It’s somehow September, which means it ‘back to school’ for many working parents and guardians. But how can you ensure your games business is delivering the best policies and perks to help your team members balance their work and family life?
In practice, this doesn’t just mean those with school age children, but also employees who are carers for others of all ages. Important considerations for your business include things like parental leave, caring leave, flexible work arrangements, childcare support, and access to family planning resources.
Empower Up here is to help with a fully-revised & updated introduction to everything you need to know about parenting, childcare and caring – all designed to help you keep your employees happy and thriving both at work and at home.
To help you digest what is a wide-ranging topic, we’ve broken it down into smaller, digestible parts, each focussed on a key consideration.
Perhaps start by reading our one-page primer on how parenting, childcare and caring is rooted in UK employment law here. We cover the important regulations and what they mean in practical terms for your business, encompassing polices/procedures, rights & entitlements and the importance of equal treatment of all parents and carers who work with you.
For expecting parents, Maternity and Paternity leave are now statutory requirements enshrined in UK employment law. Both of these articles contain all the facts and figures that apply to each, ensuring both you and your team members know what to expect when the time comes.
We also cover off Parental Leave and Shared Parental Leave, the latter being introduced into UK employment law relatively recently in 2015 to promote increased gender equality in the workplace. Parental leave can be taken by both mothers and fathers, as well as adoptive parents, and is designed to give them time off work to care for their child or children after they are born up to the age of 18 years.
Similarly, employees who adopt a child may be eligible for Adoption Leave. This is a period of leave that can be shared between adoptive parents, allowing them to care for and bond with their new child.
Away from childcare specifically, employees have the legal right to take Time Off Work for Dependents. This allows them to take time off to deal with unexpected or sudden situations where a dependent, such as a child, parent, or spouse, requires care or attention. Read about this works in practice here.
This is related closely to Non-Parenting Caring responsibilities, which can include caring for elderly relatives, disabled family members, or those with long-term illnesses. Read more about that, including legal requirements and practical steps, here.
Often overlooked as part of parenting employment law are the Health & Safety implications. This section outlines how employers have a legal duty to assess the risks of their working environment and make any necessary adjustments to ensure the safety and wellbeing of pregnant and breastfeeding employees.
Finally, Flexible Conditions permeate many aspects of modern working life, and parenting is no different. Did you know parents in the UK have the right to request flexible working arrangements in order to balance work and family commitments from day one of working at a company? Discover what this means in practical terms here.
Remember, Empower Up is here to help guide your games business on its EDI journey – you can find our useful introduction to what Equality, Diversity and Inclusion means and why it’s important here.
Register or log in to get started in your organisation
Photo by charlesdeluvio on Unsplash
