Employees working in an office
Employees working in an officeiStock

Whilst it is important to enjoy your work, it is equally as important to make sure that you have a life outside it. For many workers, this is considered to be a bigger priority than the salary of a position when they are looking for a new job – and therefore companies are now more eager than ever to provide strong work life balance schemes for their staff.

This can end up meaning different things to different people. Some may consider sociable working hours to be indicative of this, whilst others may be looking for a generous holiday allowance.

Taking these aspects into account, we have put together a list of employers who are considered to be providing the best work/life balance for their staff, from both the private and public sector.

Apple

Time and time again, Apple is ranked as one of the most progressive companies worldwide, whether it be its products or how it looks after its employees. There are a number of benefits available for Apple employees: including free gym membership, group health insurance, excellent discounts off of Apple products, and generous health and dental insurance packages. Furthermore, it is regularly recommended for its friendly culture.

Ernest and Young

With 270,000 employees worldwide, E and Y offers parenting classes for their staff members, helping them manage a busy schedule at both work and home.

Parenting can be tougher when you have work commitments and deadlines, but having parenting courses in place can be very useful to help staff make the most of the work and home life balance.

Transport for London

Transport for London is considered to offer a number of opportunities to its staff to give them a better work-life balance.

There is a flexible working policy in place, which means employees feel supported as well as motivated enough to fulfill their potential. What’s more, Transport for London staff members can get free travel on all TfL services as well as a staggering 75% off of annual travel cards when travelling beyond the TfL network.

Kumon

The tuition company originated in Japan back in 1958, but now has a whopping 24,000 centers in over 50 countries in total, making it the UK’s largest supplementary education provider. Its work life balance is also held in very high esteem. For example, employees can benefit from flexible spending accounts for health care and commuting expenses, a generous retirement savings scheme, as well as considerable time off and paid company holidays too.

Lloyds Banking Group

Employees working at the Lloyds Banking Group can expect to receive attractive reward packages, with this being one of the main reasons why the company is often considered to be giving one of the best work-life packages in the UK. For example, there are competitive salaries and bonuses offered to staff members, as well as the opportunity to work at home and generous holiday entitlement.

Rolls Royce

Rolls Royce are well-known for the great work-life balance they provide, notably through their graduate schemes. For example, graduates joining the company automatically receive a joining bonus, and can benefit from an independent 24 hour counselling service. In addition, there are a number of voluntary benefits that include discounted health care, life assurance and an employee car leasing scheme.