Helping Hands Employee Reviews

Only been working at helping hands for about 3 months, and I love it. Management are amazing and very supportive, and the job is just so rewarding! The clients are lovely, and the other carers are very helpful and encouraging! Loved every minute of it.

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Official response from Helping Hands

1 November 2022

Thank you so much for taking the time to leave such a lovely review. We are so glad to hear that you are loving your role with Helping Hands. We also couldn't agree more about how rewarding it is to work in the care industry!

Very rewarding job

Care Coordinator (Current Employee) - Exeter, Devon - 28 November 2023

I have worked for HH for over 4 years, I started as an hourly carer and have progressed to the care coordinator.My role is very rewarding both in and out of the office.I work with a very supportive team and never feel like I am alone in my role.Yes it can be stressful when we have carer sickness but we have an amazing team of carers that are always willing to go the extra mile to ensure our customers get their visit.Our area manager is always at the end of the phone if we need her and visits the branch quite frequently.My only gripe is with the company itself they need to remember that if it wasn't for our carers there would be NO HELPING HANDS !!! For the last 2 years we have not been allowed to buy the carers Christmas gifts birthday gifts etc which is very sad. I get we are in trying times but so are the carers !

Pros

Great Pay Great Family Feel

Cons

Upper Management not recognizing the carers

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Insights into Helping Hands

Based on 275 survey responses

What people like

Supportive environment
Ability to learn new things
Clear sense of purpose

Areas for improvement

Trust in colleagues
Support from manager
Sense of belonging

A well organised company with good management

CTP (Current Employee) - Exeter - 28 November 2023

I have worked for many care companies over the years. Helping Hands I feel has been more professional and organised than other companies. The ethos they show their staff is outstanding and very supportive. On the whole the company has set very high standards. I am working with a really good team who have been so supportive and patient with me. The induction programme was excellent with seeing how different branches run which really supported my learning within the company. The office is very busy but everyone within the team works alongside each other, working in a happy environment is so enjoyable. I thank all the team for welcoming on board.

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Official response from Helping Hands

6 December 2023

Thank you for your lovely review!Its great to hear you're enjoying your role so much.

Supportive and friendly team

Care and Training Practitioner (Current Employee) - Exeter, Devon - 28 November 2023

Since starting, I have been welcomed and made to feel part of the team. They have been welcoming and supportive. When I have been faced with an issue, they have been helpful and staff go above and beyond. It can be stressful on occasions but not overly too much. In care not always a great work/life balance but it doesn't overtake your life if you don't let it

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Official response from Helping Hands

6 December 2023

Thank you for taking the time to leave a review, we're so happy to hear that you feel supported in your role.

7 years later and still working for HH Exeter

Branch Manager (Current Employee) - Exeter, Devon - 27 November 2023

Working from the beginning of the branch in Exeter to management level, I have always felt part of a team to be proud of.The whole team work extremely hard to support customers to stay at home safely and this includes ALL members of the team.When working in difficult times whether it is carer sickness, lack of recruitment or a pandemic, it is great to know we have each other for support.

Pros

Being able to make a difference in the community

Cons

Winter weather

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Official response from Helping Hands

6 December 2023

Thank you for leaving such a lovely review!We're very lucky to have such a great team, here's to the next 7 years!

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Pay was ok but terrible when visits dropped, with no understanding and being dismissive of concerns on hours.

Support Worker (Former Employee) - Blackpool - 25 November 2023

What is the best part of working at the company?Meeting and working with the clientsWhat is the most stressful part about working at the company?Travelling from one client to another, very costly on petrol.What is the work environment and culture like at the company?Appears relaxed and open, but some in office are not very good, not understanding and dismissive.What is a typical day like for you at the company?Fairly easy, but number of visits drastically dropped in a short time, they were also taking on me staff.

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Official response from Helping Hands

6 December 2023

Thank you for taking the time to leave a review, we're sorry to hear you were unhappy with some aspects of your role.We do pay expenses to cover your petrol costs between calls, apologies if this was not communicated to you. If you'd like to discuss any of your concerns any further, please do email recruitment@helpinghands.co.uk

Demoralising degrading

Care Assistant (Former Employee) - Exeter - 21 November 2023

What is the best part of working at the company?Nothing once they reel you in they treat their workers horribly What is the most stressful part about working at the company?They change your day to suit them and don’t give you any travel time What is the work environment and culture like at the company?Not great if you don’t do as they ask they make your life miserable What is a typical day like for you at the company?Shocking, draining, demoralising

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Official response from Helping Hands

27 November 2023

Thank you for taking the time to leave us a review, we do appreciate all feedback.We're sorry to hear that weren't happy with your time at Helping Hands and we would always encourage anybody with rota issues to speak to their line manager in the first instance. If you'd like to discuss your concerns any further, please email recruitment@helpinghands.co.uk

Good place to work with good opportunities to go higher

Full Time Carer (Current Employee) - London, Greater London - 19 November 2023

What is the best part of working at the company?With with the company for over a year now, at first the hours wasn’t great but did pick up over a certain amount of time. Pay is better than any other care company around. Office staff do need better communication but otherwise ok. What is the most stressful part about working at the company?Planing your days around your rota to then more clients being put on last minute without a communication half the time. What is the work environment and culture like at the company?The work environment is good half the time you work alone only if you have a double up otherwise it’s stress free. What is a typical day like for you at the company?Everyday is different but it’s always a good day

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Official response from Helping Hands

27 November 2023

Thank you for your lovely review! It's great to hear that you're enjoying your role.

