Corporate and speciality insurance organisation Allianz Global Corporate and Speciality UK (AGCS) is to launch an online portal and back-up care benefit designed to help any of its its 400 UK-based employees who are parents or carers.
The new benefits, which will be provided by My Family Care, will be launched to all UK employees on 23 November 2017 as part of the organisation’s wider commitment to diversity and inclusion. The new benefits offering has been designed to support both parents and carers in the workforce to better balance their work and family responsibilities.
As part of the new family-friendly benefits, AGCS employees in the UK will have free access to an online portal that provides a database of childcare providers searchable by area, a section of the portal focused around helping fathers in the workplace, and staff will be able to watch regular webinars that enable employees to ask questions and get tips on how to balance work and family care. The portal will also give information on various clubs and activities that could fill childcare gaps during the school holidays.
Employees will also be able to utilise back-up care as part of the new offering, which can be used to arrange care for themselves, their children, or adult and elderly dependents when their usual care arrangements fall through. This will include access to nannies, nurseries, childminders, holiday clubs, and specialist adult and elder carers.
The family-friendly benefits have been communicated to staff via a blog post by the AGCS’ chief executive officer in early October, followed by a mention in an organisation-wide town hall meeting in late October. An announcement email was sent to all employees in early November, with the official launch date of 23 November coinciding with AGCS’ annual benefits fair, where the benefits will be promoted. The benefit providers will also conduct a separate presentation to all employees in early December.
The new online portal and back-up care benefit support AGCS’ shared parental leave offering, which matches the organisation’s maternity leave benefit. This enables all employees to take up to 14 weeks of fully paid maternity or shared parental leave.
Brian Kirwan (pictured), chief executive officer at AGCS UK, said: “Attracting and retaining talent is critical to our success and the success of the wider insurance industry. The support we offer is crucial to every employee combining work and family, and underpins AGCS’ commitment to diversity. My Family Care’s services through our dedicated Work+Family Space, will enable us to make this support visible and easily accessible to everyone.
“Our shared parental leave policy benefitting men and women has been a great success in providing parents with more choice and flexibility. I’m pleased to say that this will now be enhanced by My Family Care’s parental leave and manager’s toolkit which will enable employees to plan and prepare for a successful leave, and return, and managers to support parents through the transition. My advice to other organisations in the insurance sector is to listen and be flexible enough to provide tailored solutions.”
