ONLY 13 OUT OF 100 FINANCIAL COMPANIES PROPERLY INFORM THEIR EMPLOYEES ABOUT WORK-LIFE BALANCE POLICIES

Only 13% of banks, insurers, and financial institutions effectively communicate their work–life balance policies to their employees, according to a study by the Alares Foundation presented today. The report, titled “Work–family balance in the financial sector,” serves as a “benchmark and allows us to establish the sector average so that we can improve,” according to Javier Benavente, president of the Alares Foundation.The study analyzed a total of 800 banks, insurers, and financial companies and was conducted by IESE’s Center for Family and Work. Its director, Nuria Chinchilla, outlined the main findings.Among them, it highlights that “almost 70% of financial-sector executives say they are aware of the need for work–life balance policies.” In fact, 47% of the companies studied have a committee responsible for these programs.By contrast, the report finds that 85% of executives consider employees who request leave for family reasons to be less committed to the company, while 96% view “taking work home” positively. According to Nuria Chinchilla, “these indicators are part of the company’s cultural dimension and hinder the full implementation of work–life balance policies.” Chinchilla called for policies to promote work–family balance, such as giving preference in public tenders and granting tax deductions to companies that have implemented these practices. The president of the Alares Foundation expressed a similar view, emphasizing that “although work–family balance is of interest to companies, these issues concern everyone.” Carlos Mollano, director of Institutional Relations at Caja del Mediterráneo, also agreed, stating that ultimately “what work–life balance achieves is employee loyalty and talent retention.”