RIYADH — Bupa Arabia designed a day care in accordance with the international standards for its working mothers who have kids from 3 months to 2 years of age and it has helped in these mothers working in an environment that was conducive, while also helping to save money spent of private nurseries, in addition to increasing productivity.

The National Transformation Initiative 2020 has succeeded in supporting and empowering Saudi women and increasing their participation in the labor market locally by providing nurseries for working mothers within the workplace.

Some of the private sector companies were more dynamic than others as many of them have contributed towards establishing nurseries within the working environment. These nurseries cater to kids from 3 months to 2 years of age. Such contribution has helped save SR52,000 spent on private nurseries.

According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), availability of nurseries for female employees at the workplace has played a vital role in increasing their productivity, improving their job performance, and alleviating the challenges they face, especially when their monthly salary does not cover day care expenses.

In October of 2017, the Ministry of Labor and Social Development issued a ministerial resolution under Section 9 of the Labor Code for the Employment of Women, in which the employer is obliged to provide a suitable place and care takers if there are 50 female employees and at least 10 children.

Tariq Al-Amoudi, chief HR officer at Bupa Arabia, said that the idea of workplace day care centers has been applied at Bupa Arabia in 2011 — 6 years before the ministerial decision, as we strongly believe in empowering women and providing care for the children of working mothers.

“We are delighted that Bupa Arabia supports the country’s plans to empower working women by setting up children day care, which is in line with the Saudi Vision 2030 and the National Transformation Program 2020,” he further added.

Moreover, he has confirmed that Bupa Arabia designed its day care based on international standards, without charging any fees or additional cost. Al-Amoudi also highlighted the fact that only a few companies are providing such suitable and convenient environment, which can strengthen the working

According to Al-Amoudi, Bupa Arabia has succeeded in providing an intelligent model to support its working mothers through Saudi women, who have had prior experience of working with children and teaching positive behaviours.

Therefore, it is essential for them to have advanced certificates in Montessori Education, an approved certificate by the Ministry of Education, first aid license, cardiopulmonary resuscitation methods from one of the approved health sectors, and a health certificate that she is free from any infectious diseases in addition to training in the development of children and infants, and a training certificate in Environmental Health and Safety.

Al-Amoudi talked about the philosophy for the day care, which is based on the approach of teaching 15-months old children the exploration and independence as it leads to a better social integration. Moreover, there are specifically designed programs to cater to the needs of those children who are under 3 years of age. The staff to children ratio at the center is accordance with the international standards, which means that each specialist corresponds to 4 children.

Various new and innovative aspects are also integrated in the day care design such as a monitoring system to protect children from harm and abuse and the evacuation chairs during emergencies - one such chair can carry 4-6 children and can as well slide down stairs.

In addition, there is a control system to enter the day care, which allows access only to the mothers and the concerned employees. One of the most important features of the nursey is a medical center, which is supervised by the paediatricians round the clock. — SG