Your life has changed after the birth of the child. Everything in your family arrangements has suddenly changed. Though a beautiful period, this can also turn into a stressful and uncertain situation, due to your return to work. This may be the reality of many pregnant women and new mothers who have had to deal with a discriminatory work environment. In addition to arranging the daily life chores, with the coming of a newborn, whose mother is the center of existence, the latter must also be prepared psychologically. This change in the status leads to changes in her priorities, aspirations and opportunities.
In recent years, the legal framework in Albania has undergone several improvements regarding work-life balance arrangements and gender-responsive family-friendly policies. Such improvements reflect observance of international conventions and treaties in the national legislation, creating safe workplaces and ensuring protection of employment contract during the maternity or parental leave, both for the mother and the father.
Provisions against discrimination of parents and working women in a workplace are found in the Constitution, in the Law on Protection from Discrimination and the Labor Code. Article 18 of the Constitution stipulates that no one can be unfairly discriminated for reasons such as: gender, race, religion, ethnicity, language, political, religious or philosophical beliefs, economic status, education, social status or parental affiliation. On November 9, 1993, Albania also ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, a convention approved by the United Nations, where our country holds the status of a member state without interruption.
However, in the absence of the knowledge of law, many women fear that the period of pregnancy and maternity leave may be accompanied by irreversible consequences at work. Article 11 of the aforementioned convention specifically determines that member states, including Albania, must take appropriate measures in order to prevent discrimination against women due to marriage or maternity leave and to ensure their right to employment.
The good news is that private companies in Albania are not only becoming more and more careful to respect and implement the laws and policies in force, but have also begun to find other supportive ways to break these stereotypes and wrong mindsets and give women and new mothers the opportunity to combine family and professional responsibilities.
For Antoneta Ndreka, Co-Founder of the LUFRA company, a special place at the core of the company is taken by girls and women.
"While I have gone through many challenges in life as a woman in business, we as a company have always been thoughtful about women and girls, in particular. We have provided them opportunities to grow in their careers, to grow professionally. We have also created favorable conditions for them to balance their family life and work." - says Mrs. Antoneta Ndreka.
For Luis Ndreka, CEO of LUFRA, people are the most valuable capital of the company. Thanks to the cooperation and partnership with UNFPA through “Expanding Choices” project in Albania, he has understood more about the stereotypes that exist, and has been inspired to add a new practice in the company about pregnant women after childbirth, which they did not have before. "Now we sit down with pregnant women and talk openly together about the plans and expectations they have for the pregnancy and after giving birth, for their return to work. This kind of discussion did not happen before and things were taken for granted. We realized that women had wrong perceptions about the impact of their absence while on maternity leave, hence often did not return to work. While this was not our intention at all. So, with this simple intervention, we have seen a very positive change for our company: we do not lose employees who are valuable to us."
For Isida Çela, Manager of the Finance Department in this company, the pregnancy period meant only beautiful and exciting moments for her. When she was ready to take the maternity leave, Isida was very relaxed about her career, as she had the opportunity to delegate tasks to highly specialized staff and her absence would not be viewed as “unwanted absence” by the management or colleagues.
Attitudes towards such issues are changing and many companies are increasingly realizing and appreciating the importance of employees’ well-being at the workplace. Employers can play a very positive role in getting employees back to work by creating a safe and friendly environment.
In order to prevent discrimination against women, among other things, INCA factory, part of the larger AZ Group, has taken appropriate measures to prevent dismissal for reasons of pregnancy or maternity leave, not depriving employees of their right to return to their workplace, the right to seniority / years of work and more.
For Iris Gruda, Director of the INCA factory, almost all the main activity of the company relies on the wonderful work of girls and women, so it is very important for the employer to make them feel as good as possible. The story of Mrs. Vera Bilani, an employee working with INCA for 13 years, best illustrates this mindset. After the birth of her second child, Vera had to take 3 years off the work. After returning to work, she not only did not encounter a discriminatory environment or less favorable conditions, but on the contrary, she was even promoted. "I am very satisfied working at INCA factory, happy with everything they have enabled me do.", - said Vera Bilani.
The protection of employment contract during maternity / paternity / parental leave for mothers and fathers is regulated by the Labor Code. The rules are equally applicable to both the public and private sectors. At the end of leave, (Article 105) the employee has the right to return to the workplace in the same position or an equivalent one, under no less favorable conditions. While Article 107/1 protects the employee from the termination of the employment contract during the maternity / paternity / parental leave the mother or father has taken.
The case of Orjola Topallaj, Team Leader at the FIX company, is another example of not only respecting the Labor Code, but a proof of family-friendly policies undertaken by the FIX PRO company. Mother of two daughters, Orjola claims that she did not find it difficult to be separated from her baby at the end of her maternity leave and return to work thanks to the flexibility the company gave her to balance her personal and professional life.
When asked which is the most powerful department in the FIX PRO, Mr. Nesti Tarusha, CEO of the company claims that it is the Human Resources department. "Any investment in technology, machinery or equipment is not difficult to do, while people are the most important in a company. We always try to give the best, so that people can work in a friendly environment, where all the conditions are met" - states the CEO of FIX PRO.
The daily family life should not become a source of worry for parents, as long as there are relatively simple arrangements to implement such as: hybrid work, adjusted working hours or telecommuting. Often, such policies, in addition to legal provisions, are solutions to temporary problems, but which bring invaluable value, such as motivated, appreciative and committed staff forever.
