The Work, Autonomy, Flexibility and Work-Life Balance research project’s Policy Advisory Board comprises members from key UK Government departments alongside trade organisations representing both employers and employees, and non-governmental organisations. Each has responsibility for research on, advocacy for and implementation of labour market policy.
UK based
Scarlet Harris
Women’s Equality Officer, TUC
Scarlet is the Women’s Equality Officer at the TUC.
Jennifer Beckwith
Policy Advisor, CBIJennifer leads the CBI’s diversity and inclusion policy, working with businesses and government
to improve access to employment opportunities across the protected characteristics.
Iain Brinkley
Chief Economist, Work Foundation
Damien Smith
Department for Work and Pensions
Damien is an Economic Advisor at the Department of Work and Pensions, dealing with issues surrounding the future of work.
Kate Millward
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
Jonathan Swan
Policy and Research Officer for Working Families
Jonathan Swan is Policy and Research Officer for Working Families. He has researched and written on a wide range of work-life integration issues, including: fathers and work, flexible working in senior roles, productivity and performance, organisational culture and active ageing. He is responsible for the annual Top Employers for Working Families benchmark for organisations and the Time Health and the Family series of reports which examine work-family issues on an annual basis. Current work focuses on enhancing performance through better relationship management in the SME sector.
EU/International
Paola Panzeri
Policy Officer, COFACE
Paola is policy officer for COFACE – Confederation of Family Organisation in the European Union, a European NGOs network based in Brussels. Her responsibilities include policy and related advocacy activities in the areas of employment, gender and migration. She is currently working on the development of the “European Reconciliation Package”, the main policy outcome of the “2014 Year of Reconciling Work and Family Life in Europe” (www.ey2014.eu ) through the coordination of the Alliance 2014, an informal alliance of 18 networks of NGOs and Local Authorities.
Cinzia Sechi
Advisor, ETUC
Cinzia is a policy advisor for the ETUC, dealing with issues surrounding European Social Dialogue, Gender equality and is a member of the Women’s committee.
Rebeka Smith
Senior Adviser: Social Affairs, BUSINESSEUROPE
Rebekah Smith is senior adviser responsible for health and safety, corporate social responsibility, pensions, social protection and social inclusion. She is a member of the EU Multistakeholder CSR Coordination Committee, the EU Pensions Forum and coordinates employers in the EU Advisory Committee on Safety and Health.
Jon C. Messenger
Team Leader, Working Conditions Group, Conditions of Work and Equality Department, Inclusive Labour Markets, Labour Relations and Working Conditions Group (INWORK), at the International Labour Office, Geneva, Switzerland, the Headquarters of the International Labour Organization (ILO)
Jon has the lead responsibility for the ILO’s work programme on working time, work organization, and work-life balance. He specializes in policy-focussed research and technical assistance on these subjects at both the national and the enterprise level, with a particular interest in issues relating to working time flexibility, new forms of work organization such as telework, work sharing, and gender equality. Prior to joining the ILO in 2000, Jon worked at the US Department of Labor in Washington, DC, where he served as Team Leader for Research in its Employment and Training Administration.
Oscar Vargas
Research Officer, Eurofound
Oscar Vargas Llave is a research officer in the Working Life unit at Eurofound and manages projects on working conditions and related policies. He specialises in topics related to the organisation of working time, health and well-being, and ageing issues. He is also interested in social and occupational inequalities. Current activities include research related to digitalisation and working conditions. Before joining Eurofound in December 2009, he worked as project coordinator in the field of health and safety and was responsible for the Professional Card Scheme for the Construction Sector in Spain at the non-profit Fundación Laboral de la Construcción in Madrid. He has a background in industrial sociology (Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca), and also holds a Diploma in Social Science Research Methods from the University of Cardiff and a Master’s Degree on Health and Safety from the Autonomous University of Madrid.