We offer a variety of enhanced terms and conditions and a wide range of benefits to reward our staff for the value they bring.

The following is a list of our terms, conditions and benefits that all staff receive within the Council.

Terms and Conditions

• Offers of Employment
  • Offers of employment with the Refugee Council are subject to the receipt of satisfactory references, occupational health clearance, eligibility to work in the United Kingdom and where applicable an acceptable Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.
• Hours of Work
  • Full time Refugee Council staff work 35 hours per week, excluding breaks. Part time working hours vary.
• Salary
  • With the exception of Executive Director Team posts, all jobs are evaluated according to the Greater London Provincial Council job evaluation scheme to ensure equal pay across the organisation for work of equal value. The starting salary and grade of each job are included in the recruitment information. Salaries are reviewed each April, in line with national pay agreements and length of service.
• Annual Leave
  • All full time Refugee Council employees benefit from 28 days annual leave, plus public holidays (pro-rata), increasing to 30 days after three years continuous service. We also operate an annual leave purchase scheme for up to 5 days (pro-rata).
• Probationary Period
  • All appointments are subject to a six-month probationary period before confirmation in post.

Staff Benefits

• Training & Development
  • The Refugee Council is committed to the personal development of all its staff through formal and informal learning activities. We support Continuous Professional Development and time to undertake CPD activities is built into roles and rotas whenever possible. This encourages a flexible and creative approach to learning and development. Staff may access support for relevant part-time academic study. This may be study leave, or an interest-free study loan to help meet course costs.
• Employee Assistance Programme
  • In association with Health Assured, the Refugee Council provides an Employee Assistance Programme, which is also extended to partners and close family members.
• Pension Scheme
  • The Refugee Council operates a Group Personal Pension Scheme (GPP) to help staff plan for their retirement. The scheme is in line with government legislation and you will be automatically enrolled provided you meet the statutory eligibility criteria. Scheme members are required to pay a defined monthly gross pension contribution of 3-5% of gross salary (which will be deducted at source). The Refugee Council will match your contribution up to a maximum of 5% gross salary to the Scheme. The Refugee Council will not make pension contributions into alternative pension arrangements in lieu of membership of its own scheme.
• Trade Union
  • The Refugee Council has a procedural agreement with UNISON. Staff are encouraged to join.
• Work Life Balance Policies
  • The Refugee Council believes that Work Life Balance and Family Friendly policies are beneficial to both the organisation and employees alike, and have a number of policies to support this including flexible working, maternity and paternity, adoption leave, study leave and special leave.
• Life Assurance
  • The Refugee Council provides its employees with life assurance at two times their salary (some conditions apply).
• Interest-Free Loans
  • Interest-free loans are available to employees for work-related purposes. These are:
• Season Ticket Loan
  • After the successful completion of the probationary period, staff may apply to the Refugee Council for an interest-free loan for the purchase of a travel season ticket between their home and place of work.
• Training Loans
  • Members of staff may apply for loans for relevant training purposes, or to help finance part-time study.
• Employer-Sponsored Volunteering
  • Staff can take up to 14 hours leave a year for voluntary work. This might be assisting another charity, a community project or a vulnerable individual. To give maximum flexibility the annual entitlement can be broken down into 2-hour blocks of time, allowing the option to undertake more regular short volunteering sessions. There is no qualifying service to receive this benefit. Leave will be paid and the volunteering activity would take place during normal working hours. This is pro-rated for part time staff.