WORK180, a social enterprise helping women connect to supportive employers, are pleased to announce a new offering- the Flex Able Certification. The certification is designed to distinguish employers demonstrating best practices for flexible workplaces, adding to WORK180’s Endorsed Employer for Women certification.
Initially developed by Flex Able Jobs, the certification will now be administered through WORK180, with the help of Flex Able Jobs co-founder, Christina Smerdon.
WORK180 is Australia’s only jobs board that pre-screens companies based on their commitment to support women’s careers. Companies advertising with WORK180 are eligible to go through the Flex Able accreditation process, which examines when, where and how the company’s employees work to ensure flexible options are a reality.
In a recent Australian survey commissioned by Airtasker, 38% of those surveyed indicated that flexibility was more important to them than pay when looking for work.
The study also found 81.5%, up from 76% in 2015, of people surveyed agreed that the traditional employment model of the 9am to 5pm office job was inflexible for workers in 2016 and into the future.
In addition, research by PwC found that increasing the female employment rate in Australia to match that of Sweden, for example, could result in a GDP boost of about $162 billion at today’s values over the long run.
“Despite numerous business benefits of flexibility including increased productivity, savings in real estate, lower turnover and innovation, less than 50% of non-public sector organizations with over 100 employees encourage flexible work,” said Ms Smerdon. “The issue is, many organizations also claim to offer flexibility, but the reality is very different once entering the company.”
“At WORK180 we’re all about making it easy for female job seekers to identify the best places to work for women, and evaluate companies before applying,” explained WORK180 cofounder Gemma Lloyd. “Flexible working is not just for mothers returning to work but for those with other caring commitments, health reasons, sporting interests, people looking for an alternative to retirement and those pursuing side projects. We’ve had tremendous results for corporate clients, in particularly in non-traditional industries who have been transparent about how they support women’s careers- the Flex Able Certification is for those who place a strong focus on flexibility in addition to being an employer of choice for women.”
For more information on WORK180 and the Flex Able Certification, please get in touch via hello@work180.co.