In a significant milestone for Australian-certified organisations, the Family Friendly Workplaces (FFW) movement is today launching an international expansion to the UK.
The news comes after four years of FFW successfully driving policy change in Australia and helping over 650 organisations assess and enhance their family-friendly work practices.
Over the past 18 months, FFW has worked closely with the UK’s leading national charity, Working Families, to bring this pioneering initiative to employers in the UK, with the certification enabling UK organisations to be formally recognised as a Family-Inclusive Workplace.
For Australia, the international expansion reinforces the value of this certification and further elevates it standing as a global benchmark for family-friendly workplaces.
“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.
The certification is based on a set of Global Work + Family Standards to measure social and economic impact.
Working Families UK will lead the initiative and manage certification in the region, with the support of Parents At Work.
Large organisations in the UK have also gotten 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.
Backed by research, flexible family-friendly ways of working significantly benefit business. In 2023, the University of Birmingham found that 71.2 per cent of managers see flexible working as a performance-enhancing tool, while 76.5 per cent report increased productivity. A CIPD study further highlights that 54 per cent of managers struggling with recruitment have improved hiring success by offering greater flexibility.
When it comes to future-proofing business, the program also works to recognise an aging population, supporting employees managing eldercare and “sandwich-caring” responsibilities
“For too long, businesses have lacked a clear, evidence-based benchmark for what truly makes a workplace family-friendly. This certification changes that,” said Jane van Zyl, CEO at Working Families.
“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.”