Employee benefits

Age UK staff enjoy a wide range of benefits, including a competitive pension, a Bupa cash plan, discounts at selected retailers, and childcare vouchers. Read below for full details.

Holidays

• Age UK (including Age International) - All full time employees are entitled to 26 days holiday per year + bank holidays.
• Age UK Retail - All full time employees are entitled to 25 days holiday per year + bank holidays.
• Age Cymru Enterprise - All full time employees are entitled to 25 days holiday per year + bank holidays.
• Age Cymru - All full time employees are entitled to 27 days holiday per year + bank holidays. 24 days are employee choice days and 3 fixed days between 25 December and 1 January

Annual Leave Purchase Scheme (ALPS)

Age UK gives its staff the option to increase their personal annual leave allowance by purchasing additional annual leave. Staff have the opportunity to purchase up to 5 additional days annual leave once yearly at specific times. Application to the scheme takes place in October or November.

However, individuals can request to purchase additional annual leave as a one off for a specific event later in the year in exceptional circumstances. This might include events such as taking an extended break to undertake voluntary work, getting married or simply to spend more time with children or dependents.

Competitive Pension

We offer a generous pension plan with employer contribution of up to 9%. You will be auto-enrolled from your start date paying an employee contribution of 1% with Age UK making an employer contribution of 4%. At any time you have the option to increase your contributions to either 3%, in which case we will pay 8%, or to 4% or more and we will pay 9%.

The Age UK Pension Plan has been accredited with the much sought after Pensions Quality Mark.

Life Assurance

From the day you start, you will have a life assurance policy. The standard value is twice your annual salary which increases to four times your annual salary if you are a member of the pension scheme.

Bupa Cash Plan

Age UK staff benefit from a Bupa cash plan that allows you to claim money back on optical treatments, dentistry, health screening, specialist consultations and alternative therapies. The plan also includes an employee assistance programme which gives you access to a free confidential 24 hour helpline plus personal counselling service.

Reward Gateway

Age UK staff enjoy a variety of discounts for many different online retailers.

Cycle Scheme

Through the Cycle to Work scheme, you can obtain a new bike and the appropriate safety equipment up to the value of £1,000 out of your salary before tax. The advantage of using the Cycle to Work scheme is that you will save tax and National Insurance on the cost which is not available if you get a bike straight from the high street.

Season Ticket Loan

With our annual season ticket loan you can spread the cost of commuting over six or 12 months, meaning you’ll benefit from discounts that annual or six month tickets often offer without having to pay lots of money upfront. This is specifically designed for people who have to spend a lot of money on their commute, so if you’re working in and around London you’re likely to be eligible.

Staff Discounts

Staff discounts are available on some Age UK products including up to 20% off Home Insurance and 10% off Car Insurance, 6 weeks free trial of Personal alarm, plus other products.

'You Did It' Awards

The ‘You did it’ award is for staff at all levels. Its aim is to recognise achievement within reasonable guidelines of what constitutes achievement. It provides Managers and colleagues with a framework to recognise each other’s achievements through work impact, teamwork or experiencing positive behaviors and outcomes.

Payroll Giving 

Payroll Giving is the most cost effective and secure way to give pre-tax to charity. The scheme enables you to support any charity you wish, including PTAs, churches, Scout and Guide groups. Contributions are deducted directly from your pay by Age UK payroll.

How does the tax advantage work? Your donation is deducted from your gross pay before tax is calculated. Payroll Giving is the only method that automatically ensures you receive the tax benefit and as such is the most cost effective way for give, especially for higher rate tax payers.

Learning and development

We all need different types of support when we reach various stages in our life, be it career advancement, learning new skills, taking care of our own wellbeing, offering our support to others or just simply having some space to think about what’s next in our lives.

At Age UK, all employees have access to Designing Your Future, a program that enables them to take ownership and map out their personal development journey through six core programmes.