Our deal for staff

We offer a challenging and stimulating environment with considerable opportunity for career progression and learning. This feature is underpinned by significant investment in training and development.

Employee Benefits

Employee benefits include:

27 days annual leave (rising to 30 days over 3 years);
10.5 days public and privilege holidays;
flexitime;
occupational health service;
employee advisory service;
subsidised gym membership;
an excellent pension scheme (for permanent employees)
provision of interest free season ticket loans; and
access to training and development opportunities, including personal development grants.

Equal opportunities

We are committed to equal opportunities. Our policy is to provide equal opportunity for employment, career development and promotion to all that are eligible on the basis of ability, qualifications and availability for the work.

Applications are welcome from all qualified individuals regardless of gender, race, religious belief, disability, marital status or sexual orientation.

For more information about our commitment to eliminating unfair discrimination please see our page on equality and diversity.

Positive about disability

We welcome job applications from disabled people and we are positive about their abilities.

To encourage applications from disabled people we offer an assurance that all disabled applicants who meet the minimum ("essential") criteria will be given the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities at interview stage. This commitment applies to all vacancies, internal and external without exception.

Representation

We value employee relations and fosters partnership working with staff and recognised trade union representatives. Collective agreements that affect staff terms and conditions of employment are negotiated through a formal consultative committee.

Nationality

Positions are open to UK nationals, other Commonwealth citizens, British Protected persons, nationals of countries in the European Economic Area and certain members of their families. Commonwealth citizens must be free from any restrictions to reside and take up employment in the UK.

Retirement

Our default retirement age for employees is 65. Employees can request to work beyond this age, although it will be at our discretion. The default pension age for existing Civil Servants (and those appointed before 1 July 2007) is 60, which means that employees can draw their pension from age 60 onwards without any reduction in benefits. The pension arrangements that came into force on 1 July 2007 have a default pension age of 65.

Financial interests and shareholdings

To avoid conflicts of interest and safeguard personal and office integrity, ORR staff, their spouses/partners and their dependent children must not hold shares, or take a financial interest in, certain railway industry companies, licensed train operating companies, any company which controls these companies or any companies subject to statutory regulation by the ORR.

Staff must also register the employment of a spouse or partner by any such company.

Last updated: 30 September 2008