More Australian employers certified “family inclusive”

This was revealed by the two organisations behind the FFW initiative – Parents At Work and UNICEF Australia – which also said 47% of these employers are now paying superannuation during unpaid periods of parental leave.

After one year of the launch of the initiative, the list of those now certified spans 17 different industry sectors and includes ASX companies, household brands, government agencies and not-for-profit organisations.

In proving how fast change can happen, eight in ten of those now certified did not previously have a committed action plan in place for addressing the needs of employees with caring responsibilities. All 70 now do.

“The future of work is family-friendly and employers who are not taking these issues seriously will be left behind,” Emma Walsh, Parents At Work CEO said on the release of a new report sharing data on the benefits of family-friendly workplaces and some of the key lessons from the certified employers.

Initiatives like FFW enable organisations to meet key standards and access tools and ideas that other employers are doing. 

One of the first steps any employer can take towards becoming more family-inclusive is in determining how many of their employees are parents or carers, or have some kind of caring responsibilities. The report found that 67% of those organisations that were eventually certified did not previously record or measure these stats.

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On flexibility – what is seen as a key enabler to being family-friendly – employers need to go beyond simply presenting flexible work as an option. About 88% of these certified employers are addressing the cultural shift required, and now provide employees with guides and training to embed flexible work practices, according to Women’s Agenda.