Flexible working is found at all levels of the organisation and 11% of senior management have a formal flexible working arrangement in place. More than a quarter (27% )of senior management are women and 20% of these women have formal flexible working arrangements in place.
The firm has an employee assistance programme which provides 24 hour free information and support service to help our employees and their families to make their hectic lives easier. Nearly six out of 10 (58%) of staff have accessed this service over the last year and 89% report that they are satisfied with their work life balance.
Britannia offers a full maternity or adoption leave package, which not only provides support packs and a buddy throughout the leave period but also offers keep in touch days for employees who want to be kept in the loop.
Around 390 employees volunteer for financial education programmes; Number Partners and Fit 4 Finance in schools. Many volunteers with children believe it enhances their parenting skills.
The flexible reward programme, Mutual benefits, offers holiday trading and childcare vouchers which many parents find helpful - 198 of employees bought childcare vouchers in 2008 and 5849 hours of additional holiday were purchased too.
We offer gender specific development programmes to non-management women and men that encourages self development and addresses issues from both work and home lives. To date 200 women have accessed the ‘Springboard' programme and 41 men have accessed the ‘Navigator' programme.
Karen Moir, director of corporate governance at Britannia Group, said: "The demands of modern life are no less today than when we launched Mutual Preferences in 2004. As an organisation, we continue to operate in an intensely competitive financial services industry. As a nation, we still work the longest hours in Europe and, as our population ages, many of us have the added responsibility of caring for adult relatives.
"For the Britannia Group, this is much more than a policy but an entire package of support for the work life balance of our people: we have embraced the spirit of flexible working and received recognition for our innovative approach. We have received government recognition through their award of Exemplar Employer status and the Opportunity Now Private Sector Award for our approach to flexible working and now we are once again proud to be named as one of Working families top 20 companies."
Britannia Group's flexible working and family friendly poicies make it a Top Employer for working families
The flexible working programme at Britannia, Mutual Preferences, is available to all employees for any reason. Half of staff have a formal flexible working arrangement (12% of male employees and 41% of female employees) with many more people having informal arrangements agreed with their managers.
