News
Supporting our people through life’s important moments
Learn more about our recent updates to our family-friendly leave policy.
Families and caring responsibilities don’t all look the same. That’s why we’re continuing to evolve our policies to better support our people.
For Senior People Partner Helen Andrews, making a difference for working parents and carers is personal. Having experienced first-hand the challenge of balancing a career with family life, she knows how important flexible working, supportive managers and the right workplace policies can be.
We spoke with her about some of the recent changes to Serco’s family-friendly leave policies and the work behind them.
As co-chair of Serco’s Parents and Carers Network, Helen has spent the past three years working with colleagues across the business to understand the experiences of working parents and carers, identify where more support is needed and help make Serco a more family-friendly employer.
That work has contributed to a number of important updates to our leave policies, providing greater support for colleagues through some of life’s most important and challenging moments.
We spoke with her about some of the recent changes to Serco’s family-friendly leave policies and the work behind them.
As co-chair of Serco’s Parents and Carers Network, Helen has spent the past three years working with colleagues across the business to understand the experiences of working parents and carers, identify where more support is needed and help make Serco a more family-friendly employer.
That work has contributed to a number of important updates to our leave policies, providing greater support for colleagues through some of life’s most important and challenging moments.
Listening to our people and looking at what’s possible
The journey began more than a year ago, when Helen and colleagues in HR started looking at how Serco’s maternity and paternity offering compared with the wider market.
Working with Working Families, they benchmarked Serco’s existing approach, gathered insights and explored what more could be done.
After extensive discussion, research and collaboration across the business led by the People and Culture team, several changes were approved.
Maternity and adoption leave have increased to four months at full pay, while paid paternity leave has increased from two weeks to three weeks. Paid carers leave has been introduced, and colleagues can also access five days of paid leave for fertility treatment, which can be taken in half days to provide greater flexibility around appointments and treatment.
Working with Working Families, they benchmarked Serco’s existing approach, gathered insights and explored what more could be done.
After extensive discussion, research and collaboration across the business led by the People and Culture team, several changes were approved.
Maternity and adoption leave have increased to four months at full pay, while paid paternity leave has increased from two weeks to three weeks. Paid carers leave has been introduced, and colleagues can also access five days of paid leave for fertility treatment, which can be taken in half days to provide greater flexibility around appointments and treatment.
Recognising that every family is different
One of the important parts of the work has been recognising that there is no single way to become a parent or carer.
Families may include birth parents, adoptive parents, foster parents, same-sex couples, second parents and many other family structures. Caring responsibilities can also take many forms – from supporting children with additional needs to caring for elderly parents or other loved ones.
That’s why the updated policy language has been reviewed to make it more inclusive, including greater recognition of different family structures and parental roles, such as second parents. “Caring responsibilities can affect all of us at some point in our lives. We’ve modernised what we’re doing to better support our colleagues and be more inclusive - making sure we’re listening to different experiences, speaking to all the right people, and doing what’s right for everyone.”
Families may include birth parents, adoptive parents, foster parents, same-sex couples, second parents and many other family structures. Caring responsibilities can also take many forms – from supporting children with additional needs to caring for elderly parents or other loved ones.
That’s why the updated policy language has been reviewed to make it more inclusive, including greater recognition of different family structures and parental roles, such as second parents. “Caring responsibilities can affect all of us at some point in our lives. We’ve modernised what we’re doing to better support our colleagues and be more inclusive - making sure we’re listening to different experiences, speaking to all the right people, and doing what’s right for everyone.”
A personal passion that became a collective effort
“It’s not one person that did all of this,” Helen says. “It was a team of people working together, all passionate about making a difference.”
That belief that becoming a parent or carer, does not stop the desire to do a great job, continue to learn, develop and progress is at the heart of the Parents and Carers Network, which has grown into a team of colleagues with a wide range of caring experiences. Together, they provide resources, sessions and opportunities for colleagues to share experiences and find support.
And the work continues. The network is already looking at where policies could evolve further as family life and caring responsibilities change.
That belief that becoming a parent or carer, does not stop the desire to do a great job, continue to learn, develop and progress is at the heart of the Parents and Carers Network, which has grown into a team of colleagues with a wide range of caring experiences. Together, they provide resources, sessions and opportunities for colleagues to share experiences and find support.
And the work continues. The network is already looking at where policies could evolve further as family life and caring responsibilities change.