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HM Prison Service

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HM Prison Service Reviews

2.8

32% would recommend to a friend

(568 total reviews)
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Michael Spurr

33% approve of CEO

25% positive business outlook

HM Prison Service has an employee rating of 2.8 out of 5 stars, based on 568 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average working experience there. The HM Prison Service employee rating is 23% below average for employers within the Government and public administration industry (3.6 stars).

Reviews by job title

568 reviews
2.0
1 Aug 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Wages paid on time, Free parking, Subsided canteen.

Cons

Dropped in at the deep end with virtually no training. You only learn by your mistakes and are then humiliated by your colleagues. Many established staff have formed cliques and make no effort to be friendly to or help new staff settle in. I waited 14 months from interview until my start date but did not have the proper uniform, shift pattern, or id card until I'd been there over a month. To be fair most of the prison officers were pretty decent to me but many osgs have bad attitudes to new starters.

1.0
5 Jan 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Clue is in the name: public service. Read the cons, might be eye-opening for some people. An ugly game of charades.

Cons

Staff behaviour exacerbates the prisoners behaviour. If you're promiscuous, you'll fit in well, management seeks opposite gender attention and you'll progress within less than a year. Bullying, discrimination, threats and abusive behaviour is the standard presiding over morals, security and mental health. I have seen many foreign nationals leaving shortly due to xenophobic innuendos and racial abuse. Grievance system doesn't work on paper, it only works verbally and complaints are processed differently, depending "who" is in the wrong. Old staff is protected regaldless what they do, while new staff gets dragged over the coals. Management is purely incompetent,oblivious, careless, you name it. There's no work -life balance, shift pattern is unbelievably inconsistent, hours change daily to suit certain staff. Blame culture is their ethos, they live by it, don't expect fair treatment, equal salary or anything else. Old staff is the problem here, they manipulate and corrupt other members of staff and management, hey have hidden agendas and make a living out of seeing who's out of the door first. Atmosphere is tense, walking on egg shells and looking over your shoulder happens every minute, everyone is feeding on drama and will highlight everything you do, you could never do anything right, backstabbing goes hand in hand with harassment from staff, management covers it up. Duty of care doesn't exist.

2.0
29 Nov 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I can't think of any.

Cons

Shift work. Long hours. Different contracts & pay for same role. Wage not enough for what we are expected to do. Physically and mentally draining on you due to staff shortages making the job even more dangerous. Staff assaults. Very often off duty late. Dirt environment with rats often seen in the grounds and on the wings.

Viewing 1 - 3 of 568 Reviews

Glassdoor has 578 HM Prison Service reviews submitted anonymously by HM Prison Service employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if HM Prison Service is right for you.