Work/life Flexibility

Work/life flexibility

Helping our people balance their priorities by providing a supportive environment and helpful resources

Wellness and work/life flexibility are very important to our people. With this in mind, we are focused on making ongoing improvements in this area, including better communication of our existing wellness and flexibility programs and improved leadership and manager support for our people. We recognize that we need to actively support employees  in helping them to achieve their wellness and flexibility goals – whether they wish to remain in their current positions or pursue other opportunities within the firm.

PwC has a number of flexible work arrangements programs which provide our people with solutions to fit their needs for balancing work and life priorities.  For example, our Flexible Time Away program provides our people the opportunity to take unpaid time off to spend quality time away from the office to relax and recharge or to pursue personal interests. Another example is our Reduced Hours program, which lowers the total number of hours worked per week. In some circumstances, our people have no set work schedule, just a target number of hours to be worked over a certain period of time. In FY 2011, 4% of our staff participated in this program.

Technology also has a role to play in providing our people with additional flexibility options. For example, our new digital phone system allows our people to connect remotely to their office phone via their laptops.

Achieving wellness and flexibility goals is a shared responsibility. Our leaders are encouraged to put themselves in our people’s shoes and be aware of and responsive to their challenges. Employees are also encouraged to reach out to their coaches and managers to seek valuable advice and support.

A number of other examples include:
  • Back-up Child Care and Family Care Benefit is an initiative that started in January 2009 and covers costs associated with unexpected or emergency family needs.
  • Fitness Benefit for gym memberships, fitness equipment, nutritional counselling and personal training help our people achieve their wellness goals.
  • Confidential Counselling resources provide support and referrals on a wide range of topics relating to work and family.