towards the cost of glasses.

TACT offer a non-contributory Employee Assistance Programme. You can speak to a qualified adviser on any topic that’s bothering you; work, family crises, personal life, illness, managing money, retirement issues and personal crises. You have access to friendly, unbiased, confidential advice whenever you need it. The service is completely free, independent and available to you 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The service is also available to family members living in the same household.

12 week sabbaticals will be offered to staff with 10 years or more continuous service. The timing of the sabbatical will be mutually agreed between the line manager and the employee. Notice of intention to take a sabbatical should be requested in writing at least six months before the intended start of the sabbatical. An employee will be required to take five days of their annual leave entitlement (pro rata if part time) at the start of their sabbatical leave period. TACT will pay half salary for the remaining 11 weeks of the absence.

This is available to all permanent full-time and part-time employees aged 18 or above who join the company prior to their 63rd birthday, once they have completed two years service, subject to satisfying the terms and conditions of the policy.
Group Income Protection Insurance is a benefit which provides an income after 13 weeks’ continued absence from work due to accident or illness, subject to acceptance of a claim.
The income is equivalent to 75% of basic salary (including London Weighting where applicable) less an amount equal to State Invalidity Benefit. The income during a qualifying claim will be paid for a maximum of 24 monthly payments or until the employee is able to return to work, until they reach retirement age of 65 or until death – whichever occurs first.

TACT has an enviable record of delivering excellence in Learning and Development which includes:

A strong culture of internal development and promotion
A wide range of internal and external courses
A structure of appraisals and reviews to enable personal development
Annual conferences, planning days and team building events
Membership of Research In Practice with opportunities to attend their Learning Events and other benefits
Sponsorship towards a professional qualification, including day release
Paid subscription to a professional body

TACT values the commitment, experience and loyalty of those that have worked and made their career within the organisation. In recognition of this, a one off payment of £500 will be paid to an employee on completion of ten years continuous service and, thereafter, £500 for every five years continuous service completed.

If part of your job requires you to travel, you will be able to claim a mileage allowance, subject to certain limits, or public transport costs. You will also be able to claim an allowance per mile if you use your bike for business travel.

For all our social work staff, who will be required to work on the out of hours duty rota, an allowance is paid.

TACT has a generous company sick pay scheme for staff who are unable to attend work due to unavoidable sickness absence and who follow the set down notification and certification procedure. We also have access to Occupational Health advisers who provide expert medical opinions.

If you’re new to the fostering sector, you might not realise that we’re classed as an ‘essential service’, which means that you’re entitled to the fabulous Blue Light Card. It provides those in the social care sector with significant discounts online and in-store. It has around 15,000 brand partners across a range of sectors from leisure, technology, retail to holidays. We’ll even pay the bi-yearly membership fee!

The popularity of wellbeing apps is through the roof, and we were quick to realise how they could help improve the wellbeing of our staff. Join us and we’ll sign you up to the award-winning Premium version of Calm! The app offers thousands of hours’ worth of guided meditation, breathwork, motivation and movement videos; enough to ensure you’ll never run out of new content to explore.

Mediation is great, but what about if you’re an active? We’ll send you a FREE Fitbit, so you can keep track of your step count, track your sleep patterns, and more!