Global financial services organisation Northern Trust has launched a new childcare support and advice benefit for its 1,600 London-based staff.
The benefit, provided by Parental Choice, will offer assistance to employees with childcare responsibilities based at the organisation’s London office. This includes tailored childcare searches for all ages across all forms of childcare, such as nurseries, schools, childminders, and nannies, as well as payroll, pension, and employment law advice for staff that employ nannies. Parents and employees with childcare responsibilities will also be able to attend informative talks.
The new benefit, which launched today (5 April 2017), will run alongside Northern Trust’s current family-friendly benefits offering. This includes maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave, flexible working policies, maternity and paternity coaching sessions, free back-up childcare sessions, and seminars on a variety of parenting topics. The organisation also supports the Happy to Talk Flexible campaign, run by work-life balance charity Working Families.
Sarah Boddey (pictured), chief diversity and inclusion officer at Northern Trust Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific, said: “We know that parents and those with childcare responsibilities face a particular challenge in trying to maintain a strong work-life balance and searching for a good nursery, school or other childcare options can feel an overwhelming task on an already long and never-ending to-do list.”
Mark Lacey, head of human resources at Northern Trust Europe, Middle East and Africa, added: “We are constantly striving to attract, retain and advance a diverse workforce at Northern Trust so that we can better meet the needs of the clients and communities we serve. We want to ensure we are doing all we can at Northern Trust so that those caring for children have the support and tools they need to navigate their careers and childcare responsibilities successfully.”