Staff benefits

At Red Kite we believe our people are our most valuable asset.

We're committed to attracting and retaining the very best staff, and using the talents and experience of everyone to provide the very best service to our tenants. We also appreciate that working life is changing, and lots of parents and individuals have other caring responsibilities, as well as interests and aspirations which impact on their time.

We offer flexible and hybrid working arrangements that enable you to balance your working life with other priorities – including parental and caring responsibilities, lifelong learning, charity work, leisure activities and other interests. We encourage our staff members to maintain a balance between the home and the office and we welcome flexible working requests.

35-hour week pilot

Since June 2024 we have been piloting a change to our normal full-time, 37-hour 5-day week. Over the last 7 months we have been piloting a shorter 35-hour week (for the same pay as before) where staff work a full day Monday to Thursday, and finish the working week at 1pm every Friday. It’s just a pilot at this stage while we evaluate its impact on our staff, our tenants, and the service we provide, but if successful we will consider a permanent move to this way of working in 2025.

Every employee is entitled to 26 days' annual leave together with the 8 UK Bank Holidays (or the pro rata equivalent if you work part-time). Your annual leave year commences from the day you start, and you can manage it through our HR system to help you stay on top of your holiday allowance.

As an added benefit, your holiday entitlement will increase with your length of service, to a maximum of 29 days.

Up to 5 days’ leave not taken during a leave year can be carried forward to the following year’s leave - and you can also buy or sell a maximum of 5 days of annual leave each year.

We want everyone to be able to celebrate their birthday, and what better way than not having to come to work! If your birthday falls on the weekend or a Bank Holiday, you can take your Birthday Bonus Day on the nearest working day. So for example if your birthday is on a Saturday, you can either take the Friday before or the Monday after as your Birthday Bonus Day.

All our staff are given one day a year to participate in a pre-arranged volunteering activity in support of a charity or not-for-profit organisation of your choice. This can be taken as one full day or two half days.

We encourage all our employees to save into the contributory pension scheme.

When you join you will automatically be enrolled into our pension scheme at the minimum contribution level, which means you contribute 3%, and Red Kite contributes 8%. You can increase this at any time, and if you contribute 4% or more Red Kite will contribute 10%.

Your work-related mileage is reimbursed - along with parking and congestion charges, and travel to training, conferences or other events.

We have a strong culture of staff development, and throughout your time at Red Kite you will have access to an exciting and diverse range of opportunities to grow your career and professionalise your skills. We use the popular Video Arts platform to take you through the essentials you'll need in your role, meaning you can quickly get up to speed with everything you need to know.

Every member of our staff has access to a health care benefit with Simplyhealth, which contributes towards medical and wellbeing expenses.

Each year you can claim up to:

• £75 for dental treatment, including check-ups
• £300 if you've had a dental accident
• £75 for eye care, including eye tests
• £75 for GP visits
• £20 towards prescriptions
• £50 for chiropody.

You can also claim money back if you're hospitalised, plus there are lots more wellbeing treatments you can claim for. There’s even a one-off £200 payment if you have had a baby!

Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)

Sometimes it can be difficult to balance the pressures of work with the needs of home life. At Red Kite, we recognise help is sometimes needed to deal with the challenges you may face in life, both practical and emotional. We partner with Health Assured who provide confidential support services which are available to you and your family via a free 24-hour phone number and an app.

Occupational Health

If an injury or illness is affecting your ability to attend work, or being able to fulfil your responsibilities at work, our Occupation Health practitioner will guide us on how to best support you.

At Red Kite, we have a wonderful team of mental health first aiders - our Wellbeing Champions - who are committed to ensuring all colleagues have the opportunity to take care of themselves and maintain a good work/life balance. They're always on hand for a cuppa and a chat if needed.

Your family is important to us, so if anything happens to you while you're employed by Red Kite, we'll make a payment of three times your salary to your nominated beneficiary.

Here at Red Kite, we have access to the Benefits Website, offering hundreds of great offers as well as fantastic deals and discounts on a wide range products and services.

From health and beauty, to days out, shopping and holidays, there's something for everyone - and every little helps, right?