Working for St Gemma’s, whether it be at the main site, the retail hub or in our many charity shops, is rewarding and challenging. St Gemma’s is a great place to work and offers flexibility, training and support, along with a variety of employee benefits.
St Gemma’s offers a comprehensive benefits package, including:
We have a Hospice Group Personal Pension Plan, with the Hospice contributing 5% a month.
Alternatively, if you are currently a member of the NHS Pension Scheme or have contributed within the last 12 months you are eligible to continue contributing to this scheme.
We offer a generous holiday entitlement, with a starting holiday allowance of 27 days for full-time employees plus public holidays (pro-rata for part-time staff). Length of service is rewarded with extra days’ holiday (up to 33 days) and we provide the option to buy additional days.
Clinical staff who come to us directly from the NHS retain their continuous service entitlement for annual leave.
The Hospice provides death in service benefit for employees not in the NHS Pension Scheme. It pays out two times your basic salary in the event of your death whilst you are employed here.
Those in the NHS Pension scheme are covered by its own arrangements.
All pregnant employees, regardless of length of service, are entitled to paid time off to attend medical appointments and antenatal classes.
In addition to statutory entitlements, employees become eligible for St Gemma’s Occupational Maternity or Paternity Pay Schemes after 12 months continuous service.
We are committed to providing support for our staff. We have an Employee Assistance Programme, which provides a wide range of health and wellbeing services.
Services include 24/7 confidential GP and counselling helplines, giving you access to medical and emotional support when you need it most. There are services to help you improve your physical wellbeing, including discounted gym memberships. You can also help your pay go further with discounts on hundreds of well-known brands.
The wellbeing of our staff is very important to us. We organise a variety of activities to encourage physical and mental wellbeing. These include a lunchtime walking group, choir, yoga, rounders, Irish dancing, complementary therapies, ‘coffee mate’ and weekly ‘catch up with cake’. In addition, we hold staff conferences, wellbeing days and staff social events.
Wellbeing is supported through clinical supervision for those in qualifying clinical posts. In-house support can be provided for all by the spiritual care and bereavement teams.
There are a number of reflective and peaceful spaces throughout the Hospice and its gardens that staff are encouraged to use.
The Hospice has free on-site car parking, as well as free on-street parking in the surrounding residential area.
Staff benefit from discounted prices in our Bistro area, which offers a wide variety of snacks and meals throughout the day.
As an employee at St Gemma’s you would be encouraged to continuously develop your skills and update your knowledge to make the best possible contribution to the Hospice. We provide a comprehensive programme of in-service training for clinical and non-clinical staff through our world-class Academic Unit of Palliative care, and funding is also available for attendance on external training courses and conferences where appropriate.
“My job at St Gemma’s has allowed me to improve and develop my skills as a chef. I can be creative and I’m so pleased I’m able to do such nice work for the patients and their families on special occasions.”
Chef Mark Sickling, on one of the great things about working at St Gemma’s
