Here's How UAE Offices Are Turning Parent-Friendly
New parents now don’t have to quit work or put it on hold.
Many potential mothers are too afraid to have children because it might set them back in their professional vocation. This perhaps explains UAE’s dismal birth rate, which is currently at 9.8 births per 1,000 residents. But now, juggling toddlers and office work is becoming more manageable thanks to the initiative of the Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority (ECA). This welfare organisation has set up a varied support system for new mothers who are in the employ of companies.
How It Works?
Yes, the ECA is attracting more and more firms in the Gulf country to subscribe to its Parent-Friendly Label (PFL) programme. The PLF provides numerous Family Care features at the concerned parent’s place of work, covering everything from nursing time, to maternity rooms, to childcare services, to play-school activities, to even transporting the child to the workplace or arranging medical appointments. This comprehensive support system is guaranteed by ECA official Fatmah Alkaabi, who adds that in so lifting the burden off the parent, the latter can perform better at their job.
Which Companies Are Signing On?
So, which are the corporations whose employees are befitting from this win-win programme? Try these on for size: Etihad Airways, Visa, HSBC Bank, Masdar, Abu Dhabi Motorsports Management, Silal, Emirates Nature (WWF) and Tappy Toes Nursery… just to name a few. The trend is gathering momentum with most applicants being educational institutions, followed by professional service establishments and financial firms. In fact, ECA is already set the third cycle of its client-engaging outreach in motion, which is to last till September 2, 2024.
Oiling the Wheels
Furthermore, ECA’s provisions and services are allowing young mothers to avail of flexible work timings and work-from-remote location options. But one of the most impactful advantages that it accords its beneficiaries is to facilitate job continuity and/or smooth transitions to returning to regular work.
Testimonials
Affirmations of the efficacy of the programme have been streaming in. These include, Tappy Toes employee Zeenath, whose job appointment almost coincided with her pregnancy. But rather than being let-go as she had expected, the nursery saw her through the nine months and beyond as a salaried worker. Claudette Haupt of Visa attests to her company's similar attitude towards important life events. It looks like ECA is setting a sustainable template for the mutual benefit of parent employees and their firms. How’s that for corporate collaboration!
