Building a more competitive EVP through flexible working and family leave

In the third article of our series on salary benchmarking strategies across the UK healthcare market research and business intelligence sector, Associate Director Matt Goldrick explores how employers can use family leave and flexible working to strengthen their employee offering and attract and retain top talent.

“Across this series, I’ve talked about a Life Sciences insight market that has stabilised on salary and largely converged on core benefits. If you’ve read the previous two pieces, you’ll know the message: baseline provision is now well established, and competitive advantage comes from deliberate design rather than incremental spending.”

There are two areas, though, where our latest research shows genuine, measurable differentiation is still happening: family leave and flexible working. If you want to know where your EVP can actually move the needle this year, this is it.

Statutory-only maternity is a red flag for candidates

Statutory-only maternity provision is now genuinely rare across the sector. The clear market pattern is a defined period of full pay during the early stages of leave, with 10 to 16 weeks emerging as the average benchmark and 12 weeks as the most frequently referenced enhancement point.

Our data groups organisations into three tiers:

• Below market average: statutory maternity pay only, with no contractual enhancement. Increasingly uncommon, and a real red flag for candidates comparing offers.
• Market average: early-stage enhanced maternity, typically around 12 weeks at full pay with tapering to half pay and then statutory pay.
• Above market average: extended or tapered enhanced maternity, more than 16 weeks of full pay, often supported by service-linked eligibility, continued pension contributions, or flexible return-to-work arrangements.

The competitive question for employers has genuinely shifted. It is no longer whether to enhance maternity pay at all, but how far beyond that roughly three-month full-pay baseline you are willing to go, and how much support you offer around the return to work.

An enhanced paternity leave is a good way to differentiate your offering

This is where I’d point employers looking for a genuine opportunity. Paternity leave is less standardised than maternity provision, and our data shows real spread:

• Below market average: statutory or minimal enhancement, such as one week of full pay followed by statutory pay
• Market average: two to four weeks of fully paid leave, with four weeks sitting at the upper end of what’s now considered standard practice
• Above market average: one to three months of fully paid leave, with isolated examples extending to sixteen weeks

Because this range is so wide, and because the market hasn’t fully settled, paternity leave is currently one of the clearest visible signals of an organization’s actual values around inclusion and shared caregiving, not just its stated ones. Extending paid paternity leave beyond the four-week mark is still a deliberate decision to lead rather than follow – and candidates are noticing the difference.

Flexible working is no longer up for debate with candidates

If family leave is where the market is still forming, flexible working is close to the opposite: one of the strongest areas of convergence we found. There is very little debate left around whether to offer flexibility. The real distinction is how much autonomy employees are actually given, and how consistently the policy is applied in practice rather than on paper.

The most commonly offered forms are flexible or core hours, part-time working, and the ability to work abroad for a defined period, and these typically coexist as a package rather than standing alone. Our hybrid working data breaks down into three clear tiers:

• Below market average: limited or restricted flexibility, home working capped at one or two days a week
• Market average: hybrid and flexible by default, roughly three days working from home, considered the widely accepted current standard
• Above market average: high autonomy and location flexibility, four to five days working from home and/or defined periods working abroad, positioned as a genuine EVP differentiator

For experienced and senior talent in particular, flexible working has moved from perk to baseline expectation. If your policy still sits in the “below market average” tier, it is worth treating as an urgent fix rather than a nice-to-have, because it is very likely costing you candidates at the shortlist stage before salary or benefits even enter the conversation.

In conclusion, we are advising clients to think hard about how their benefits stack up if they want to attract the best talent within healthcare market research

The picture across all three pieces is consistent. Salary has normalised. Core benefits have converged. What’s left, family leave structure, flexible working autonomy, and the intentional design of your broader EVP, is where hiring decisions are actually being won and lost this year.

The organisations we see winning the best talent right now aren’t the ones spending the most. They’re the ones being the most deliberate about where they choose to lead.

If you’d like to benchmark your current family leave or flexible working policy against the current market, I’m happy to talk it through.

Looking to hire within Healthcare Commercial Insights, Market Research & Consulting?

At Carrot Life Sciences, we work exclusively across Pharma, Biotech and MedTech, giving our clients access to a deep, pre-qualified network of professionals across insight and consultancy, from Research Executive through to Senior Director.

Whether you’re scaling a team, replacing a critical hire or benchmarking your offering against the market, our specialist knowledge, market intelligence and established networks help you move quickly and hire with confidence.

In a more competitive talent market, having the right insight and connections can make all the difference to your next hire.

Matt Goldrick

Associate Director