Nursery windfall for working mums

Dubai: Ganem Ebrahim is due to deliver in November. But unlike most expecting mothers who are working, the operations manager at Port Rashid, Dubai Customs, is not anxious about having to stay away from her newborn for long hours after her maternity leave. She can leave the baby in a nursery, operating within her office building.

Ebrahim will be one of the first few female employees of Dubai Customs who will benefit from the new initiative to start a nursery for the children of staff members.

"This is my fourth baby. The other three were left under the care of my mother while I was working. I live in Sharjah and hence I am away for nearly 10 hours from home every day. I think, this is definitely the best news for all young mothers like me who can bring their babies to the work place and take them back home after work," said Ebrahim.

Dubai Customs signed a memorandum of understanding with Dubai Establishment for Women on Wednesday, under the National Corporate Child Care Programme, to establish a nursery at the main building of the office.

The National Corporate Child Care Programme was launched under the directives of Shaikha Manal Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Women's Establishment, in line with the UAE Child Care Law. The law encourages the establishment of day-care centres for all ministries, authorities, public establishments and government departments.

Trained staff

Feryal Tawakul, executive director of Human Resources Division at Dubai Customs, said the facility would be operational by the first quarter of 2009 and would accommodate children until the age of four. The model nursery would be managed by trained female staff and Dubai Customs shall provide all necessary requirements, including toys, educational tools and facilities for healthcare.

"More than 20 per cent of our staff members are women and out of that, 10 per cent are married. We believe that this service will benefit the organisation by reducing absenteeism among female employees and increasing their productivity. It is good for the employees too as it will help them strike a balance between their responsibilities as a mother and their professional ambitions," said Tawakul.

Rim Awabid, HR director of Dubai Women's' Organisations, said similar initiatives were under consideration at many government departments.

Amal Al Hashemi, a client relationship officer at Dubai Customs, said she was thrilled that by next year, she would be able to take her two-year-old daughter to work.

Do you think the nursery will help increase the efficiency of female employees and reduce stress? Or will it be cause for distraction? How important is a well-trained staff in such nurseries? Fill in the form bellow to send your comments

I feel it is a very good initiative. This will definitely reduce the stress among female employees and increase efficiency. I will be a mom soon and my anxiety has already started as to where to put my baby while I will be at work for 10 hours. I hope all the departments can take this initiative and the working mothers will definitely benefit from this. Because where-ever you keep your little-one the question at the end of the day arises "Is my child in safe hands??
Syeda
Dubai,UAE
Posted: October 09, 2008, 08:57

I think it's an excellent solution. It will encourage young women to work on their careers and increase their productivity. It's a very valuable solution and I hope many more companies will follow the example
Jihan
Abu dhabi,UAE
Posted: October 09, 2008, 08:36

I believe this is an excellent decision and a great relief to working mothers. This would give an opportunity for women willing to work, and are reluctant only because they worry about who would take care of the little ones while they are at work. I suggest this should be arranged in private companies as well. This also is an encouragement for women to have children at a younger age as they no longer have to worry about disrupting their career.
Vincy
Dubai,UAE
Posted: October 09, 2008, 08:26

I do feel this is an excellent way to increae the efficiency of the female employee as well as reduce stress, my opinoin is that all the companies should have such facilities.
Bincy
Dubai,UAE
Posted: October 09, 2008, 08:22

It is surely a very bright idea as mothers brain is left at home with her child 70 % , this will surely bring peace of mind to all mothers and they can concentrate more on their work, Well -trained staff is very important as we mothers should have the assurance that we have not left our child in a dark room but in care of trusted hands.
Nahed
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: October 09, 2008, 08:07