Banking organisations Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group, law firm Lewis Silkin and the Royal Air Force are among the winning organisations recognised at Working Families’ best practice awards 2018.
The awards, now in their ninth year, celebrate organisations that are establishing a supportive workplace culture and implementing family-friendly policies for working parents. The shortlisted entries were reviewed anonymously by an expert judging panel across 13 different categories.
The winners were announced at an awards ceremony on Wednesday 20 June 2018 at Vintners’ Hall in London.
The winning employers included the Ministry of Justice, which received the Best flexible working initiative award in recognition of its Smarter Working programme. Energy and services organisation Centrica was named winner in the Carers UK best for carers and eldercare category for its carers network, introduced in 2005, and its paid care leave, which helps staff to manage caring responsibilities. The UBS best for fathers award went to retail organisation Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, which helps fathers create a good work-life balance by offering enhanced paternity leave, shared parental leave, workshops for fathers and a family buddy system.
The full list of winners is:
- My Family Care best for mothers: Royal Air Force.
- UBS best for fathers: Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield.
- Carers UK best for carers and eldercare: Centrica.
- Cityparents best family network: Barclays.
- Cityparents best innovation: Lewis Silkin.
- Best for flexible recruitment: KnownFour.
- Government Equalities Office best returner programme: Lloyds Banking Group.
- Best for embedded flexibility: Barclays.
- Best flexible working initiative: Ministry of Justice.
- Best for line manager support: Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield.
- Best small employer: Independent Living Fund Scotland and Pursuit Marketing.
- Best public sector employer: Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Royal Air Force.
- Best large private sector employer: Lloyds Banking Group.
Sarah Jackson OBE, chief executive officer at Working Families, said: “With a record number of entries and categories, the message from this year’s awards is loud and clear; the UK’s employers’ spirit of creativity and innovation in the work-life balance space is alive and well.
“The common thread running through this year’s collection of best practice is that employers are really working to establish family-friendly workplace cultures, which our research shows is key to unlocking parents’ potential. Whether it’s getting women returners back, or getting more men to take shared parental leave, employer activity is as much about the culture within the organisation as it is about the policy itself.”