Cary Cooper Honoured by Working Families Charity
Professor Cary Cooper of Lancaster University Management School has been honoured by the campaigning charity Working Families for his “longstanding contribution to work-life research and new thinking and his tireless advocacy”. He is one of 30 pioneers honoured in a ceremony at the House of Lords to mark the 30th anniversary of the charity, which supports working parents and carers whilst also helping employers create workplaces which encourage work-life balance.
Sarah Jackson OBE, Chief Executive of Working Families said: “These thirty individuals are honoured for having significantly changed the landscape over the last three decades for working families, whether by their actions, their ideas or their example”.
This is the latest in a long list of honours for Prof Cooper, who was awarded the CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2001 and holds honorary doctorates from several universities. He is a nationally known commentator on workplace issues, especially as it affects families.
He said: “It's an honour to receive this award, but more importantly it's a chance to reflect on the progress that we have made in the UK in legislating for work life balance and in helping employers to encourage flexible working and other initiatives that make a real difference to families. We still have a long way to go and need to continue to strive for best practice, especially as in a recession achieving a work life balance will be challenging for many employees."
All 30 pioneers are praised for having helped change debate about the workplace, from the 1980s when work-life balance was seen as relevant only to mothers, to the current Government concern with flexible working and childcare.
The pioneers are from the political, business, academic and carers’ fields and include:
- Shirley Conran OBE for her tenacious campaigning through Women in Management and the Work Life Trust’s Worklife Week
- Charles Handy CBE for his visionary writing about the need to change the way we work
- Rt Hon Patricia Hewitt MP for her leadership in the campaign for parents rights at work and for championing the Work and Parent’s legislation which has underpinned so much change for families
- Rt Hon Theresa May MP for championing a modern Conservative commitment to equality and work-life balance
- Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MBE MP as the champion of the National Childcare Strategy and also of the government’s Worklife Balance Campaign
- Rt Hon Harriet Harman QC MP for her committed campaigning for gender equality and also for her personal support in the early days of the charity