Laila Yousef Al Hassan is the lead on the Parent-friendly Label (PFL), a workplace award program, the only one of its kind in the region, that recognizes and honors parent-friendly workplaces across the UAE.

Through the PFL program, she is helping to usher in a new era for workplaces across the country where they lead with compassion and understanding for the needs of working parents of young children.

Laila has been a Senior Advisor on Organizational Culture and a member of the leadership team at the Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority, which is tasked with overseeing the Early Childhood sector in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, UAE.

In that role she has focused on maintaining a unique culture at the organisation and recently earned the authority international recognition for this purpose.

During this interview, she discusses insights gained from the parent-friendly label program, noting that applicant organisations are making tangible policy changes to achieve the label's criteria. They also observed an increased awareness of the business benefits of becoming a parent-friendly workplace, with organisations viewing this as a long-term journey.

A parent-friendly workplace is one that recognizes an individual's needs extend beyond the office, offering benefits such as fully paid parental leave, work-from-anywhere options, unlimited nursing breaks, peer-led support groups, and structured guidance for managers.