News & events
Finalists Revealed for the Working Families Best Practice Awards 2022
We have announced the shortlist for our 2022 Best Practice Awards. The awards celebrate employers whose stand-out cultures and working practices are leading the way in flexible and employee-friendly workplaces.
Nominations now open for the 2022 Movers and Shakers: Working Dads Employer Awards
We have partnered with MusicFootballFatherhood and the University of Birmingham’s Equal Parenting project to support the launch the inaugural 2022 Movers and Shakers: Working Dads Employer Awards.
Making flexible working the default – Our response to the BEIS consultation
In Autumn 2021 the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy launched a consultation on a series of proposals to make flexible working the default employment position.
The search begins for the UK’s best employers for flexible and family-friendly working
Working Families, in partnership with Arnold Clark, are looking to find 2022’s leading employers, who are working to create outstanding flexible and employee-friendly workplaces. Entries are open to organisations of all sizes and sectors, via the Working Families website.
The Flexible Working Taskforce launches new employer guidance on hybrid working to promote best practice
Members of the Flexible Working Taskforce, including Working Families, have published new practical guidance to help employers develop fair and sustainable hybrid working practices.
‘Huge barriers’ remain to effective flexible working despite greater government focus, report warns
Under government proposals, British workers will be able to request the right to work flexibly from their first day in a job, instead of after six months, which is the current rule – but researchers say this doesn’t go far enough, and that all jobs should be designed and advertised as flexible unless there is a strong business case for not doing so.
2 in 5 working mothers feel they are held back from promotion, but many parents and carers say pandemic has improved workplace culture
New polling, carried out to mark the start of National Work Life Week (Oct 11–15), shows a wide gulf in how parents and carers are managing to balance their work and home lives as we come out of the pandemic. Outdated cultures and practices still hold sway in many workplaces around the UK.
Working Families Announces the UK’s Most Flexible, Family-friendly Workplaces 2021
Working Families has announced its annual list of the top ‘family-friendly’ employers in the UK. Now in its twelfth 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.
Working Families pleased to announce Helen Humphreys as new Chair of their Board of Trustees
We are really pleased to announce Helen Humphreys as our new Chair. She officially takes over as Chair on 1 September after her appointment was confirmed at a meeting of the Board on 29 July.
A step forward for flexible working after debate in parliament
Today, Tulip Siddiq MP made the case to parliament that we need to bring in new laws to encourage all employers to design and advertise jobs as flexible. We are really pleased to see that her speech (officially called a ‘Ten Minute Rule Motion’) got support from MPs from across political parties, and that a Bill to make this idea law will now move forward in the House of Commons.
Tribunal decision will help working mums protect their workplace rights
Working Families has today welcomed a judgement from the Employment Appeal Tribunal, which makes clear that all future cases can take it as fact that women are more likely to suffer a disadvantage as a result of childcare responsibilities than men.
Concern about future from UK working parents linked to final restrictions lifting
As we look ahead to the prospect of final restrictions being lifted and more workplaces opening up, a new briefing for Working Families’ #FlexTheUK campaign, partnered by Wates Group, shows concern from many parents about a backward slide to less flexible work, and a desire to keep the positive changes that the pandemic has brought for their family life.