Dubai A Dubai-based facilities management company, Emrill, claims its 360-day maternity leave policy has ensured its female employees have not looked for greener pastures.
“Ever since we introduced the policy three years ago, we have had 100 per cent retention of our women employees,” said Pakistani Minelle Gholami, People Director – Emrill.
While the UAE labour law provides 45 days of maternity leave with full pay and 100 days without pay, new mothers in Emrill get 90 days paid leave, an additional 90 days half-pay leave and a further 180 days of unpaid leave. Compare this to the maternity leave provision in other parts of the world: women in Norway can take up to 49 weeks, and 26 weeks in Ireland. In Vietnam, Poland and Singapore, the entitlements can last for 24, 20 and 16 weeks respectively.
Quality time
“A number of women in the UAE give up their jobs just so they can spend quality time with their newborns. At Emrill we wanted to change this and give our employees the benefit of a year off so they can then be motivated to join work. After we introduced the policy, we have seen a 100 per cent retention of our female staff which was not the case before,” said Gholami, the brainchild behind the policy for Emrill.
“The intention has been to allow growth and progression of women in the office. A side benefit to this is also that we are building more flexibility in the work environment and are not heavily reliant on one individual. When a staff member goes on maternity leave, it is an opportunity for other team members to fill that role. This allows for exchange of knowledge and skills,” she said.
“I am very grateful to company for the new policy,” said Jisha Sasi, the first employee to have benefitted from it.
Emirati Sameeha Ebrahim Ahmad Al Baloushi, senior HR administrator, says she can’t thank the company enough for the policy. “When my second child was born I took a year off to be with him. When it was time to report back to work I felt confident leaving him at home. This is a great blessing for new mothers. When my daughter was born four years ago, this policy was not yet there and I remember how hard it was for me to leave her when she was just three months old and come to work.”
