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Atlas FM Achieves Fostering Friendly Employer Status

Atlas FM Achieves Fostering Friendly Employer Status
09 February 2023
 

Atlas FM has become a Fostering Friendly Employer, and says they are the first facilities management company to do so​.

The Fostering Network’s scheme helps employers support and recognise the roles of employees who foster, through an HR policy which includes flexible working and paid time off for training and settling a new child in their home.

Many foster carers are unpaid for their caring work, and of those who are paid, few receive anything like a living wage. It can also be difficult to combine fostering with another job. Some foster carers are told they cannot do this and give up employment when they are approved as foster carers.

Nearly 40 per cent of foster carers combine fostering with other work and a supportive employer can make all the difference, enabling a balance between employment and looking after children. More than 90 organisations across the UK have signed up to the scheme.

Chris Wisely, Group Managing Director of Atlas, commented: “We are proud to achieve Fostering Friendly Employer status. Atlas is very much a family business and our purpose of ‘creating happiness’ leads us to strive to have a positive impact on the communities around us. The accreditation sends an important message to our employees that we fully support foster carers in the incredible work that they do to look after vulnerable children and young people.”

The Fostering Network is the UK’s leading fostering charity. The executive chair, Mervyn Erskine said: “Becoming a Fostering Friendly employer is something to be really proud of. Foster carers are the bedrock of children’s social care – for the difference they make to the lives of children. It is important that this vital role is not only recognised, but also encouraged by their employers. The scheme is free to join and suitable for organisations of any size – please get in touch with The Fostering Network to join the growing number of Fostering Friendly employers.” 

Picture: a photograph of two adults and a child looking at a laptop screen together. Image Credit: Unsplash

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 09 February 2023

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