Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority has revealed the recipients of the Parent-Friendly Label (PFL) in its 3rd cycle. The programme recognises the efforts of semi-government, private and third sector organisations across the UAE in promoting a workplace culture that supports family cohesion.
His Highness Sheikh Theyab bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Chairman of the Presidential Court for Development and Fallen Heroes' Affairs and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority emphasised that the Parent-Friendly Label programme reflects the UAE’s unwavering commitment to supporting and empowering families as a cornerstone for building a stable and thriving community.
His Highness also noted that the PFL programme is guided by the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, towards instilling an organisational culture that values the role of parents, providing them with a flexible and supportive work environment in order to nurture capable and confident generations.
Additionally, His Highness stressed that the PFL programme activates partnerships with various sectors to enable work environments that support family cohesion and social wellbeing, in-line with the UAE’s ambitions.
The voluntary workplace programme awarded the label to 12 local and international organisations operating in the UAE. Of the 12 organisations that earned the PFL, HSBC, Ethara and TAQA Transmission earned the PFL+ classification for meeting or exceeding global standards in parent-friendly policies and practices. Meanwhile, nine organisations earned the PFL classification for exceeding local leading parent-friendly policies and practices. The nine organisations are ADNOC, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, Miral, DP World, The Developing Child Centre, Procter & Gamble, Strategy& Middle East, Kraft Heinz, and SLB.
Cycle 3 recorded a 28 per cent increase in the number of employees benefiting from parent-friendly practices compared to the previous cycle. Ethara (previously Abu Dhabi Motorsports Management) and HSBC – who earned the Label in Cycle 1, continued to improve their policies and in Cycle 3 and earned the PFL+. This highlights the dynamic journey of continuous improvement to support the needs of parent employees and ultimately realise a far-reaching impact on workplace culture and community.
In this cycle, the PFL programme has impacted the lives of 163,000 employees. Of these 105,000 working parents will now benefit from parent-friendly workplace culture and policies in the UAE, a 57 per cent increase in comparison to the previous cycle. With that, the number of working parents with children aged 0-8 has also increased by 25 per cent with 60,000 new benefiting parents. This cycle has also seen a 51 per cent increase in the number of parents of children of determination, with the impact of parent-friendly practices now reaching to 2,250 parents.
With new and improved parent-friendly practices now influencing earner organisations’ practices across their international offices, the PFL programme’s positive impact will go beyond the UAE workplace cultures to reach to more than 1 million employees across the world. Working parents across local and international offices of these organisations will now benefit from additional parental support and a work culture that understands their needs.
Since its launch in 2021 by the Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority, the Parent-Friendly Label programme has championed a nationwide shift towards parent-friendly practices in the workplace by recognising organisations for their commitment to building a supportive work culture and policies.
Cycle 3 of the programme saw applications from 83 organisations, including world-leading multinational companies operating in the UAE. This reflects the increasing recognition of the benefits of creating parent-friendly workplaces. Notably, the third cycle has seen a significant increase in participation from the professional services and education sectors.
All applications were assessed across 19 criteria under five key categories: Parental Leave, Flexible Work, Family Care, Family Well-being, and Organisational Culture. An independent judging panel made up of senior officials from every emirate reviewed the applications anonymously to ensure the highest levels of impartial and transparent assessment.
