Case Study: Ernst & Young

other companies that have successfully implemented family-friendly practices in their organisations.
Ernst and Young (EY) is a multinational private partnership professional services company headquartered and founded in London, United Kingdom. It offers assurance, tax, consulting and advisory services to companies. The firm dates to 1849 with the founding of Harding & Pullein in England, however, the current firm was formed by a merger of Ernst & Whinney and Arthur Young & Co. in 1989. They have over 200 000 employees worldwide and revenues well over USD 20 billion. We will be analysing their United States offices, headquartered in New York.
EY has three main elements that describe their culture, namely :
• Inclusiveness: understanding,

So, women realize that just because you're on a reduced schedule it doesn't mean you've hit a dead-end in your career."
Let’s look at a company from a different industry.
American Family Life Assurance Company (Aflac Inc) is the United States’ largest provider of supplemental insurance. It was founded on 23 June, 1955 in Columbus, Georgia, United States where it also has its headquarters. They underwrite insurance policies and provide payroll deduction insurance coverage. Aflac serves more than 50 million people in the United States and Japan, with revenues of over USD 22 billion and a workforce of over 9 000 employees.
Voted by Fortune Magazine as part of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” for 16 years in a row, Aflac has its employees to thank; who per Cindy Spinks - Employee Advocacy and Diversity Department Event Planner – are treated like royalty because “Aflac has always believed that if it took good care of its employees, its employees would take care of the

For this reason, Deloitte’s US offices have extended the Parental Leave Policy to a Family Leave Policy, where all employees are encouraged to use the 16 weeks of paid leave for maternity and paternity leave, caring for domestic partners, and caring for aging parents.
The company that Jamie works for can use a combination of the above-mentioned policies and most importantly any other policies which are in line with their employees’ needs. For Jamie, a reduced work week could mean that she can spend more time with her children, husband and extended family, provided that her husband’s workplace also brings family-friendly policies into effect.
Studies have suggested that stress is a mere by-product of the perceived lack of control over one’s job, also known as psychological empowerment. Family-friendly policies increase employees’ autonomy by giving them flexible work schedules. This not only increases employees’ control over their environments, but also increases their perceived organisational support which results in higher levels of organisational citizenship behaviour, lower levels of tardiness and better customer