Working Families Announces the UK’s Most Flexible, Family-friendly Workplaces 2021
Working Families has announced its annual list of the top ‘family-friendly‘ employers in the UK. Now in its twelfth year, employers large and small from across the public, private, and third sectors compete annually to gain a coveted place on the charity’s list of Top Employers for Working Families.
This year’s Top Ten Employers for Working Families – in alphabetical order – are:
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American Express
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Citigroup
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Crown Prosecution Service
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Grant Thornton
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Independent Living Fund Scotland
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Natwest Group (RBS)
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North East London NHS Foundation Trust
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Pinsent Masons
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Welsh Parliament (Senedd Cymru)
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Yorkshire Building Society
The Benchmark—which captured the experience of nearly 500,000 UK employees across the organisations that took part—is also used to examine trends in flexible and family-friendly policies and practices. Key findings from the 2021 survey include:
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Organisations have not returned to pre-COVID flexibility levels: over 60% of employers reported that they still had more than 75% of their employees working flexibly
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Employers reported that managers are becoming more output-oriented, recognising that hours worked is not a reliable measure of productivity
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However there is still a long way to go and training for line managers has emerged as one of the most pressing needs for organisations: 42% of organisations said lack of line manager knowledge or skill was a barrier to creating a family friendly, flexible workplace
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On average, only a tiny proportion of senior leaders work flexibly or part time (less than 7%) with the majority of these being women (5%). This suggests that creating more flexible working opportunities at a senior level could help reduce gender inequalities around pay and progression.
Employers were assessed using Working Families’ Benchmark and were scored on four key areas to build a comprehensive picture of their flexible and family-friendly policies and practices that specifically support mothers, fathers, and carers. These are:
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integration to organisational strategy and culture – which looks at culture, attitude and how far flexible and family-friendly working practices have become embedded;
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policy – which looks at the creation, development and deployment of flexible and family-friendly working policies and their take-up;
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consistent practice – which considers how well flexible and family-friendly working is supported; and
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evidence and statistics – which looks at the effects of flexible and family-friendly working on the organisation, and their ability to understand those effects.
