Empresas family friendly
Human Resources

What are family friendly companies?

6 de August, 2025

According to Randstad’s Workmonitor 2025 report, the work-life balance is named by 91% of the workers surveyed in Portugal as an important factor in their current job.

This tends to be particularly relevant when we’re talking about workers with children, especially in their early years, or with family members to whom they need to provide some kind of support.

Organizations should design policies that encourage a harmonious work-life balance for their employees, thus contributing to their overall well-being and quality of life.

Find out with us what family-friendly companies are, what their characteristics are and why it’s important to build organizational cultures that make it easier for people to balance their family lives.

What are family friendly companies?

Family friendly companies are companies whose people management policies and strategies help employees maintain a balance between their professional, personal and family lives.

This balance is achieved most satisfactorily when employees feel they have the flexibility to address their family and personal responsibilities without jeopardizing their professional commitments.

Organizations with a “family-friendly” culture recognize that employees are people with a life beyond work and that when they are able to carry out more balanced family management, they are more likely to feel satisfied, motivated and involved with their work and the company.

Characteristics of family friendly companies

Some measures, policies and benefits adopted by companies that support their employees’ family life are:

  • Fairness: not discriminating against women because they are pregnant or mothers, for example. This fairness must be in terms of pay, but also in terms of working conditions and access to the same opportunities for career progression.
  • Support for returning to work after parental leave: workplaces must be prepared for the return of breastfeeding women, creating spaces that ensure their privacy and comfort. It must also be possible to take breaks for this purpose.
  • Childcare benefits: guaranteeing access to childcare is a major issue for many parents and can be supported by employers. Social benefits such as Edenred Creche make it possible to maximize employees’ purchasing power for expenditure on nurseries, crèches, kindergartens and similar establishments.
  • Flexible working hours: some family responsibilities can clash with more rigid working hours (such as picking up children from school or going to a pediatrician’s appointment, for example). Rather than adhering to fixed schedules, companies should value their employees meeting the objectives set for their jobs.
  • Remote or hybrid working arrangements: these have become a standard expected by many professionals looking to reconcile their personal and professional lives in a healthier way. The possibility of working from home makes it easier for parents and caregivers to meet their family responsibilities. In Portugal, teleworking is even a right for workers with children or dependents up to the age of 3 (as long as it is compatible with their duties and the employer has the means to implement it).
  • Mental health support: parents and caregivers can face a number of challenging situations that can negatively influence their mental health. Companies should facilitate access to quality healthcare, particularly in the area of mental health, through benefits such as health insurance or Edenred Flexível, for example (which can be used in hospitals, clinics and other healthcare facilities).

Benefits of a family-friendly organizational culture

The genuine commitment of organizations to the well-being of their employees and their work-life balance translates into advantages that boost organizational success:

  • Greater ability to attract talent;
  • Reducing turnover and increasing retention rates;
  • Reduced absenteeism from work;
  • Higher productivity;
  • Greater involvement and sense of belonging;
  • Greater diversity and inclusion in the workforce.


In short, family-friendly policies benefit individuals, families, but also companies and society.

Organizations must be understanding and tolerant of the demands that each person faces outside the workplace. For this to happen in an intrinsic and sustainable way, it is necessary to promote a culture of trust and security. In this context, managers, leaders and HR managers have a key role to play.

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