Pub and brewery group Greene King has announced a new flexible working policy and enhancement of its leave offering.
According to the company, which has more than 39,000 employees, the policies are designed to help staff balance work-life commitments and support those growing families.
Greene King’s new flexible working arrangements are in line with the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill, due to come into force next year. Brought in ahead of the legislation, the new policy gives employees the right to request flexible working from day one in the job, as opposed to the current 26-week threshold, and the number of statutory requests in any 12-month period is increased from one to two. Decisions on requests will now be made within two months, as opposed to the previous three months.
In addition, Greene King is introducing improved policies for paternity leave, adoptive leave, compassionate leave, emergency leave for dependents and support for team members called up for jury service, following enhancements to the company’s maternity policy in 2022.
Improvements to paternity leave include additional paid time-off for up to five antenatal or adoption appointments. For employees looking to adopt, the policy will be aligned with Greene King’s enhanced maternity policy which also offers wrap around support.
Compassionate leave and emergency leave for dependents will include paid time off for up to five days and an additional day to attend a funeral. Furthermore, this has been harmonised across the business to include all in-pub employees as well as those from support centres and breweries.
Andrew Bush, chief people and transformation officer at Greene King, said it was right for the company to support employees’ different life stages during their time with the company.
“We cannot predict when things will happen in people’s lives, but as a good employer, we can support them when it’s needed,” he added. “We want to give our team members the best opportunities to balance their work and home lives, which in turn helps them to better serve our customers.”