The best

Caregiver (Former Employee) - Broadstairs - 15 November 2023

What is the best part of working at the company?We were offered full support, the salary was good ,relocation was paid in full ,it is a well established organisation. What is the most stressful part about working at the company?There was nothing stressful any call to the manager was responded promptly, with full support.What is the work environment and culture like at the company?The environment was welcoming and you always felt like you had a family.What is a typical day like for you at the company?As a live I. Care job I travelled q lot to different places and that I loved

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Official response from Helping Hands

20 November 2023

Thank you for your lovely review, it's great to hear you enjoyed your role with us!

Management poor and unapproachable

Carer norwich (Former Employee) - Norwich - 14 November 2023

Not a good experience Management are not approachable or nice.Very intimidating, emails ignored. Holiday requests ignored. These are LEGAL requirements. Rotas DIRE

Pros

None

Cons

Rotas hideous

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Official response from Helping Hands

20 November 2023

Thank you for taking the time to leave a review, we do appreciate all feedback.We're sorry to hear that you were unhappy with some aspects of your time at Helping Hands, we'd be keen to investigate this further so please could you email us at recruitment@helpinghands.co.uk

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Disappointing and understanding why there is such a high staff turnover

Care Assistant (Current Employee) - Barnsley, South Yorkshire - 7 November 2023

The anount of unpaid time in this role is unreal. Initially the wage looks good. You have to do a lot of online training and have a very deep understanding of the law relating to care. I thought this was very good. However thats where the positives stops. You are not paid for the time you spend travelling and you are expected to know everything about the person you visit and the numerous procedures you are required to do before you get there, again in your own time. You have to take out extra car insurance in order to transport the clients and you pay for your own DBS. They send you across town in traffic and pay 35p on the mile. My first day I was driving 30 miles in traffic for two and a half hours which i could expect to get £10.50 back. There was no time for a break as you had a 45 min call then 15 minutes to get to the next one. I refuse to break the speed limit so I was arriving late from call to call. My dinner hour just disappeared as another call was put in. All the people I spoke to were actively applying for other jobs. Everyone is really nice but the pay structure is exploitative. They really need to pay people for all the time they are out of the house to make this job worthwhile.

Pros

Really nice elderly people. Staff are friendly and caring.

Cons

Not fair pay for the work.

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Official response from Helping Hands

13 November 2023

Thank you for taking the time to leave a review, we do appreciate all feedback.As a current employee, we'd encourage you to speak to your line manager in the first instance if you have concerns as they may be able to resolve them for you, particularly if you have an issue with your rota.

If you have caring needs at home they are not interested

Home career (Former Employee) - Shipley - 1 November 2023

What is the best part of working at the company?They do not make sure you have a work life balance. If you refuse a shift They withdraw you from work for a week as a penalty. Worst dom care company I have ever worked for.What is the most stressful part about working at the company?Expect you to travel for 45 mins without getting paid for a 30 mins call, then complain at you if your running late due to traffic What is the work environment and culture like at the company?Very poor. Don't try to match skills with clients. It's as long as it's covered What is a typical day like for you at the company?Be out for 8 hours but only get paid for 4. 5 due to travel

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Official response from Helping Hands

13 November 2023

Thank you for your review.We're sorry to hear that you were unhappy with your role at Helping Hands. If you'd like to discuss this further, please email recruitment@helpinghands.co.uk

Holiday pay issues

Care Assistant (Former Employee) - Aintree, Merseyside - 25 October 2023

Sadly I had to leave Helping Hands based in Liverpool, I loved my job and also my customers and my round, we had a decent branch management team in Aintree. However payroll are a lot to be desired. I was on a GIAC contract which was good, but when I took annual leave I lost a lot of pay, overall I think I’m owed about 600 to 800 pound from February upto when I left. I gave up in the end as I was given every excuse in the book as to why I wasn’t paid correctly. If it wasn’t for all the lies and messing about, I would still be working for helping hands because I loved my job. Very sad ☹️

Pros

Great customers

Cons

Bad holiday pay

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Official response from Helping Hands

13 November 2023

Thank you for taking the time to leave a review, it's lovely to hear that you enjoyed your job.We're sorry to hear that you had an issue with your holiday pay, if you'd like us to look into this further, please email recruitment@helpinghands.co.uk

Application process was a shambles

Care Assistant (Former Employee) - Brighton - 19 October 2023

Absolutely no patience with sending over documents for DBS application despite me communicating the difficulties of providing immediate proof of address after moving house a week before. Despite having already attended a training day (which was a 45 minute drive each way, and completely unpaid) they then proceeded to tell me my documents had taken too long to come through so they wouldn’t continue my application. Instead of completely wasting my time, it would be better for the company to process the application before sending me to unnecessary training (which was an extremely dull and unwelcoming environment). I had communicated throughout with them, but felt I wasn’t listened to or respected at all. I have worked in care for 3 years so I know what management is like in this sector, but have never been so annoyed with a company before even starting work with them! It seems that because they are a big company they have rules to follow from higher up that don’t really follow the person-centred guidelines that care is all about.

