Work for Downer and you'll get access to...
Subsidised Healthcare
Fully subsidised contribution to Marram Community Trust. This contribution allows you and your whānau to be reimbursed for your health bills along with having access to affordable holidays. This contribution includes your partner and children under 18 years of age, all at no additional cost. Pre-existing conditions are also covered - T&Cs apply.
Volunteering Days
You can apply for a day of paid leave to volunteer for an initiative important to you. Past volunteering days included:
- Restoration of local parks
- Planting days
- Beach clean-ups
- Helping at a soup kitchen
Flexible Working
Depending on your role, we offer a range of flexible work options including:
- Flexible hours
- Part-time arrangements
- Flexible locations
- Remote working
Wellbeing
We understand how important health and well-being are to a balanced lifestyle. Here’s what you get access to:
- Our national mental health first aid officers
- Our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) for you, and your immediate family
- An annual free health check-up, flu shot and workplace assessment
Deals and discounts from local and national retailers
Access to more than 40 discount offers including:
- Healthcare
- Travel
- Technology
- Home renovations
- Insurance, and much, much more
Whānau Scholarships
This initiative gives the children and grandchildren of Downer employees the opportunity to be granted with a scholarship of $5,000 for a year of tertiary study. Regardless of the area of study, the whānau scholarships are an opportunity to lend a hand and help grow the next generation of leaders, by supporting our people’s people.
Enhanced Parental Leave
We offer comprehensive return-to-work benefits for those returning from parental leave. When returning to work after parental leave, we’ll help you Ease Back to Work. You can choose for the first 12 weeks of your return to work 4 days a week and be paid for 5.
Development and Career Opportunities
Our range of more than 50 learning and development programmes include:
- Mentoring and Coaching
- Leadership and Front-line Management
- Support to gain trade licences, endorsements, and accreditations
Our Tikanga | Our values
Tuituia ngātahi matou ki te mana o te Whānau, te Manaaki te Kairangatira me te Ngākau Pono. Tuituia hei korowai tikanga tuku iho mo tatou.
O rite ki ngā rakau nui tupu ai te wao nui o Tāne ko te Kauri i whakawhiwhi haumaru, ko te Rimu i whakawhiwhi taonga, ko te Tōtara i whakawhiwhi whanaungatanga, ko te Kahikatea i whakawhiwhi whakaaro matakite. Ngā pou e wha i aumangea ai te whakataukī “Mā te whanaungatanga ka angitū”.
Hui e! Taiki e!
Stitching us together as one are family and relationships, care & respect, excellence and integrity as our cloak of values.
The same as the great trees growing in the great forest of Tāne is the Kauri which connects us to Safety, the Rimu which connects us to Delivery, the Tōtara which connects us to Relationships and the Kahikatea which connects us to Thought Leadership.
These are the four pillars upon which we build “Relationship creating success”. United and ready to move forward!
Find out more about our Tikanga and what they mean to our people below!
Downer Donate | Supporting Communities
Downer Donate is a way for our people to nominate local causes and charities that are close to their hearts and require much-needed funds and support. Every month we donate up to $15,000 to a selection of charities and causes that have been recently nominated, presenting them with monetary prizes in the form of a cheque or vouchers.
We want to make a difference in our local communities and reward those who are helping to make a difference - you can start nominating causes as soon as you join our whānau. Take a look at some of our recent winners below and find out more about the causes on their websites or Facebook pages!
AED in honour of Ben Street
Commemorating the loss of a much-loved colleague.
Ben was a well-liked and respected team member who had worked with the Tasman Team since 2009. His sudden passing in January 2022 left a huge void in the team and affected everyone he knew.
The team have been fundraising to install an AED (Defibrillator) on one of the local cycleways which Ben used on a regular basis, which are also located close to the Downer Depot. Ben was very active in the Search and Rescue area within the region and very passionate about providing these AEDs, and had started to raise the money himself. The team raised $3k and with a donation of $1k from Downer, the team are now able to get one installed, alongside a commemorative plaque at the site in memory of Ben.
ACTIS
Providing healthy breakfasts to school children
After noticing children were getting a pie and a can of coke on their way to school, Aranui Community Trust Inc Society (ACTIS) saw the need to provide children with a healthier option to assist with their brain function and better well-being.
ACTIS set up a stall on the footpath at the local shops offering different types of breakfast each day; from cereal to pancakes, including fruit and sugar-free breakfast bars. It is all takeaway and they can serve up to 80 children per day. Hopefully, our donation will help provide more children with a healthy and nutritious breakfast.
Taranaki Retreat
A local suicide prevention initiative
The Taranaki Retreat does some incredible work in Taranaki, through outreach and in-house services. They are busier than ever and receive no formal funding, just donations where they can.
Jamie and Suzy, the Retreat directors, do this work full-time and have dedicated themselves and their lives fully to the cause. We hope our $5000 donation can help support some of their amazing initiatives.
Hope Kete
Free food store in Levin
Hope Kete provides food and meals to those who need them in the local community. Food is donated by the local schools and community, then distributed in their store/building to the Horowhenua community.
The staff who work there are all volunteers, and their building is just across the road from our Downer office in Levin. On its open days, the store is very busy providing hundreds of people a day with basic staples for families. After Levin's recent tornado they sadly ran out of food and had to turn many families away, making it a very hard time for the community. We were proud to provide these guys with $500 countdown vouchers!
Insert coin to play
Reducing social isolation
Based in Southland, New Zealand, the 'Insert Coin to Play Charitable Trust’ exists to provide modern solutions to assist to reduce social isolation and enhance youth mental health (suicide prevention, depression, low self-esteem, rejection, feelings of worthlessness) by facilitating social opportunities for young people, situated around digital and technological trends as they develop.
We recently donated $3000 to help them provide FREE technology events for local children, to encourage them to learn new tech skills and develop better social skills; resulting in better mental health outcomes for our rangatahi!