BW: Workplace Experts (BW) leads the way in employee wellbeing with a raft of family-friendly policies now in place, to fully support all of its eligible staff, including maternity leave; adoption leave; paternity leave and shared parental leave.
Recognising that the construction industry can often be a demanding work environment, coupled with the fact that its employees are its most valuable resource in delivering excellent service to clients, BW’s family-friendly policies are intended to recruit and retain high-performing and talented employees.
The number of family-friendly options BW offers will support a wide range of staff, enabling them to balance quality of work with commitments at home. Currently, statutory maternity leave gives employees 6 weeks at 90% of their pay followed by 33 weeks at £148.68. BW has enhanced its maternity leave pay for the first 18 weeks to full pay followed by 21 weeks at £148.68 Those staff requesting adoption leave will be entitled to the same enhanced benefit.
Not wanting to stop there, BW has also recognised the needs of new fathers and, supporting the shift in attitudes towards paternity leave, improved their paternity pay from two weeks to six weeks. New fathers are encouraged to take 2 weeks on the birth of their child but then have the freedom to take the remaining 4 weeks during the first year of their child’s life which many are using to provide more child care when their partner returns to work. One study*, conducted from 2017-2019, has shown that when fathers also take up parental leave, the benefits are numerous, from men’s increased confidence as caregivers to mothers enjoying a quicker and happier return to work to a positive impact of the emotional development of the child.
“We are constantly striving to support our employees as much as possible and ensure that our policies are aligned to their needs. Our annual employee survey illustrated that this was a concern for individuals, and we are delighted to be able to say we asked, listened and have actioned to ensure our benefits align to the wants of our employees” – Penny Creswell (Head of HR)
Reflecting on this increased emphasis on balancing careers with family time, Steve Elliott, Chief Executive Officer at BW said: “Our employees are vital to the success of our business and their happiness and wellbeing is paramount. BW endeavours to support them in all aspects of their lives and our revised approach reflects this by providing the best allowances possible when it comes to family leave options.”
For the full policy, please visit < https://wearebw.egnyte.com/dl/3SJwOadYrh