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Official response from Helping Hands

13 November 2023

Thank you for taking the time to leave your review, we're sorry to hear that you didn't enjoy your experience with us.We don't conduct unpaid training, the assessment you are referring to is part of the recruitment process. We'll make sure to pass on your feedback to the Brighton branch. If you'd like to discuss this further, please email recruitment@helpinghands.co.uk

A friendly place to work. All co staff are one happy family

CARE ASSISTANT (Former Employee) - Bolton - 18 October 2023

What is the best part of working at the company?Adequate online training session periodically to acquire more skills What is the most stressful part about working at the company?From my own opinion, everything regarding the company absolutely fine. Salary on point What is the work environment and culture like at the company?A Friendly work environment...What is a typical day like for you at the company?Every day comes with its own challenges but at the end, there's always a balance.

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Official response from Helping Hands

13 November 2023

Thank you for taking the time to leave a review, we're happy to hear you enjoyed your role.

Bad management

Carer (Former Employee) - Doncaster - 14 October 2023

Higher management treat you like rubbish, over worked and unappreciated, no support there at all. Lots of false promises. Clients are only good thing about there and decent pay but worked like a dog.

Cons

Just a number to them

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Official response from Helping Hands

16 October 2023

Thank you for your review. We're sorry to hear that you were unhappy with some aspects of your role with us.If you'd like to discuss this further, please email recruitment@helpinghands.co.uk

The best community company to work for

Career (Current Employee) - Macclesfield - 13 October 2023

After working in a care home to leaving and deciding to work in the community with Helping Hands is the best decision I have made.You get amazing support.The management is excellent and are always at the end of the phone if you need them.The pay is a good hourly wage.

Pros

Amazing pay, support and management.

Cons

Nothing

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Official response from Helping Hands

16 October 2023

Thank you for your lovely review, we're glad to hear you're pleased with your decision to join Helping Hands!

Productive and fun at work place

Health Care Assistant (Current Employee) - Coventry - 1 October 2023

What is the best part of working at the company?Flexible working hours and higher pay rate What is the most stressful part about working at the company?Not fixed the clients and lots of miles to cover between callsWhat is the work environment and culture like at the company?Corporation and good team work What is a typical day like for you at the company?Monday and TuesdayOr during the evening calls

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Official response from Helping Hands

16 October 2023

Thank you for taking the time to leave a review, it's great to hear you're enjoying your role.

Good and bad. Overall disappointing

Care Assistant (Former Employee) - Taunton - 1 October 2023

What is the best part of working at the company?The lovely customers and their life stories that you get to meet and get to know What is the most stressful part about working at the company?The system how the visits are put down, travel time, miscommunication or no communication between the office. Income What is the work environment and culture like at the company?Unprofessional. The staff is under trained, takes not much notice of any suggestions for improvements. Lack of staffWhat is a typical day like for you at the company?Chaotic and stressful because of office.

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Official response from Helping Hands

16 October 2023

Thank you for taking the time to leave a review, we really appreciate it!We're sorry to hear that you felt communication was poor, we'll certainly pass that on to your branch. If you'd like to discuss your comments further please contact us at recruitment@helpinghands.co.uk

Customers are great and are paying big for a terrible service, awful pay, awful employer

Care Worker (Former Employee) - Beverley - 9 September 2023

If you are ok working 15 hour days for 9 hours pay whilst thrashing your own car to death at least 80 miles a shift unpaid then go for it.It is an exploitative organisation that can't keep good staff.The local management seems to try their best but, I presume from pressure higher up become just liars and bullshiters, to clients and carers alike.The directors get paid though, look up "midshires care" on companies house website.These guys are on £400,000 a year yet according to their forward looking statements in these accounts they don't understand why they can't keep good staff. They do know, they just rip off their care workers.Utter shysters. Staff and clients deserve better.

Pros

None

Cons

Works out at around 5 pounds an hour when all told

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Official response from Helping Hands

15 September 2023

Thank you for your review, we always appreciate receiving feedback. We're sorry to hear that you were unhappy with your experience of Helping Hands.We do pay a mileage rate for travel between care calls, which covers your petrol costs and wear and tear on your vehicle, apologies if this was not made clear to you. If you'd like to discuss your concerns further, please contact recruitment@helpinghands.co.uk

Supportive, caring and enjoyable place to work

Carer (Current Employee) - Derbyshire - 7 September 2023

What is the best part of working at the company?Great team and support. Good rates of payWhat is the most stressful part about working at the company?Delays getting to customers due to traffic and road worksWhat is the work environment and culture like at the company?Lovely friendly team Managment supportive and door always openWhat is a typical day like for you at the company?Enjoyable. Never get that feeling in a morning where you dont want to go to work

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