Aviva scoops ‘Best for Dads’ title at our awards

The best company to work for if you’re a dad is Aviva.

The company won the ‘Best for Dads’ award at last night’s Top Employer Awards.

The awards, organised by workingdads.co.uk sister site workingmums.co.uk, recognise best practice and innovation in supporting parents in the workplace.

The insurance and savings firm was recognised for the astonishing results of its decision to equalise parental leave. Men are entitled to up to six months off at full pay. It’s no coincidence that around 70% of men at the company take six months off after they become a dad.

95% of men at Aviva take more than the statutory two weeks of paternity leave. In the year before bosses boosted the paternity leave offer men took an average of two weeks off in paternity leave. In the year after the policy was introduced that jumped to an average of 22 weeks.

Job share

All jobs at Aviva are advertised with the option of flexibility or job share.

The company also boasts a high profile job share in Sam White and Will McDonald who split the Group Public Policy and Sustainability Director role.

The judging panel said that Aviva had been a global leader in the field of equalising parental leave and had the figures to prove that its policies were effective. The policy meant that employees could see Aviva’s commitment to them outside as well as inside the workplace. They commended the firm as an inspiring example for others.

Anthony Fitzpatrick, policy lead at Aviva said, “We’re really proud  Aviva has been recognised at the workingmums.co.uk awards as a great place for Dads to work.

“Supporting fathers in the workplace makes good business sense and it’s the right thing to do for both parents. When we launched our equal parental leave two years ago, we were determined it would be more than just a policy. We want our people to feel encouraged and supported to take parental leave. We’ve seen men at Aviva take an average of 22 weeks leave. This is great, but we need to keep sharing experiences and role modelling how it can work, not just at Aviva, but within other organisations too.”

Best Employer

It was the 10th edition of the Top Employer Awards.

Vodafone, who last week announced they were boosting the amount of paternity leave available to employees, was named Best Employer overall. The firm took home a hat trick of gongs. They were also named Best for Returners and they shared the Family Support prize with Waltham Forest Borough Council.

Other winners included the Food Standards Agency in the Innovation in Flexible Working category. Carty Services and the Independent Living Fund Scotland took home awards for SMEs.

Tremendous progress

Gillian Nissim, Founder of workingmums.co.uk and workingdads.co.uk, said, “This year’s 10th anniversary Top Employers Awards are a chance to look back at how far we have come, and forward to the challenges that remain. In looking back we can see that there has been tremendous progress in terms of uptake of flexible working and in areas such as family support. But there is still a lot to be done to normalise flexible working from recruitment to senior management and to recognise the different pinch points that employees may face at different points in their career path.

“That is one of the reasons that we have launched our new website www.workingwise.co.uk, to advocate for best practice in making the most of older workers’ experience and skills. In a world of skills shortages, it is vital for employers to tap into the potential of all their employees. For us it is about the whole work life cycle, about joining the dots and highlighting best practice in the kind of work that we need to ensure jobs work for everyone.”

The Award judges were: Gillian Nissim, founder of workingmums.co.uk, workingdads.co,uk and workingwise.co.uk; Andy Lake, editor of Flexibility.co.uk; Jennifer Liston-Smith, Head of Coaching, Consultancy and Thought Leadership at Bright Horizons Work + Family Solutions; Dave Dunbar, Head of Digital Workspace at the Department of Work and Pensions; and Clare Kelliher, Professor of Work and Organisation at Cranfield School of Management.

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• Shared Parental Leave paternity rights leadership