Dubai Customs staff will be able to take children to work

DUBAI // A nursery is to be introduced at Dubai Customs through an initiative launched by Dubai Women Establishment. Announcing the plans yesterday, Dubai Customs and DWE said it would increase productivity in the workplace and encourage loyalty from female employees. It is the first daycare centre in a government department. "Having a nursery at the workplace will be beneficial for all," said Feryal Tawakul, the executive director of human resources at Dubai Customs.

"The employer benefits because it will increase productivity and decrease turnover, the employee benefits as she will be able to strike an even balance between work and home life, and it will enable her to be ambitious in her work, and in the long term society benefits as female employees remain prominent in the workplace." The National Corporate Child Care Project was created by the DWE to introduce nurseries in government departments and enable female employees to continue working after starting a family.

The project was announced in July, when the DWE pointed out that while the Government had passed a law in 2006 allowing the creation of daycare centres in the workplace, nothing had been done to implement it. The DWE produced research to show that creches would allow female employees to spend more time with their children because they would both be in the same location, and thus increase morale and work output.

"We are sure that this new centre will not have a negative impact on women at work; to the contrary, it will be very positive," said Ms Tawakul. The Dubai Customs centre will be opened in the first few months of next year. It will cater for all children up to the age of four. About 20 per cent of Customs employees are female. Hanin al Tamimi, an employee at Dubai Customs, said: "This project encourages me to have more children. I will be enrolling my two-year-old when it opens - I don't like leaving her with the maid, and I like the idea of having my child at the workplace."

She said the project motivated her to encourage other women to seek employment with the department and make the most of the facilities offered for their children. "She [my daughter] will be in the same building as me, so if anything happens I can check on her anytime, and I can spend quality time with her," she added. Another employee who has been with the department for 12 years is expecting her fourth child. Ghaneema Ibrahim, the operations manager for Port Rashid Customs, said there was a large element of comfort knowing that her child was in such close proximity to her.

"I live in Sharjah, so I spend on average 10 hours of the day away from home," she said. "This project suits me very much." [e-mail]