14/05/15 11:17
Working together
Award winning employer supporting working parents.
Minister for Youth and Women’s Employment Annabelle Ewing met with staff at Scottish Gas to hear how the company is helping working parents balance the demands of work and family.
In March, Scottish Gas parent company Centrica took home the Best Large Employer Prize at the first ever Scottish Top Employers for Working Families Awards.
The awards are organised by Family Friendly Working Scotland - a partnership of Working Families, Fathers Network Scotland, Parenting Across Scotland and the Scottish Government and celebrate organisations that recognise that flexible working can bring increased productivity and performance, improve morale and wellbeing, as well as enhancing staff retention and recruitment.
Ms Ewing said:
“Balancing family life with a career can be very challenging. Every worker in Scotland has responsibilities beyond their job, whether that is as a parent, as a carer or due to other obligations. Each is making an important contribution to our economy and that means that having adaptable working patterns isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do so that employers don’t lose talented, productive staff.
“It is really impressive to hear how Centrica and Scottish Gas have benefited from building networks for women and parents and the company is leading the way in offering providing paid leave for carers to help them balance work and care responsibilities. With more than 35,000 employees worldwide, Centrica has a wealth of experience and a great responsibility and it is great to have an employer of this scale not only recognise the benefits it gets from offering staff the flexibility to stay in their job when they have a family, but to champion the cause of working families.
“I would like to congratulate Centrica and Scottish Gas on winning the award and am delighted to see how the company has been supporting its employees and how it is looking to build on its good work in the future.”
Carol Aitken, Public Affairs Manager, Scottish Gas said, “ We were very pleased to show the Minister first-hand how we support working parents at Scottish Gas. We have more than 3,000 people working for Scottish Gas and we believe it’s vitally important that we provide the right support and help to our employees. We’re always looking at ways to work with Government that support parents in the workplace.”
The Scottish Top Employers for Working Families Awards are part of the Family Friendly Working Scotland programme, which the Minister for Children and Young People Aileen Campbell announced in March and supported with a £100,000 grant to help employers develop flexibility for workers.
Family Friendly Working Scotland (FFWS) is a collaborative programme between Working Families, Fathers Network Scotland, Parenting Across Scotland and the Scottish Government launched in 2014. The programme aims to create a family friendly Scotland in the field of employment. The programme works with employers and relevant stakeholders along with employees and families.
Working Families is the UK’s leading work-life organisation. The charity supports and gives a voice to working parents and carers, whilst also helping employers create workplaces which encourage work-life balance for everyone. The Working Families helpline for parents, carers and their advisers gives advice on employment rights and benefits. Call 0300 012 0312 or email advice@workingfamilies.org.uk.
Fathers Network Scotland (FNS) is an independent Scottish charity. The organisation’s mission is to become the national torchbearer and voice for fathers in Scotland by positively engaging, supporting and empowering men to become the best fathers they can be. The strategy includes enabling Scottish employers to engage with fathers in the workplace and as clients and service users.
Parenting Across Scotland (PAS) is a partnership of charities working together to provide a focus for issues and concerns affecting parents and families in Scotland. The PAS partners are Aberlour Childcare Trust; Capability Scotland; Children 1st; Children in Scotland; Families Outside; One Parent Families Scotland; Relationships Scotland; Scottish Adoption; and The Spark. Together the partners work with thousands of parents.
Carers Scotland is a charity which supports the thousands of people in Scotland who care for an elderly, sick or disabled family member, partner or friend. Carers Scotland is currently working on the Scottish Government's commitment to develop a new ‘Employers Kitemark’ to encourage and recognise employers who support carers in their workforce.