SYDNEY, Australia, Tuesday 11th March 2025 – After four years of successfully driving policy change in Australia and helping over 650 organisations assess and enhance their family-friendly work practices through benchmarking, the Family Friendly Workplaces movement is now expanding internationally.
In partnership with the UK’s leading national charity, Working Families, this pioneering initiative will now offer employers in the UK the opportunity to become certified and recognised as a Family Inclusive Workplace.
For the first time, UK businesses can benchmark themselves against a structured, evidence-based social impact framework, setting a new standard for best-practice policies that benefit employees, their families; and business performance.
A Rigorous Certification Framework to Drive Change
The Family Inclusive Workplace certification provides employers with a comprehensive way of reviewing workplace policies using a Global Work + Family Standards framework to measure social and economic impact. Using this framework, Working Families is providing tailored, industry-specific recommendations to help UK employers make progress in targeted areas that deliver greater impact - specific to their people and business needs.
“This expansion marks a major milestone in our mission to create workplaces where employees can thrive both professionally and personally. We know that family-friendly policies are a game-changer for businesses too - boosting retention, engagement, and productivity. This certification will help employers in the UK benchmark their progress, attract top talent, and demonstrate leadership in workplace inclusion,” said Emma Walsh, Founder of Family Friendly Workplaces.
Large organisations in the UK have already got behind the movement, with founding partners Deloitte and TLT LLP, supporting partners Grant Thornton, Norton Rose Fullbright, Kantar, QBE and denstu, and advocacy partners the Maternal Mental Health Alliance, Employment Initiative on Domestic Abuse and Adoption UK all coming together to support the program.
Businesses stand to benefit significantly from flexible family-friendly ways of working. Research from the University of Birmingham (2023) found that 71.2% of managers see flexible working as a performance-enhancing tool, while 76.5% report increased productivity.
A CIPD study further highlights that 54% of managers struggling with recruitment have improved hiring success by offering greater flexibility.
Additionally, in recognition of an ageing population, the program ensures businesses are future-proofed, supporting employees managing eldercare and “sandwich-caring” responsibilities.
Jane van Zyl, CEO at Working Families said: “For too long, businesses have lacked a clear, evidence-based benchmark for what truly makes a workplace family-friendly. This certification changes that. By giving employers the tools to assess, improve, and embed family-friendly policies, we’re helping to create workplaces where parents and carers can thrive at work whilst fulfilling their caring responsibilities. In turn, businesses will see higher retention, engagement and productivity, and create a culture where employees feel valued and supported.”
Organisations in the UK can assess their workplace policies by completing their self-assessment from today online at www.familyfriendlyworkplaces.co.uk
Key Facts:
- Australian initiative Family Friendly Workplaces is expanding internationally.
- The launch in the UK is in partnership with Working Families - the UK's leading national charity for parents and carers.
- Founding partners include Deloitte and TLT LLP
- Research from the University of Birmingham (2023) found that 71.2% of managers see flexible working as a performance-enhancing tool, while 76.5% report increased productivity.
About us:
About Family Friendly Workplaces
Family Friendly Workplaces is a global movement dedicated to embedding family-friendly policies in organisations to create healthier, more inclusive, and productive work environments. Launched in Australia in 2021 by Parents At Work and UNICEF Australia, it recognises employers who are leading the way in their support of families by using a framework of Global Work + Family Standards. The standards align to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, employers who are certified join a global movement to drive social change and promote a better future of work for everyone.
www.familyfriendlyworkplaces.com
www.familyfriendlyworkplaces.com.au
www.familyfriendlyworkplaces.co.uk
About Working Families
Working Families is a charity on a mission to remove the barriers that people with caring responsibilities face in the workplace. We provide free legal advice to parents and carers on their rights at work. We give employers the tools they need to support their employees while creating a flexible, high-performing workforce. And we advocate on behalf of the UK’s working parents and carers, influencing policy through campaigns informed by ground-breaking research.
Contact details:
For any questions in relation to this release or to discuss interviews, please contact:
Nicole Papoutsis
nicole.papoutsis@parentsatwork.com.au
0422 418 099
