Law firm DWF, financial services firm Citigroup and banking group Natwest have been named as some of the top family-friendly employers in the UK.
Working Families, a national charity for working parents and carers, established the list 14 years ago and each year assesses employers from a range of sectors using its Working Families’ Benchmark. Using feedback from more than 330,000 UK employees, employers re sacored on four areas related to flexible and family-friendly policies and practices that specifically support parents and carers.
The benchmark highlights trends in this area, and this year found that 86% of employers already offer flexible policies from day one, 92% assess some or all of their roles to determine flexible working potential prior to advertising, and 78% provide details of flexibility options on their website.
The top 10 employers for working families (in alphabetical order) are:
- Audit Wales
- Citigroup
- Crown Prosecution Service
- Grant Thornton
- Imperial College London
- NatWest Group
- North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT)
- Pinsent Masons
- Senedd Cymru / Welsh Parliament
- Yorkshire Building Society
The organisations ranked 11-30 (in alphabetical order) are:
- Allen and Overy
- American Express
- Brodies
- Cranfield University
- Dentsu
- DWF
- Experian
- EY
- Financial Services Compensation Scheme
- Hill Dickinson
- Independent Living Fund Scotland
- Linklaters
- Mayer Brown
- Mishcon de Reya
- Santander
- Southdown Housing
- Squire Patton Boggs
- Teach First
- UBS
- Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield
DWF, which has been in the top 30 every year since 2018, was recognised this year due to its enhanced leave provision, agile and flexible working, and internal support groups for returning parents and carers.
Jane van Zyl, chief executive officer of Working Families, said: “We are delighted with the standard of entries for this year’s Top Employers for Working Families list. These employers show they are leading the way in building family-friendly and flexible workplaces in the UK and are already ahead of the curve when it comes to implementing the changes needed to comply with the new flexible-working legislation coming into practice next year. ”
Louise Rogerson, chief people officer at DWF, added: “We are proud to be recognised as an employer of choice for working families once again. Our belief is that an inclusive and supportive working environment allows people to be themselves, develop and be happier at work. We want our colleagues to feel able to combine their career with family responsibilities and have worked hard to implement initiatives to support this.”