Bupa Arabia for Cooperative Insurance has designed a day care facility in accordance with the international standards for its female employees who have children aged between three months and two years.
In October 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 caretakers if there are 50 female employees or more and at least 10 children.
Tariq Alamoudi, chief HR officer at Bupa Arabia, said the idea of workplace day care centers had been applied at Bupa Arabia in 2011 — six years before the ministerial decision, because “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’s day care, which is in line with the Saudi Vision 2030 and the National Transformation Program 2020,” he added.
The National Transformation Program 2020 has succeeded in supporting and empowering Saudi women and increasing their participation in the labor market by providing nurseries for working mothers within the workplace.
Many private sector companies have established nurseries within the working environment, thereby saving 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.
Alamoudi said that Bupa Arabia has designed its day care based on international standards, without charging any additional fees to its employees.
“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 behaviors. Therefore, it is essential for them to have advanced certificates in Montessori education, an approved certificate from the Ministry of Education, first-aid license, training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation methods from one of the approved health sectors, a health certificate stating 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,” he said.
The staff to children ratio at the center is in accordance with the international standards, which means that each specialist corresponds to four children.
One of the most important features of the nursery is a medical center, which is supervised by pediatricians round-the-clock.