Parent Friendly Home – Cycle 3

The future of work is parent-friendly

The Parent-friendly Label™ (PFL) is a UAE-wide voluntary workplace award program that allows organizations operating in the country within the semi-governmental, private and third sectors, the opportunity to earn a label in recognition of their commitment to a supportive work culture and policies which ultimately impact children of 0-8 years old. A large number of organizations across the UAE have already started their journey towards becoming a parent-friendly workplace, impacting +148,000 employees and +50,000 children to-date.

The program is supported by UNICEF Gulf.

Are you ready to join the future of work?

Download Applicant Handbook

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Watch this video to learn more about the benefits

Working families in UAE often need to make difficult trade-offs in order to satisfy work requirements. They require greater support to thrive at work and at home. By encouraging parent-friendly workplaces, we can establish a work culture, policies and ways of working that are compassionate towards working parents of young children ages 0-8.

The Parent-friendly Label helps to:

Promote UAE as a parent-friendly place to work.
Encourage the adoption of a parent-friendly workplace culture, policies, facilities and ways of working.

Benefits of parent-friendly policies

In UAE today, a significant proportion of the population are stressed and struggle to spend time with their families due to their work.

Society
Businesses

Improves mother-child interactions

Maternity leave is beneficial for infants in the first few months of life, where leave time is linked to better quality of mother-child interactions as well as increased attachment security for the infant.

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Improves mother and infant health

Research has shown that when mothers are supported in the workplace to nurse their babies, their infants have lower rates of acute infant, chronic illnesses and the likelihood to have a variety of infections decreases. Moreover, mothers who breastfeed for 12 months experience a reduced incidence of Type 2 diabetes and lifetime risk of breast cancer.

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Enables women to reach their full potential professionally

In the United States, the implementation of paid-leave policies resulted in a 20 percent reduction in the number of women leaving their jobs in the first year after childbirth.

Good for fathers

A study in Sweden found that fathers who took paternity leave in early parenthood were at lower risk for mortality during the next two decades, possibly due to the adoption of caring roles during infancy and the tandem development of health promotion attitudes. Extended paternity leave enables fathers to be more involved in the early years, supporting children to have better developmental outcomes, potentially leading to less behavioral problems and improved cognitive and mental health.

Reduces parental stress

Research has shown that a parent-friendly workplace committed to supporting families with young children can reduce parenting stress and promote wellbeing. Paid leave also relieves some of the financial burden that comes with childbirth or adoption and contributes to help reduce relationship dissatisfaction among couples.

Helps to retain employees

A recent global study showed that 40% of employees leave their job or look for a new one in search for better flexibility and 20% do so for better work life balance. Another study showed that 71% of employees want more flexible work options to stay at their current employer.

Enhances employer reputation, brand and attractiveness

Research shows that organizational support for work life balance is more than a ‘nice to have.’ 87% of employees expect their employer to support them balance work and personal commitments.
Having parent-friendly policies in the workplace boosts employer appeal. 89% of employees working at organizations that support well-being initiatives are more likely to recommend their company as a good place to work than those that don’t.

Results in increased profitability

Research shows that a highly engaged workforce leads to 21% higher profitability.

And in the UAE, it is no different...

A study in 2022 found that 56% of employees in the UAE want more emphasis on employee well-being and work-life balance, and 90% of employees in the UAE prefer flexible work options.