Do you work for a Family Friendly company? Tell us about them here!

[carriemumsnet]

Mumsnet's Family Friendly Campaign is gathering momentum. If you haven't heard about it yet > you can read more here.

Some great companies have signed up already - take a bow Pizza Express, BT, Talk Talk, PZ Cussons, 02, Cool Milk, SMV, Pearson - and we're talking to lots more, but would love to know if you work for a company or organisation (or know someone who works for a company or organisation) who would like to be part of the campaign and put themselves up for a Mumsnet Family Friendly Award.

If you want to nominate a company please send the contact name and email (and ideally telephone number) to [email protected] and we'll be in touch (though promise not to mention your name if you'd rather we didn't!).

Thanks in advance

MNHQ

I forgot to mention the one month of paternity leave and flowers after the birth of my DS. There are family friendly events organised at various times of year. Don't want to say anymore as I will out myself, but suffice to say the perks are many and varied!

Another vote for the NHS here. Very generous ML and maternity pay, childcare vouchers and great flexible working policy, carer's leave etc

I'm so lucky with my employer. The whole company ethos is based on the importance of relationships, family, health, good work/life balance - this is extended to the way they treat their staff. Several of us work within school hours, our children are welcome in the office during emergencies like school strikes, and there's a real understanding that sometimes loved-ones have to come first. It's a small business called From You to Me who sell gift journals to help capture precious memories. Neil, the founder and MD, is very keen that we all enjoy our work. I think he believes that we'll produce better results if we are happy, so there is a sensible business objective there too. He's even just bought us a very nice coffee machine to keep us awake!!

I work for a small company. Im the only part time worker which Im sure makes life difficult. Have been part time 4 years now since dd was born. Time off at short notice and days off for dds hospital appointment have never been a problem.

Ford Motor Company are a family friendly company. They have some best in class policies such as 52 weeks full pay maternity as well as considering flexible working requests for employees with elder care responsibilities. You should contact the diversity manager based at Head Office in Warley (don't want to post her name all over MN!!)

my favourite family friendly company is littlebird.co.uk - a very smart and timely idea, really nice products and importantly for me - beautifully executed!

www.littlebird.co.uk

Could British employers learn from the Dutch?
I wanted to tell everyone about my experience of finding an employer who would allow me to work from home so that I can look after our two young daughters.
I work in the events industry and before becoming a Mum had a great job as the Conference Sponsorship Manager with the FT. I loved my job and worked there for a number of years. So please don?t laugh when I say that I thought when it was time to return to work after having a family I would be able to find some part time work and future employers would get the benefit of my experience with a world leading company.
Of course it wasn?t like that at all. The companies I approached obviously couldn?t see a role for me but I was determined to find something.
To cut a long story short I found the solution by going Dutch. When I was first married I lived in The Netherlands with my husband. Whilst there I began to admire the Dutch and the systems they have in place for working parents. I also became and admirer of Dutch fashion.

Whilst living in the Netherlands I got to know about a Dutch shoe manufacturer, JJ Footwear, which specialised in making lovely boots for women with bigger calves.
Earlier this year, whilst searching for some boots on the Internet I decided it was time to approach the company and said I thought their product would work in the UK and I would be keen to explore any opportunities with them.
To my delight they got back to me and said they would be happy to work with me, and that of course I could work from home. Basically they worked with me to find the best way for me to work for them while still being able to be a full time mum. OK, that means lots of working in the evening, grabbing a few hours during the day and working at weekends, but it can be done.
The company has been brilliant and the whole experience has been much better than anything I found with British companies. I would also like to point out that JJFootwear operates all over the world.
So come on British companies, why can?t you be as good? I am sure that some mums out there must have had a good experience but the Dutch were fabulous. So my plea is learn from the Dutch. There are loads of brilliant mums out there who would love to work; they just need people to offer them a working environment that gives them a chance.
And please don?t be cynical about me promoting the company I work for. This is a big issue and I want to let people know about my story so that others can benefit.
I would appreciate it if you would advise me the best way of raising the issue of work life/family life balance on Mums Net. The powers that be talk about the desire to get mothers working again. I for one live in a village full of intelligent, vivacious women who would love the opportunity to be considered an asset again, whilst at the same time maintain a strong presence in the home.
It seems politicians are determined to push ahead with plans to make women work longer for their pension but what are they doing about helping mums get back into work?

As with other large organisations, the NHS's approach to family friendly working varies from Trust to Trust and manager to manager. At the time my my first child was born I worked as HR Director in a large Trust. I had a long commute on top of a very demanding job. My CEO supported me working two days a week at home until the Board decided this set a 'dangerous example' to more junior employees. I resigned and went to work for an IT company who were far more flexible and understanding. For several years I have been running my own HR business and I would like to ask MSNET to consider two things:

• opening up your award as soon as possible to smaller employers (their practices vary as widely as the larger ones and those SMEs who are family orientated should be publicly applauded).
• lobbying Parliament for self-employed parents (whose numbers are increasing daily) to be able to offset childcare costs against tax. There is the bitter irony that I could theoretically claim tax relief on works of art to decorate my office and on business class travel but not a penny on childcare.

This site is far from family friendly, the language typed is obscene and the attitudes go back to the dark ages or arrogant...don't these folk have families to attend to rather than living in cyber world?

Ford family-friendly, ha ha, don't their car fumes cause pollution to our children?