LONG lunch breaks, four-day weeks, the choice to work anywhere in the world, a budget for plants - is it any wonder that this business has been named York's top employer?

Judges for The Press Business Awards 2021 faced their toughest challenge when choosing the employer of the year with four strong contenders vying for the title.

But RotaCloud claimed the prize for putting staff well-being and personal development at the heart of its business.

Judges praised the ‘modern-thinking tech firm’ for the opportunities it made available for its team to progress.

RotaCloud’s ethos revolves around building a great place to work, from the daily jobs to the long-term career progression and personal development of each team member.

It’s no surprise this York-based company was chosen as its very purpose is focused on making life easier for staff and managers alike - it is currently working with more than 4,000 employers worldwide by offering a simple way to schedule shifts, record time and attendance, and manage annual leave.

RotaCloud is rightly proud of its extensive policies designed to help support and promote learning and development as well as health and wellbeing.

Their ‘standard’ benefits include private health insurance, time off for volunteering, a cycle-to-work scheme and a tech fund, and offering a help-to-buy loan scheme for personal tech.

They also offer flexible working - whether that’s mornings, evenings, split days or four-day weeks - while their remote working policy means staff can literally work anywhere, whether it’s from their living room or somewhere more exotic, like Greece.

Initiatives to support wellbeing include a plant programme which gives every employee an annual budget to spend on greenery to improve their working environment.

Twelve team members trained as mental health first aiders this year, including all line managers, to support good mental health and wellbeing

RotaCloud’s annual learning fund gives every employee £500 a year to spend on gaining new skills. So far, people have attended conferences overseas, learnt new programming languages, yoga, how to drive, and even to brew beer.

Regular breaks are encouraged in the day to achieve a work-life balance, and the company allows two-hour lunch breaks a couple of times a week from January to April to help make the most of the daylight. Introduced in lockdown, this is now an annual feature.

Every Friday the team spend half a day learning something new or working on their own projects.