At SRC, we are all about people. Everything we do would not be possible without our incredible team, and that’s why we want to make every employee feel valued and cared for. We understand that what happens in our personal lives directly impacts how we perform at work. Therefore, we do anything we can to support our staff and make their lives easier and more enjoyable.

Wellbeing and work are linked, with healthy employees being 59% more likely to be engaged at work. That’s why we do everything we can to ensure all our people are healthy and happy. 

As part of this initiative, we offer lifetime leave to support our team members as they go through different life events. At the end of the day, it’s not about what’s important to us, it’s whatever is important to our people.

Sam’s Story | Making a Stressful Move Simple

“I cannot downplay what a huge difference lifetime leave made for me last year.”

– Sam Estwick, Software Support Specialist, William Martin

Sam has been working at William Martin for 10 years as a Software Support Specialist. Sam has been such an asset to the William Martin team, but recently she came across some personal challenges. So, we decided we needed to step in and help Sam out.

Given that Sam’s husband is in the Army, he often gets posted in different locations. Since Sam has been with the company, she has already moved to Cyprus twice. So, when they were planning to move back to the UK last year, Sam was making to-do lists and trying to get everything in place to take the smallest amount of leave possible for the move.

In the past, Sam has had to be careful with how much leave she could take in a year. This was because she often had to save up her holiday in case she was due to move with her husband.

There were a few main stress factors here for Sam and her husband. When going through the moving process, the Army keep them on their toes with changing flights and even changing houses at the last minute. They are also tasked with cleaning the house, in line with Army standards, despite all their belongings leaving a week or so ahead of them; this means they have to survive without their hoover, steamer, mop and other cleaning supplies.

“So even with my trusty list, a lot of things are out of our hands.”

Not to mention, once Sam and her husband arrive back in the UK, they have the stress of getting everything unpacked and praying nothing was broken during the move. From setting up all the utilities and getting on the internet, to organising new schools for the kids, to registering at doctors and dentists—the list seems endless.

To help, SRC offered Sam two weeks of lifetime leave.

“I had prepared myself for a stressful move and actually ended up with a nice little holiday!”

Sam booked in her lifetime leave, feeling relaxed and ready to start the move. Sam and her husband packed up their house in Cyprus and went to stay at a local hotel. This meant their house would be empty meaning they could return and clean it over a few days.

“It was July, who wants to leave a gorgeous hotel on the beach to go and clean? So, for the first time ever we booked a ‘March out’ cleaner (to the relief of my husband as I am not known for my cleaning skills).”

Finally, Sam was able to enter holiday mode. There was no need to stress because time was on her side. So, Sam and her husband drove to see family who they hadn’t seen in two years and picked up their beloved dog who flew back a week before them.

With all this extra time, it was easy for Sam to sort all the utilities, doctors, schools and even do a shopping trip to make the new house feel like home.

“There was an ongoing joke with my friends that within those two weeks I didn’t have a single thought in my head, I just happily plodded along.”

After this relaxing break, Sam then returned to work refreshed and with plenty of leave left for Christmas. According to Sam, “it was the best company benefit” she could have ever have asked for. Our people are always our top priority here at SRC; we want every staff member to feel valued, appreciated, and supported—we are just happy we could make a positive impact on Sam’s moving journey.

Carly’s Story | Reducing Stress in a Time of Need

“Lifetime leave was a saviour for me when my son needed an emergency operation.”

– Carly Salisbury, Client Services Manager, Prosure360

Carly currently works at Prosure360 as a Client Services Manager, but she has worked in the SRC family for over a decade. With all of Carly’s hard work over the years, she has become such a core part of our team and we feel very lucky to have her. So, when her son needed an emergency operation, we were determined to do whatever we could to support her.

One of the main challenges was that Carly’s son required two weeks recovery time as a minimum. As a single mother, Carly didn’t know how she was going to juggle it all without using all her holiday.

But of course, we were more than happy to help Carly through this difficult time in any way we could. So after a chat with HR, Carly was given the option to use her Lifetime Leave. For Carly, this was a massive relief and gave her one less thing to worry about.

“The leave was very well spent sat on the sofa for two weeks, eating ice lollies and ice cream, playing the Nintendo Switch (which I am still rubbish at to this day!) and being there to provide all the cuddles and reassurance that my little legend needed, as well as managing his pain and being 100% present.”

Carly still feels grateful to have had Lifetime leave as an option, especially at such a critical time for her son. We are so pleased that we were able to make this time slightly less stressful for Carly and we endeavour to do the same for any of our employees going through tough times.

When can lifetime leave be used?

We know that everyone will have different priorities in their lives, so we offer lifetime leave to allow you additional paid leave for lifetime events, such as getting married, the birth of a grandchild, or a maybe a furry new family member. Ultimately, we care about what’s important to you.

For example, one of our colleagues from Barbour EHS recently used their lifetime leave to revise for an upcoming exam. Having this time off turned out to be extremely helpful for them, as it gave them the time they needed to prepare and study.

If you want to be part of a company who truly cares about their people, check out our other benefits and our current vacancies.

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