NELFT is proud to be named as a Working Families Top Ten Employer 2022!

The national charity for working parents and carers, has announced that NELFT has been awarded a place on its prestigious and competitive list of the top family-friendly employers in the UK.  Now in its thirteenth year, employers large and small from across the public, private, and third sectors compete annually to gain a coveted place on the charity’s list of Top Employers for Working Families. 

Employers were assessed using Working Families’ Benchmark and were scored on four key areas to build a comprehensive picture of their flexible and family-friendly policies and practices that specifically support mothers, fathers, and carers.

Simon Hart, Executive Director of People & Culture at NELFT, said:

“I am delighted that NELFT has received this accolade and proud of all the continued work we have done to ensure that we are a flexible and family friendly employer. At NELFT we are very aware that there is a direct link between how well we look after our colleagues and how well they are able to look after our patients and their families. We have a duty of care to support our colleagues with families and this improves the morale of all within the NELFT family, making this is a great place to work. I am proud of how we have developed our support for colleagues year on year, and with our partnership with Working Families, I am confident we can continue to provide the best support possible to our staff’.

A highlight of some of the initiatives we have rolled out include;

• Our Parents and Carers staff network which continues to grow, and has expanded to provide specialist support for parents of children with SEN
• Managers training around flexible working
• Bespoke workshops around job design, to help managers find the flexibility in all roles including the patient facing roles of our clinicians
• Carers passport for staff with caring responsibilities, to ensure they can outline the support and flexibility they require for their unpaid caring role.
• An updated flexible working policy to improve access and streamline the process of making a flexible working request

Over the next year, we plan to build upon this work and expand the support available to our colleagues with families.

Jane van Zyl, CEO of Working Families, said:

“We are delighted to recognise the outstanding organisations that made our Top Employers for Working Families list this year. These employers excelled in our rigorous benchmarking process, proving they are leading the way in building family-friendly workplaces in the UK. The variety of sizes and sectors represented on this year’s list demonstrates that—with a commitment to best practice and an appetite to innovate—it is possible for any organisation to support their people through embedding flexible and family-friendly practices.”