The University of Birmingham in collaboration with Music Football Fatherhood announces the winners of the inaugural Working Dads Employers Awards 2022

Birmingham Business School’s Equal Parenting Project and Music Football Fatherhood developed the awards to celebrate organisations that recognise and promote the role of fathers in driving gender equality in the workplace.

By supporting parents employers can aid working families, attract and retain top talent, help close the gender pay gap and alleviate the motherhood penalty. The awards, not only celebrate current employers, but give companies the opportunity to further break down the gendered barriers to child-caring in order to promote gender equality in the workplace, reduce the gender pay-gap, encourage more women onto boards and enhance the wellbeing of families.

The awards have four key categories presented by Andrew Gwynne MP, Chair of the Fatherhood APPG and Anna Whitehouse, founder of Mother Pukka.

The Flexible Working Award, presented to Now Teach and Suffolk County Council, celebrates organisations that are not simply ticking the box when they talk about or implement flexible working but rather see flexible working as central to what they do and the default in their business and are striving to make this accessible to working Dads.

The Supporting Returning Dads Award, presented to John Lewis, Suffolk County Council and Vodafone, celebrates the importance of actively managing fathers transition back into the workplace after long periods of caring leave to help them manage work-life balance and keep their careers on track.

The Leadership and Culture Award, presented to AON, recognises supportive workplace culture with broad leadership teams committed to supporting Dads at work and challenging cultural expectations that only mothers can engage in childcare..

The Parenting Policies Award, presented to Aviva, John Lewis, Nationwide, Suffolk County Council, Vodafone and Waltham Forest Council celebrates organisations who excel in enhancing their parenting policies and encouraging fathers to use these policies.

Partner organisations instrumental in bringing these timely awards include CBI, Business in the Community, Working Families, Global Equality Collective, Pregnant and Screwed, Fatherhood Institute, Future Men and the Medical Women’s Federation.

These awards will lead to 4 case studies which will be made available to help employers, from SME’s to multinationals across the UK to reflect upon and improve their support for fathers in the workplace.

Dr Holly Birkett & Dr Sarah Forbes – Equal Parenting Project said – “These awards have demonstrated the wonderful work our winners have been doing supporting Dads in the workplace and breaking down gendered cultural barriers to caring. We hope by celebrating and communicating about these excellent initiatives we can collectively inspire other employers to think about how they too can better support working Dads and encourage less gendered attitudes around childcaring in order to give families more choices about caring, promote gender equality in the workplace and help close the gender pay gap.”

Elliott Rae – MusicFootballFatherhood said – “The world is changing and more dads want to play a more active and present role in their families lives. They want to work flexibly, take extended paternity leave and work for organisations who support them to be active parents at home. The outdated gendered parenting roles are quickly becoming a thing of the past and it is our pleasure to celebrate the organisations that are supporting their working dads to be active parents at home. The work these companies are doing is ground-breaking and well truly make a significant positive difference to people’s lives. The benefits are plentiful from increased workplace gender equality, mental health and wellbeing and outcomes for our children.”