Best family friendly practice in your workplace - what support do you get from your employer? Share your story and you could win £200 from Matalan NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

As part of our Family Friendly programme we'd love to hear about how your workplace has helped you cope as a parent (or when you became a parent) or how your partners workplace supports parents - perhaps over the recent summer holidays or when your child started school? For example - are you allowed to work a different shift to cope with school pick up, or in the summer holidays, does your work place provide a crèche or support any days out via vouchers etc?

If your employer is not actively supportive, what could they do to make your working life as a parent just that little bit easier for you or your partner? How do you manage childcare in the holidays?

And if you're not in employment at the moment: what could an employer do to make them appeal to you as a family friendly employer?

We're delighted to welcome our 2015 Mumsnet Family Friendly members: Barclays, Pizza Express, Butlins, More Th>n, McDonald's, Unilever, Old Mutual and Matalan.

Share your thoughts on this thread and you will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £200 voucher to spend in Matalan .

thanks
MNHQ Family Friendly Team

I work part time in a school (non-teaching role), so am term time only - with the occasional day or two in holidays, prearranged with my direct supervisor to suit both me and her. This will give me time in lieu to take for anything I want to do with DD - which will no doubt be invaluable when she goes to school and has assemblies etc.

I was allowed to choose the pattern for my hours when I got the job, to fit around DD. There is a policy allowing for leave for children's sickness, a day for moving house, and some others, though I'm yet to need them. They were also insistent that I didn't need to make up any hours for a hospital appointment that fell in my usual working hours - My previous job have pressured me to use flexi time for this sort of thing.

I am lucky to have my DM local, who looks after DD while I am at work.

We have a staff crèche on site, which has been the most helpful. There is also a subsided holiday club for school aged children, though mine aren't old enough to have tried it yet.

We have a staff creche - which was amazing because this is evening work. Sadly there have been huge cutbacks though and the cost has rocketed too.

I have a great manager who recognises the need for a healthy work life balance. I work part time and have a flexibility to shift days to meet my dds care needs if I need to. Short notice leave to cover family emergencies is never frowned upon and I'm always allowed time off for parents evenings and other such events. I feel very fortunate.

My husband works for a trade union. Following restructuring, they have told him he must commute five hours a day to a new location, miles from our home town, or face career oblivion. This is not a requirement in his employment contract and is hardly likely to contribute to anyone's wellbeing. We have a young child at school and DP will not be able to continue with his share of school drop-offs and after school collection arrangements. Despite representing a largely female workforce these senior trade union officials seem oblivious to the fact that their own employees may need to take a fair share of caring responsibilities. Or maybe they just assume there's a little woman at home who can take up the slack? Not sure if I'm more depressed or angry that in 2015 a union is behaving like this...

I work for a council who are literally the worst. I work 3 out of 4 weekends...how is that good for a parent?! Still, I need a job, and this is a job.

My employers try to be family friendly but like many places being a woman of child bearing age puts you at a disadvantage.

Day to day I do benefit from flexi-time which is a god send for my family.

My employer has flexible working - you can work when you like as long as you do your hours / get your work done. We all have laptops with a remote connection to the network and can work from home. We can build up TOIL that we can then take when we need to. We can carry leave over. My employer is in the Childcare Vouchers scheme and we get a huge range of discounts across many retailers/services. Some people have negotiated 'term time only' contracts. Some of our sites have a discount with a local nursery. We can take emergency time off. We have an annual FunDay where our children can come and see the exciting place we work (aerospace sector).

I am so grateful to work where I work!

I was able to go job share after I returned to work after my maternity leave, I work flexible hours and can occasionally work from home. This has been very helpful.

My employer lets me work flexitime so I can get home before DD's bedtime. And two of my colleagues (who already have kids) were great when I was heavily pregnant, driving me to meetings and making sure I didn't have too much work on.

My DH has been allowed to work from home a lot, it's been amazing having him here for breakfast and dinners.

I have recently started a job when my daughter got injured in school, she was put on strict bed rest as a slight knock could of made her blind in one eye. My work let me stay at home with her until she got the all clear with out using any leave. They said that your kids always come first I can't tell you how much it helped they where so understanding it was one less thing to worry about

Flexible working hours and working from home... I work shorter days where I can drop off and pick up and makeup the hours in the evening or longer days later in the week. So long as I work my hours over the week, and everything gets done, my employers are happy

I was able to reduce my days and hours when I returned to work. But not so that it helps with school drop off and pick up - still need breakfast and after school clubs. They offer childcare vouchers. My line manager is very flexible and understanding if I have to leave in an emergency (eg child ill).

Sadly my workplace wasn't family friendly and didn't want me to work compressed hours even though it would have helped me a lot with childcare costs - I did appeal against their decision as I made a business case for how well it would work and won the case and that went on to help other mums returning to work.

My husbands employer has been great when he has needed time off for our SEN child or to be flexible with hours to fit in doctors appointments etc for our kids. I think they realise that he puts in way more hours at work generally so they are happy to be flexible when he needs it.

We get free emergency childcare for our children so if they are sick with a cold or upset tummy or the nanny goes on holiday, we can book a nanny or nursery though the back up care service. It's amazing and I have used it loads. It means I don't have to take the time off and have access to great Hugh quality childcare. I can save my time off for proper holiday and fun stuff.

I'm self employed and made it clear to my clients that I'd need to bring my son in the holidays if they wanted me to work, he is very good at sitting and reading or whatnot, but they've all been so welcoming, one gets her friend's son round to play while I keep an eye, so it's childcare for hers and company for mine, win win.

We are a small workplace and it makes it very difficult for us if someone if off unexpectedly, but we have a culture of 'family first' and it's taken as read that if your family needs you, you go. I haven't needed flexible working as DH works very few hours and we have grandparents close, but others have been given them. We home educate so again, unnecessary but where possible time is allowed to go to concerts, special assemblys etc. Unfortunately it's not possible for me to do my job at home or I am sure they would let me!

Family friendly for me would be allowing parents to work flexible where possible. Eg allowing them to attend a child's assembly and making up the hours another day. Option of unpaid leave during school holidays/ school hours contracts. Any of the above would make life for a parent easier!

I am able to work from home if DS is poorly, or the school is closed, or childcare is an issue. I'm also allowed to leave early if DS needs picking up, or pop out for an hour or two if there's a meeting with the school or an assembly. I do make the time up, but they'll let the odd hour go occasionally if I'm really stuck and unable to find the time to make up (I'm part-time).

My employer is pretty good with stuff like this - we have flexible Woking hours, a child care vouchers scheme,options for part time working, can hhave annual leave with very little notice and can even have 'special' leave in particular circumstances. Their Maternity / Paternity and Adoption Policies are pretty good too.
Thinking about it I can see I'm very lucky and do appreciate it.

My boss is pretty flexible and as long as i hit my deadlines and attend all meetings he is happy for me to do school pick ups and drop offs when necessary and work at home as & when. They have also changed my working hours to start at 9.30 so i see my son in the morning, i make it up with late nights and a long commute but at least i dont have whole weeks where i dont see him.

When I returned from maternity leave I was allowed flexible start and finish times and had my request to go part time agreed. Also I work three days a week but I am allowed to swap my working days if I need to for childcare/appointments/sick child.

An understanding boss is a huge help. She allows me to work flexibly and respects my family commitments.

I work in education and I job share, it would be great to VERY occasionally swap days so that we could each see our children participate in nursery Christmas plays and visit schools in the area on their open days. Apparently this is not allowed.