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Top 30 Employers for Working Families 2020 announced

Published: 7 Sep 2020

Work-life balance charity Working Families has announced its annual list of the top family-friendly employers in the UK. Now in its eleventh 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:

  • American Express
  • Crown Prosecution Service
  • DWF
  • Experian
  • Imperial College London
  • Independent Living Fund Scotland
  • Intellectual Property Office
  • Lloyds Banking Group
  • Pinsent Masons
  • Welsh Parliament

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:

  • integration to organisational strategy and culture – which looks at culture, attitude and how far flexible and family-friendly working practices have become embedded;
  • policy – which looks at the creation, development and deployment of flexible and family-friendly working policies;
  • consistent practice – which considers how well flexible and family-friendly working is supported; and
  • evidence and statistics – which looks at the effects of flexible and family-friendly working on the organisation, and their ability to understand those effects.

The Benchmark—which captured the experience of nearly 350,000 UK employees across the organisations that took part—is also used to examine trends in flexible and family-friendly policies and practices. Key findings for 2020 include:

  • 52% of employers surveyed said they analyse all jobs to determine the potential for flexibility before advertising vacancies, up from 41% last year.
  • 96% of employers surveyed said working to create a flexible, family-friendly culture features in the strategic plans of their organisation.
  • 65% of employers surveyed give their employees the right to request flexible working from day 1, rather than having to wait the statutory 26 weeks.

“We are delighted to recognise the 30 outstanding organisations that made our Top Employers for Working Families list this year,” said Jane van Zyl, Chief Executive of Working Families.

“COVID-19 has demonstrated just how vital it is for employers to support the diverse needs of their staff team and build cultures that embrace flexible working. These employers excelled in our rigorous benchmarking process, proving they are leading the way in building family-friendly workplaces in the UK.”

Kate Fergusson, Head of Responsible Business at top-ten employer Pinsent Masons, said:

“Being named a top ten family friendly employer by Working Families for the fourth year in a row is testament to the firm’s commitment to providing a working environment and practices that are conducive to working parents and carers. With the COVID-19 pandemic seeing the majority of our people working from home and adapting to this, our working parents and carers have also had the additional challenge of looking after and, in some cases, educating their children too. Our ability to exercise our agile and flexible approach has never been more important but we recognise that this is a journey and there is more work to be done. Over the last year, we have worked closely with our Family Support Network and Mental Health Champions to run a programme to support children’s mental health and we have provided webinars and additional support around the mental health and wellbeing challenges our people may be facing as a result of COVID-19.”

Jessica Legg, HR Business Partner at top-ten employer Welsh Parliament, said:

“We strive to provide support that allows our employees to maintain a positive work-life balance for the benefit of their health, relationships and their contentment at work, therefore it is an honour to receive this recognition as one of the top 10 Employers for Working Families. It is a further delight to receive it during a period of national uncertainty which has seen working families juggle their ongoing commitment to delivering excellent services alongside increased caring responsibilities.”

Full List of Top Employers for Working Families 2020

Top Ten (in alphabetical order)

  • American Express
  • Crown Prosecution Service
  • DWF
  • Experian
  • Imperial College London
  • Independent Living Fund Scotland
  • Intellectual Property Office
  • Lloyds Banking Group
  • Pinsent Masons
  • Welsh Parliament

11-30 (in alphabetical order)

  • Cambridge Assessment
  • Citigroup
  • DAC Beachcroft
  • Dentsu Aegis Network
  • Food Standards Agency
  • Gowling WLG
  • Grant Thornton
  • Mayer Brown
  • Mishcon de Reya
  • Norton Rose Fulbright
  • Office for National Statistics
  • Public Health England
  • Royal Bank of Canada
  • Simmons & Simmons
  • Southdown Housing
  • Teach First
  • UBS AG
  • Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield
  • Yorkshire Building Society
  • Zurich Insurance

Find out more about joining Working Families as an employer member.

Register your interest in taking part in the Benchmark to be on our list of Top Employers for 2021