Ocyan introduces flexible working hours for team members returning from maternity leave

During the World Breastfeeding Week, which aims to reinforce the importance of and encourage breastfeeding, Ocyan has launched a new initiative targeted at new moms returning from maternity leave as part of the company’s Diversity & Inclusion program. The measure reinforces an initiative of the company’s good practices program – Ocyan Baby – which offers personalized monitoring, guidance and support to all pregnant team members and their spouses during pregnancy, childbirth and maternity leave.

Starting this month, in addition to the 120-day leave and the daily breastfeeding break already established in the Consolidation of Labor Laws (CLT) regime, team members can extend their maternity leave for another fifteen days or return to a four-hour daily shift until the baby completes six months.

Besides contributing to breastfeeding, the new benefit should provide team members with a gradual and balanced return to their activities at the company as they adapt themselves to their new reality, thereby valuing the health of babies, who can stay longer with their moms before they go back to their regular working hours.

“We are aware of the needs of our team members and hence several initiatives aimed at their safety and wellbeing are being gradually implemented. For team members who work offshore, as soon as they inform the company of their pregnancy, they are redeployed to our support bases until they go on maternity leave. This measure aims to keep them safe, thus ensuring the wellbeing and comfort for moms-to-be who work offshore,” explains Nir Lander, Planning and People Officer and leader of the Diversity & Inclusion Program at Ocyan.

Good Practices

The company launched Ocyan Baby last year. After signing up for the program, moms-to-be start receiving special attention throughout pregnancy, childbirth and maternity leave, which includes a cycle of informative lectures by specialists (also available for dads), exclusive parking spaces, regular check-up with the corporate healthcare plan team, a personalized kit, assistance during the first month of the baby with guidelines on breastfeeding, bath and first aid. The program covers mom and dads of biological or foster children.

Upon returning to work, team members at both the company’s head office in Rio de Janeiro and the support bases at Macaé have access to a space specially designed for lactating women, where they can extract excess milk and adequately store it until the end of working hours.

Diversity & Inclusion

Ocyan’s Diversity & Inclusion program was structured at the start of the year after in-depth studies on the subject. It has a committee responsible for program strategy, as well as affinity groups composed of voluntary team members across the entire company, and with two pillars of action in 2019, each with a dedicated leadership. “Ocyan has been striving to become increasingly more diverse and inclusive in order to ensure equal opportunities for all, regardless of any characteristic that makes each person unique,” said Lander. “We are implementing the program in a genuine and natural manner to ensure an inclusive workplace free of prejudice, where each person can be who they really are, without any fear.”