Technologies France: scale-up Qonto supports growth push with mental health start-up moka.care National legislation Quality of life at work Since 2019, French financial services company Qonto has offered its staff access to mental health professionals, group prevention workshops and training for managers with the help of the start-up moka.care. Thanks to this mental healthcare solution, Qonto has been able to adapt its HR policy and support its rapid growth.
Great Britain: Marks & Spencer introduces special neonatal leave for parents of babies requiring this specialist care Quality of life at work The iconic UK retailer chain’s Neonatal Paid Leave policy now means its 65,000 employees can take up to 12 weeks fully paid if their baby requires specialist neonatal care. In this way the group, which wants to avoid parents having to use up their parental leave allowance for such circumstances, has launched its policy ahead of similar plans by the UK government that has just adopted similar statutory leave.
Ireland: Vodafone introduces paid leave for caregivers Quality of life at work On 15 May, Vodafone Ireland, the UK telecommunications giant’s wholly owned Irish subsidiary announced its new ‘Caring for Vulnerable Others’ policy. The scheme will allow the group’s 2,000+ Irish employees to benefit from 10 days of paid leave per year (or 75 hours of paid absence from work),…
United Kingdom: Co-op introduces flexible compassionate leave policy Quality of life at work The UK supermarket cooperative Co-op has launched a new compassionate leave policy for its 57,000 employees, granting them 10 days of leave – taken at any time and not necessarily in a single block – when someone close to them dies or is seriously ill.
France: PwC launches a pilot programme to support staff as they deal with the challenges of parenthood Quality of life at work The major professional services and accounting firm is adding more benefits to its Family Care scheme that was set up in 2017. In July 2023 three new measures will be piloted to facilitate employees’ work-life balance, and improve their personal private lives. Thus PwC is seeking to augment the number of day-care places available in 2024 by a factor of 6.5, offer support for soon-to-be parents that continues for several months after childbirth, and provide greater work flexibility arrangements.
United Kingdom: Superdrug and Savers take care of employees’ mental and financial well-being Quality of life at work Superdrug and Savers, the UK health and beauty retail chains owned by industry giant AS Watson Group, have announced a series of measures aimed at better supporting their employees amid the rising cost of living. The move is part of AS Watson Group's global policy to safeguard employee well-being.
Free France: Carrefour proposing specific leave for endometriosis, miscarriage, and MAR Quality of life at work On 09 April, Alexandre Bompard, CEO of the multinational retailing group announced the introduction of paid leave for absences that are specifically related to women’s health. Employees affected by endometriosis (1 in 10 women on average) will be able to benefit from 12 days leave per year upon presentation of the appropriate documents.…
Spain: Inditex committing to effective equality Quality of life at work Spanish multinational clothing and textile group Inditex, which owns the Zara enterprise, has negotiated its first equality plan with the trade unions. The plan includes a hundred or so measures to ensure the promotion of equal opportunities in recruitment and career development. It notably includes work-life balance measures, harassment detection and intervention protocols, as well as protection for female employees who are victims of gender-based violence.
United Kingdom: Channel 4 launches menstrual health policy Quality of life at work Channel 4, the UK public broadcast television service, has launched a company policy aimed at helping its female employees manage symptoms related to their periods at work, by offering greater flexibility and free period products, as well as wheat bags for pain relief.
Interview Gertrud Götze (T-Systems Austria/Schweiz): “The four-day week is an attractive project, but requires careful preparation” Quality of life at work Based on the initiative of Gertrud Götze, Vice President of the Human Resources Department for the Austrian and Swiss subsidiaries of German digital services company, T-Systems, the Austrian entity has launched a four-day week pilot project affecting 10% of the workforce. The HR VP believes that the problem of recruiting qualified workers is perhaps more an issue of company general and job profile attractiveness. Furthermore, the shorter work week is an attractive dual solution to improving the recruitment situation and meeting work-life balance aspirations.
