Proud to be Family Friendly!

freshbaked™ have formalised our flexible working procedures with an official launch of our family friendly policies for staff and their families.

Since we were established three and a half  years ago, we have actively promoted a positive work life balance, however, with six freshbaked™ births over the past year family friendly policies have been pushed up the agenda.

As well as our statutory obligations, policies including flexible working patterns for all employees (regardless of parental status, role and length of service), home working and lieu accrual schemes were explained at a family friendly event attended by the company’s staff at Ezeeeplay in Newport.

As a forward thinking firm we also launched a childcare voucher scheme especially for employees who use registered childcare services for their children, where salary is sacrificed for childcare costs.

Kate Matthews, Group H.R Director at freshbaked™, says: “We have been reviewing our family friendly policies in line with new employment laws that came into force in April of this year, and also on the back of the baby boom we have witnessed.

“Rather than presenting our family friendly policies to staff in a formal setting, we decided to launch them at a family orientated event. We have always believed in doing things differently and this event fitted perfectly with the culture of fun and involvement that we have established.

Recognising that flexible working opportunities offer a win-win situation for both the company and its employees, the company is already reaping the benefits of staff retention and increased productivity.

Kate continues: “In our eyes, the key to being family friendly is not financial; it is about treating individuals with respect, being flexible and working with them to find a practical solution to their needs. We take the view that if our staff are happy at home, they are more likely to be happy at work. Our team really values our approach and a comment that we hear time and again is how nice it is not to be made to feel guilty for having a family.”