DUBAI // Sweeping changes to the way businesses support working mothers are needed to reflect progressive attitudes towards breastfeeding in the UAE.
A legal consultant specialising in employment law said a change in the law is necessary for all companies to adopt more family friendly approaches to working mothers.
Sara Khoja, who works for Clyde and CO, said: "There should be a natural progression for the government to increase maternity leave.
"Larger employers are happy to be more flexible but, for smaller companies, it is more of a financial hardship, so there would have to be a change in the law for them to allow it, too."
MediaCom and twofour54, the commercial arm of the media zone authority in Abu Dhabi, are two organisations offering extended allowance for mothers.
Mrs Khoja left her daughter at three months old to return to work but was allowed flexible hours to continue breastfeeding at home.
"Most employees recognise that 45 days isn't particularly generous," she said.
"It would be a great message from the government if there were more rights for working mums.
"We are seeing more employers work with expectant mothers to give them as much time off as is possible with a schedule of maternity leave."
Some mothers who are prepared to take a period of unpaid leave are at risk of losing their job if they wish to return, she said, as they have no legal protection from businesses who may wish to retain temporary staff taken on during a period of maternity leave.
"People in this situation are relying on employers being family friendly," Mrs Khoja said.
"It is only recently there have been a lot more working mothers here in Dubai.
"It can happen that a woman goes on maternity leave and, if there has been cover, sometimes their employment can be terminated and the cover kept on.
"There is no automatic right for women to return to the same role they had previously."
Under Federal Law, there is nothing that prevents discrimination in the workplace, either related to sex, maternity or pregnancy, Mrs Khoja said, so a woman is not guaranteed to retain her position.
Employees at Mediacom in the Mena region have been benefiting from an extended six-month maternity leave since January 1.
Bre Hill, the communication firm's regional HR manager in Dubai, said a family friendly approach to help retain staff outweighs the financial implications.
"Obviously any significant change will have an impact on a business," she said. "But as you would expect with any global organisation we did a thorough assessment of the impact. We're confident our clients and business performance won't feel a negative impact from these changes. Hopefully it will feel a substantial positive impact as talented staff will return to work rather than leave altogether."
At Clyde and Co, new fathers are offered a week off as paid paternity leave and a further week off unpaid, if needed.
Dubai International Financial Centre free zone offers all female staff 65 working days off for maternity leave, with 33 of those fully paid, and 32 on half pay.
Length of allocated time off depends on how long new parents have been working for that particular company. Federal law states that only half pay will be offered to those taking 45 days off as maternity leave if they have been working for less than a year.
The UAE may lag behind many countries in its statutory maternity leave allocation, but it is still more generous than the US. Pregnant women there are entitled to up to 12 weeks unpaid annual leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act, but that applies to only full time employees at companies with at least 50 staff, about half of all workers in the US.
Statistics at the Bureau of Labor show paid maternity leave is even rarer, offering entitlement to just 12 per cent of the working population. America's Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 ensures firing or demoting an employee because she's pregnant is illegal, but cases of discrimination can be hard to prove.
In contrast, the UK guarantees 39 weeks of paid leave for new mums, with Australia offering 18 weeks. Central European Countries have the most generous terms. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development shows Slovakia provides 164 weeks of paid maternity leave, followed by Hungary with 160.
Policy at twofour54 states that a female employee who has worked for at least 12 consecutive months can take 60 days off on full pay and a further 60 days on half pay. A further 60 days of leave can then be taken, without pay.
Out of 200 employees at twofour54, 30 per cent are women. But just 21 per cent of the 45 women who have fallen pregnant have taken the full six months maternity leave.
Less than 10 per cent took five months off, and 27 per cent opted for four months maternity leave.
Maryam Al Mheiri, the chief operating officer of twofour54, said: "We value the role of working mothers and their commitment in making a difference to the media sector and the community as a whole.
"We strive to create an energetic, innovative and flexible workplace that allows new mothers to take the time they need to spend with their newborns.
"This allows them to care for their babies until they are fully ready to rejoin twofour54.
"We have always appreciated the hard work and commitment of our employees and, through our maternity and paternity leave policies, we convey our understanding and support during significant and endearing family times."
nwebster@thenational.ae