New research has uncovered the highest-ranking companies for work-life balance in the UK, with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and Softcat taking the top spot.
This is according to new data from Glassdoor which has been published in line with the reviews of hundreds of thousands of UK employees written between January 1 and September 28, 2021.
The ONS topped the list with an overall rating of 5.58 out of five, with the tech firm Softcat closely following with a score of 4.48. Sky Betting & Gaming (4.46) and Mastercard (4.45) also made the rankings.
Although tech companies appeared to dominate the list, a good work-life balance was identified in several other industry sectors too.
The top ten can be found below:
Rank Employer Work-Life Balance Rating (out of 5)
Office for National Statistics 4.58
Softcat 4.48
Arm 4.47
Sky Betting & Gaming 4.46
Mastercard 4.45
Bank of England 4.42
Dell Technologies 4.41
FirstPort 4.39
Sage 4.34
SAP 4.33
The reviews praises Sky Betting & Gaming’s long-running wellbeing programme, which provides a range of support to help with work-life balance from additional days off to an in-house gym.
Softcat was found to offer flexible start/finish times and job-share opportunities. A ‘pledge to flex’ policy has been implemented at SAP, offering 100% flexible and trust-based workplace as the norm has made a vast impact on worker wellbeing.
Elsewhere, Sage has a number of policies including a ‘How to Thrive’ toolkit designed to support employees’ wellbeing.
How is work-life balance calculated?
The research found that, in the eyes of employees, there is no single definition of the term ‘work-life balance’ and workers want to take control of what it means for them as an individual.
For one-third of workers, a good balance between home and work life is flexible working hours. A further 32% want choice in where they work and one in four want a reduced working week.
In contrast, generous paid time off is important to another 24%, whilst three in ten want the ability to switch between work and personal life throughout the day as needed.
