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AST Language Services

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Awful - Anonymous employee AST Language Services Employee Review

1.0
Apr 26, 2024
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The amazing people at AST. The people at AST are truly wonderful. Just bright, wonderful, clever and all together well rounded people. All of them.

Cons

It seems that one of my colleagues who is either the Managing Director or close to him has put down what I can only describe as a boot licking level of review that is not at all close to the experience here. Obviously the two other negative reviews have nothing to do with this. I have also decided to add a review to make is abundantly clear, this is a sinking ship and is a horrible employer. Thanks to the fake review to make AST look good, they are now going to suffer from the Streisand effect. Let’s make a few things clear:

 1. Sacrificing your salary to park is not a perk 2. The WPA scheme provides barely ANYTHING. It’s the lowest level of their offerings. You would be selling your soul to work here with 75% reimbursement up to £65 for dental care. Hardly a massive perk. Almost all other graduate level employers offer WAY above this. 3. Hybrid working? Some employees are not even allowed to work remotely. The others work ONE day at home. AST has taken away sick pay since that first person’s review. Yes, that’s right. An employer that expects you to have a degree has in 2024 taken away ALL sick pay. Can’t work for one day? THOUGH. Struggle. What about annual leave, must be great surely? Nope. Most bank holidays are actually working days now. It’s below any graduate offering in the UK. 
 AST currently has over half of its employees on redundancy or reduced hours. with no consultation with staff and also illegally managed. AST is a company waiting to die either by terrible management or all the tribunals it’ll be dealing with over the next year. Speaking of legalities, here’s a few acts that AST has fallen short of over the years: The Equality Act 2010 Employment Rights Act 1996 Maternity and Parental Leave etc. Regulations 1999 CPD? There is none. I have seen staff on the same salary for almost 10 years who were given nothing. No career progression. What Andrew really means by “CPD” is he will get staff to do arbitrary tasks that they are not being paid for. Finally, if you are a supplier to AST you ought to hear how the Director talks about you. If it not been for the amazing jobs of the PMs, vendor manager and accounts who actually know how to talk to and about humans you wouldn’t want to deal with AST. If you knew how this business truly operated you wouldn’t even think twice about either working here or using their services. For anyone else still left, you all deserve better.

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AST Language Services Response
1y
I’ve reported this reviewer to GD. The comment at the end ('You’re too far gone') is disparaging and unprofessional. Furthermore the review body contains numerous false and misleading statements, as listed below: Re. salary sacrifice for car parking not a perk: MISLEADING - the perk is that we have a private arrangement for employees to park their cars in a car park right next to our building. Employees have to pay for this themselves because it is our company policy not to unfairly encourage car use compared with other travel-to-work modes, for example public transport. 'Some employees are not even allowed to work remotely. The others work ONE day at home'. Both FALSE – since Covid we have operated hybrid working with 3 days WFO, 2 days WFH 'AST has taken away sick pay since that first person’s review'. MISLEADING - What the reviewer fails to mention is that annual holiday entitlement was increased by 1 day to compensate for a 1 day reduction in paid sick-leave. 'Most bank holidays are actually working days now' FALSE - Bank Holiday working is sometimes requested on a rota basis to support our clients in Europe. Payment in lieu is made at 125% for Bank Holiday working. 'AST currently has over half of its employees on redundancy or reduced hours with no consultation with staff'. FALSE – there was a recent temporary period of reduced hours working. Staff consultations were carried out extensively and the process was managed in line with statutory guidance from our professional HR advisers. These measures have now been lifted. Andrew Schlich, Managing Director

Explore other reviews about AST Language Services

2.0
Apr 26, 2024
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Overall, AST's staff were extremely intelligent, supportive and great to work with

Cons

- Management was out of touch with business operations and hindered staff members in their work when involved - Management was erratic and fixated on unimportant issues - Management was too inflexible and resistant to change, e.g. regarding working from home - Staff members often took on additional duties outside their job description without a salary increase - Almost no salary increases were given without asking management

4
avatar
AST Language Services Response
1y
All comments noted. As an employer we are now more pro-active on pay policy, but I think it's inevitable that salary negotiations will by default often be initiated by the employee. Andrew Schlich, Managing Director
5.0
Apr 24, 2024
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I work with some fantastic people and feel like part of the team. The company will hone your skills as part of CPD. Company perks include a car parking salary sacrifice scheme, EPA, provides NHS Top Up towards prescriptions and dental care. The company also offers hybrid working in central Nottingham, close to all amenities and public transport. For an SME, the management is approachable and flexible where possible.

Cons

There are none that would be classed as Cons. Every company you work for has ups and downs. The outcome will always depend on how you deal with them.

1
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