Working for us
Working for us
We offer excellent terms and conditions of employment including a range of family friendly practices and work-life balance opportunities. Employee welfare and health is very important and our employees have access to free counselling and support and medical advice. All of our policies are freely available to all staff and are reviewed regularly.
Pension scheme
All our employees can join the Local Government Pension Scheme.
Work-life balance
It’s important to have a healthy balance between work and home life. To help, we have a flexible working scheme and a number of other family-friendly initiatives.
Childcare vouchers
We take part in Computershare Voucher Services (formerly Busy Bees). This is a family-friendly initiative, which helps with childcare costs. For more information, go to the link opposite.
Employee Assistance Programme
We use an Employee Assistance Programme called 'Workplace Wellness’. This is a complete resource for all employees that gives information, advice and support 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The service offers a range of advice over a website, but also via a Freephone number, which offers counselling support, as well as legal, financial and tax-related advice.
Employee consultation
We want everyone to feel that their views count. We have a range of initiatives which help us to collect feedback from our employees. They include:
Informal and formal meetings with the trade unions
- Health and Safety Employee Forum
- Employee Survey
- Staff Briefings
- Managers Networking sessions
Trade Unions
We give both Unison and Unite full trade union recognition rights and also work with GMB Union. This means, we consult them about any proposed changes to employees' terms and conditions. We also welcome the support and guidance they offer individual employees.
Information for applicants
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks
Some of our posts require the post holder to have access to vulnerable adults or children. We require employees to undertake a DBS Disclosure.
Further information is available in our policy on employing people with a Criminal Record.
Employing People with a Criminal Record
It’s a criminal offence to apply for one of these posts if you’ve been barred from working with children or vulnerable adults.
Eligibility to work in the UK
If offered a position with Derby Homes, you are required to provide proof of your eligibility to work in the UK. Read the 'Eligibility to work in the UK' document to find out which documents you will need to show us.
All offers of employment are subject to satisfactory documents being received.
Equality and diversity
Derby Homes is required to publish its gender pay gap statement each year in a prescribed format. You can find it here: Equality and diversity
Disabled applicants
If you are disabled, we want to give you every opportunity to be successful when applying for a job with us. We offer support through guaranteed interviews and reasonable adjustment at interviews.
You’re classed as disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities.
Guaranteed interviews
We guarantee an interview to any disabled person who meets the essential requirements of the job. To apply under the ‘guaranteed interview’ scheme, please tick the relevant box on the application form. If you don’t want to use the scheme, and would prefer to be judged purely on your own merits, just apply in the usual way.
Reasonable adjustments for interviews and tests
We want you to do well when you apply for a job with us and are keen to hear if there are any other ways we can help. You might need a car parking space, a sign language interpreter, information in another format, or extra time for your interview.
Whatever your needs, note them on your application form and we will do our best to accommodate you.
Employee Development
We are committed to having a skilled and trained work force and deliver mandatory training on equalities, health and safety and customer services. In addition we offer employees a range of training opportunities for employees depending on their job and individual needs. All employees have an annual job chat where their training needs are assessed.
Teamwork is important to us. We believe that by supporting each other and working as a team, Derby Homes is a much more positive place to work.
We have both a Staff Development Charter and a Leadership Charter, to demonstrate our commitment to our employees.
Every employee has the opportunity to contribute to and access our business plan. Amongst other things, this helps us identify group and individual training needs.
Induction programme
All new employees have a comprehensive induction programme, including an online induction course, which will give you an overview of Derby Homes and the opportunity to hear from our Director and other members of the senior management team.
Employee Wellbeing
We have a duty to provide safe and healthy working conditions for all employees and anyone else using our buildings and facilities. We take all reasonable steps to comply with relevant legislation, regulations and codes of practice, and provide the necessary resources to secure safe working conditions and procedures for all employees.
We hold the prestigious RoSPA President's Award for Occupational Health and Safety. We were the first housing ALMO in the country to receive the RoSPA Gold Award, and are now one of only a few housing organisations in the Country to have been recognised at the highest level by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents for our commitment towards health and safety. Retaining this award is a reflection of our commitment to maintaining the highest standards of health and safety for all tenants and their families, and for our staff and contractor’s staff.
Time to Change Employer Pledge
Derby Homes has signed the Employer Pledge for Time to Change to demonstrate our commitment to change how we think and act about mental health in the workplace and make sure that our employees who are facing these problems feel supported.
Whistleblowing
We are committed to conducting our business with honesty and integrity and we expect all staff to maintain high standards. In the course of delivering our services, there is always the risk that something may go wrong or that someone may ignore our policies, our procedures or the law, resulting in serious consequences.
Employees, partners or members of the public may occasionally have worries or suspicions of wrongdoing. By reporting these concerns at an early stage, it could help put things right or identify and stop any potential negative behaviours or activities.
We encourage anyone with serious concerns about any aspect of Derby Homes work to come forward and tell us as soon as possible.
How to report wrongdoing
If you suspect any wrong doing please use the web form below and provide as much detail as you can so we can investigate your concerns. You can also email DH-GovernanceServices@derbyhomes.org
Confidentiality
All concerns will be treated in confidence. Every effort will be made to protect the whistle-blower's identity, if that is their wish. In some cases, we may need to ask the whistle-blower to be a witness. We will offer support in these circumstances.