HR Magazine - Armed forces and small charities among winners of the Working Families Best Practice Awards 2021

The organisations celebrated in Working Families' Best Practice Awards 2021 have been revealed.

The awards celebrate employers with stand-out cultures and working practices leading the way in flexible and employee-friendly workplaces.  

The Working Families Best Practice Awards is now in its 12th year, and employers from a diverse range of sectors from across the UK have competed to catch the judges’ attention in the nine categories.

Jane van Zyl, chief executive of Working Families and chair of the judging panel, congratulated all of the winners.

She said: “After an extremely challenging year for working parents and employers alike, we are thrilled to be sharing our award-winning organisations for 2021, celebrating exceptional best practice and support for parents and carers across a wide range of sectors.

“This last year has shown that flexible, family-friendly working practices are possible in many more jobs and sectors than previously thought – the diversity of the winning organisations demonstrates that.

Van Zyl said as the country shifts into the ‘new normal’, Working Families is determined to use what it has learnt over the past year to benefit more of the UK’s 13 million working parents.

“When employees have more control over their time, we see improved engagement and retention and better organisational performance.

“Our Best Practice Awards winners 2021 are leading the way in making this a reality for thousands of parents and carers,” she said.

The winning organisations are:  

Best COVID-19 Response – joint winners

Teach First

University of Strathclyde

Best for Mothers – joint winners

British Army

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield  

Best for Fathers

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield 

Best for Carers & Eldercare – sponsored by Crown Prosecution Service   