QBE certified as one of Australia’s first Family Friendly Workplaces
QBE Australia (QBE) is proud to announce itself as a founding partner of the National Work + Family Standards, launched today in partnership with UNICEF Australia and Parents at Work, becoming one of the first organisations in Australia to be certified as a Family Friendly Workplace in line with the new national standards.
The National Work + Family Standards, which form part of the broader Australia-first Family Friendly Workplaces (FFW) initiative, provides employers with the minimum and best practice ways to build a more inclusive, family-friendly workplace culture. The four core family friendly categories that businesses will be benchmarked against include flexible work, parental leave, family care and family wellbeing.
The FFW initiative was launched in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as employers and employees grapple with the future of work.
Frank Costigan, Interim Managing Director, QBE Australia said the launch of the National Work + Family Standards is an important step forward for corporate Australia, particularly due to the pandemic, which has presented additional challenges in bridging a healthy work and family balance.
“At QBE, we’re passionate about creating a family-friendly workplace that is inclusive of all different kinds of family dynamics. As a member of the LGBTI+ community, I am proud to work for an organisation where I am supported to balance my work life with my home life that I share with my partner and twin five-year old sons.
“Add in the pandemic and working from home, and I know first-hand the challenges of balancing work and carer’s responsibilities. At QBE we endeavour to embrace diversity and ensure we provide a platform where all our people feel supported to be at their best in the home, and at work.“
In March 2019, QBE’s gender-equal, flexible paid parental leave scheme – Share the Care – was the launched to employees, with the aim of making parenting, career breaks and flexible working business as usual for both men and women.
The policy has resulted in a huge uplift in the number of men taking paid parental leave, with men now representing one in every three (32 per cent) QBE parents accessing the leave. This is a stark increase from the 12-month period prior to the launch of Share the Care, where only 10 per cent of QBE parents accessing parental leave were male. Australia-wide, statistics show that less than 5 per cent of men across the country elect to take primary carers leave .
Mr Costigan added: “Our gender-equal paid parental leave policy, Share the Care, is a great example of our commitment to mainstreaming equal caring responsibilities for men and women and exemplifies our family-friendly workplace ambition. It’s not just the right thing to do, it makes perfect business sense, with family-friendly workplaces delivering positive outcomes for society, business, our economy, and our families.”
Corporate Australia is being urged to take the first step on a journey towards family-friendly workplace culture by expressing interest in the initiative at www.familyfriendlyworkplaces.com
For more information:
Sarah Bond
External Communications Manager
QBE Australia Pacific
Phone: +61 466 028 302
Email: sarah.bond@qbe.com
QBE Australia
PO Box 82, Sydney NSW 2000 Australia
telephone +61 2 9375 4444 | facsimile +61 2 9231 6104