Sponsors & Partners:
Computershare Voucher Services
In today’s workplace there has never been a more important time for employers to adopt flexible work practices. Flexible working offers real benefits to employers and employees alike; employers can retain a skilled and happier workforce and busy parents can more easily meet their commitments at work and at home.
There are significant upsides for employers who are willing to adopt a modern and progressive approach in their workplaces. It’s not just about enhancing a company’s reputation; organisations who subscribe to family-friendly policies see a bottom line benefit through higher levels of employee attraction and retention.
It is this belief that underpins the new partnership between Computershare Voucher Services and Working Families.
Working Families has dedicated more than 30 years to helping employers adopt family friendly work practices. Computershare Voucher Services is therefore proud to support Working Families in the ‘Top Employers for Working Families Benchmark & Awards’ initiative. These awards aim to recognise excellence in organisations that go the extra mile to deliver these positive working environments.
Computershare Voucher Services also has a proud tradition of supporting working parents and their employers. For 13 years, our childcare vouchers have helped to make childcare more affordable for thousands of working parents; today we provide vouchers to over 100,000 parents. More than 12,000 employers currently rely on us for an easy and convenient method of adopting family friendly work practices.
Most but not all employers make such a scheme available to their employees and not all those parents who qualify for the scheme take advantage of it. In these economically tough times, childcare vouchers offer invaluable savings and we are doing all we can to make sure that working parents take advantage of the support available under the Government’s childcare voucher scheme.
To further this aim, Computershare Voucher Services has been lobbying the government for an increase to the weekly £55 childcare voucher limit, to bring this in line with rising childcare costs. Since 2006 parents have been limited to a maximum of £55 per week in childcare vouchers – but during this time, childcare costs have risen by 5% year on year.
It therefore makes enormous sense for us to join forces with Working Families. Together we are planning a series of initiatives over the next two years to get key messages heard by leading policy makers in the UK. Our common goal is clear - we want to promote a family friendly workplace culture to help create a positive relationship between work and family life.
It is worth noting that 44% of women now earn the same or more than their partners. Compared to previous generations, families have a less obvious economic choice about how to balance their careers and the demands of family life. This, coupled with announced changes to parental leave will impact employers. These proposals will give families the option to share allocated maternity leave between both parents. When these changes come into effect, we will see a larger proportion of employees requiring the use of flexible work practices. Organisations will need to adapt or risk a struggle to retain skilled staff.
The best companies are the ones that embrace initiatives to support its workforce. With one third of the UK workforce supporting dependents, there is a real business case for widely offering flexible working. Across all industries, working parents have built up valuable skills that employers should strive to retain; a key way to achieve this is through flexible working and family-friendly policies.
Families are at the heart of what we do and Computershare Voucher Services is proud to sponsor these important awards. We look forward to hearing about the good work going on in organisations who share our enthusiasm for supporting working families.
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