Our people

We are committed to equal opportunities in employment for all employees. Our equal opportunities policy ensures that all employees are treated fairly and valued equally irrespective of disability, race, gender, health, social class, sexual orientation, marital status, nationality, religion or belief, employment status or age.

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We have carried out diversity workshops across the company to explore issues of ethnic, cultural and gender diversity. 

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We are committed to ensuring no employee is discriminated against on the grounds of any disability. We also train our frontline staff in disability awareness, helping them to help our passengers. 

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In partnership with the rail unions, we support our employees and their families in personal development, offering various study options through three 24-hour Open Learning sites. There are also partnerships with local colleges, universities and Learndirect, for more educational opportunities. As well as our Open Learning Centres where employees can study outside of work time, there is a structured personal development plan system. 

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We realise the importance of looking after the well-being of our people, including those who work unsociable hours and shifts. We provide advice on health and fitness as well as running regular health fairs across the network. People are given the opportunity to have a cholesterol check, free flu vaccination or general check up. As well as making employees feel valued, it reduces time off work. We also have a stress management policy, including health and safety risk assessments, offering managers and their teams advice and support. 

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All employees, including managers and frontline staff, are regularly appraised on their performance and are clear about what is expected of them in meeting our high standards and values.

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We want to make our people feel valued and respected. We have a 'You’re a star!' scheme' with a monthly dinner attended by a director and all the nominees, who each receive a cheque as a thank you for all their hard work. This runs alongside other recognition schemes, including long service and retirement events, and Station Pride awards. 

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We offer good pay and conditions packages for the range of roles within the company, including travel and pension benefits. Employees’ dependents also benefit from the reduced rate and free leisure travel benefits offered by us.

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We have an 'Improving work life' programme, which includes benefits such as maternity and paternity leave, career breaks and time off if adopting a child. 

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We offers our employees the use of Care First, an independent and confidential counselling and legal advice helpline, plus ad hoc telephone advice on other subjects such as pensions. 

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We want to recruit the right people for the right job, help them be the best they can and ensure we retain high-quality, motivated staff. This approach has helped us create a workforce who share our vision and values. It has also played a large part in Improving passenger satisfaction with our services. 

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