QBE Europe has become the first insurer in the UK to be certified as a Family Friendly Workplace.
The Family Friendly Workplace scheme was set up by UNICEF in Australia in 2021 to recognise employers leading the way with working parents and carers.
QBE is the first organisation in the UK to have received the certification following the launch of the framework in the UK this month in conjunction with Working Families, the UK’s national charity for working parents and carers.
QBE International, Chief People Officer, Emma Higgins said QBE continued to recognise and accommodate the diverse needs of its workforce.
“We are proud to be the first organisation and insurer in the UK to be accredited as a Family Friendly workplace. When employees feel valued and supported in their roles as parents and caregivers, they are more engaged, productive, and loyal. By recognising and accommodating the diverse needs of our workforce whether that’s through flexibility or equalised parental leave, we build a stronger, more inclusive organisation where our people and our business can thrive.”
“QBE is delighted with the positive impact its policies are having on our people – and we hope our policies can serve as a model, demonstrating that progressive structures and systems and internal policy change can effectively support workplace equality.
“Every business faces its own set of challenges, but employers can take incremental steps as their own circumstances allow. They may consider enhancing parental leave policies by just one week to start - any change in the number of weeks offered can make a difference to families.”
QBE made several updates to its UK benefits including enhanced paternity leave in 2023. All QBE employees in the UK can receive 26 weeks at full pay and up to 52 weeks’ leave regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, or how they become a parent. Since 2023, 75% of those eligible have taken up their fully paid paternity leave. In addition, at a time when many insurers and businesses enforcing returned office days, QBE had reaffirmed its commitment to its hybrid working model with no plans to change this at the current time.
It is proven that businesses that support working parents stand to benefit significantly. Research from the University of Birmingham found 76.5 per cent of managers reported increased productivity when parents were offered flexible working, while a CIPD study highlights that 54 per cent of managers struggling with recruitment improved hiring success by offering greater flexibility.
Research conducted by QBE last year found more than 26m Brits think their own or their partners’ paternity leave was or is too short. QBE has also increased its employee loyalty significantly and lowered its staff turnover since the introduction of its equalised parental leave in January 2023.
Working Families CEO Jane van Zyl congratulated QBE on its certification.
“We’re delighted that QBE have received their worthy recognition as a family-friendly employer. As one of the supporting partners of the Family Friendly Workplaces Certification, QBE demonstrated their commitment to creating family-friendly cultures from the off.”
“The pioneering certification programme has been designed to set new benchmarks for family-friendly working in the UK, by providing employers with a rigorous, evidence-based framework to assess and enhance their policies. Having gone through the certification process and becoming a certified ‘Family Inclusive Workplace’, QBE are walking the talk, showing that they care about supporting employee wellbeing, promoting inclusivity and inspiring change within the wider world of insurance, and beyond.”
Data from Pregnant Then Screwed and CPP shows increasing entitlement to paternity leave and pay could help close the gender pay gap and increase UK economic output by up to £23 billion. They found almost half of pregnant women and maternity leave returners had a negative experience at work, with one in five going on to resign from their employer.
About the Family Friendly Workplace certification:
- · Self-assessment test on current family-friendly policies
- · Evidence-based programme that aligns to the United Nation’s sustainable development goals
- · https://familyfriendlyworkplaces.co.uk/