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The Equal Parenting Project, in collaboration with Music Football Fatherhood, announces the winners of 2023’s prizes for best practice.
QBE, Vodafone UK and PwC UK LLP are amongst the winners of this year’s Working Dads Employer Awards.
The University of York and University of Birmingham’s Equal Parenting Project and Music Football Fatherhood developed the awards to celebrate organisations that recognise and promote the role of fathers in driving gender equality in the workplace.
The awards not only celebrate current employers but give companies the opportunity to further break down the gendered barriers to child-caring in order to promote gender equality in the workplace, encourage more women onto boards and enhance the wellbeing of families.
Elliott Rae, from Music Football Fatherhood, said, “It is amazing to see employers supporting dads and helping them to be active parents at home. Our government statutory paternity leave is amongst the worst in Europe, so businesses leading the way and offering these enhancements to fathers is great to see.
“We know how important supporting working dads to be active parents is to the mental health and wellbeing of families, gender equity at work and in the home and to the healthy development of children. So a big well done to all of the employers who are helping dads to parent loudly and proudly!”
The awards, which were hosted by Andrew Gwynne MP, Chair of the Fatherhood APPG in Westminster, with Rt. Hon Caroline Nokes MP, Chair of the Women and Equalities Select Committee and Anna Whitehouse, founder of Mother Pukka presenting awards, focus on four key areas where organisations are doing great work to support fathers in the workplace.
The Parental Policies Award, presented to QBE, Suffolk County Council, Vodafone UK and E.ON, celebrates organisations who excel in enhancing their parenting policies and encouraging fathers to use these policies.
The Flexible Working Award, presented to E.ON, celebrates organisations that are not simply ticking the box when they talk about or implement flexible working but rather see flexible working as central to what they do and the default in their business and are striving to make this accessible to working dads.
The Support for Returning Dads Award, presented to PwC UK LLP and Vodafone UK, celebrates the importance of actively managing fathers transition back into the workplace after long periods of caring leave to help them manage work-life balance and keep their careers on track.
The Leadership and Culture Award, presented to the British Medical Journal, John Lewis Partnership and Aon UK, recognises supportive workplace culture with broad leadership teams committed to supporting dads at work and challenging cultural expectations that only mothers can engage in childcare.
These awards will lead to case studies of best practice in helping working dads which will be made available to help employers, from SMEs to multinationals across the UK, to reflect upon and improve their support for fathers in the workplace.
Dr Holly Birkett & Dr Sarah Forbes from the Equal Parenting Project said, “It has been inspiring to hear about the wonderful work winners of the 2023 Working Dads Employer Awards have been doing to support dads in the workplace and promote gender equality in the workplace. We can’t wait to share case studies of this work with other organisations and inspire companies across all industries to up their game supporting working dads and apply for the awards in the future.”
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