What's your idea of the ultimate family-friendly employer?

[eggybreadandbeans]

(Also copied on 'Employment issues' and 'Parenting' boards)

My partner and I run a fast-growing company, and we would like it to evolve as a family-friendly employer.

At the moment ? and this was unintentional, I should add ? we have no mums or dads within our team; just a couple of unattached guys who are doing a great job. We are currently recruiting again and, in preparation for having parents working with us, are exploring how family-friendly we can be to mums and dads in the team, while still empowering all staff ? with kids or without ? to do the best job they're capable of.

We have both been able to enjoy a lot of time with ds during his first years, and want our future staff to be able to enjoy as much time as possible with their newborns and young children, too. But we still need to think about getting the job done at work, and getting it done well.

So everyone/anyone ? SAHMs, working mums, dads, full-/part-timers ? what would be your idea of the ultimate family-friendly employer? What benefits or schemes or flexibility could they offer that would enable you/your partner to still do your job well yet make life easier for your family? In your experience, which family-orientated initiatives work and which don't? What is there not enough of? And what is often offered but actually doesn't help much? And can benefits for non-parents be offered too, to even it all out? You get the picture ?

A big thank you for sharing any ideas and experiences, and links to other companies you know of who've got it sussed.

[Charlene1]

Term time working
Job share, part time hrs, time off for sports day/appointments etc that can be "made up" later rather than taken unpaid or as holiday.
Understanding that sometimes kids get sick and can't be sent to relatives/friends/childminder/nursery etc - sometimes you have no choice but to stay at home with them.
Letting people work from home.

[dinny]

• flexible working hours (I do shifts that mean don't have to put my childen in childcare)

- famly leave (we get 10 days a year, I think, paid leave)
- good maternity package (we get 6 months full pay and another 6 months statutory)
- workplace creche (ours is excellent but waiting list v long)
- able to take unpaid leave (ie. am taking the summer holidays off to take kids to the se for 5 weeks - yay!)

I work for the BBC - they are super-duper (well, we've actually just been privatised, but terms/conditions are preserved for now)

[Harold]

Eggy here abouts are you? Can I have a job?

[Harold]

*where I mean

[Feistybird]

Flexible working - e.g. having hours to do and being flexible about those hours - i.e. being able to make up time if necessary in the evening when kids are in bed.

Being part of a Nursery vouchers scheme.

Working from home.

My employer (large global company) does all this. It helps a lot.

They also do a maternity buddy scheme to help women returning to work. I didn't take advantage of this.

[eggybreadandbeans]

Thanks for all your ideas - brilliant. LOL Harold.

[joelallie]

Flexible working

Working from home
Automatic dismissal of any non-parents/parents-who's-partners-SAH who whinge/tut/roll their eyes/make comments when parent co-worker leave on time or work an extra day at home .

Constant re-iteration of the company's family-friendly policies in company publications and on notice boards so that the stupid macho work culture of so many workplaces starts to dissipate.

Sabbaticals offered to employees who don't have kids to improve work-life balance so they stop bl**dy whingeing about how unfair it all is.... [angry)..sorry...to foster an atmosphere of caring and teamwork.