“Because we create real homes, we celebrate real moms,” says Arredo as part of Mother’s Day.
Through a photographic campaign that portrays four company employees with their sons and daughters, the brand seeks to reflect real situations of motherhood, moving away from stereotypes around the “perfect mother” and questioning the social pressure that exists on How the role should be performed.
“Each mother builds her motherhood in her own way, traveling the path of parenting sometimes with more security and other times with more doubts, but always with love,” they say.
For Arredo, equality is an everyday job. For this reason, he leads this change by developing different actions, programs and policies that contribute to ending all inequalities, especially in the workplace.
One of the tools it has is the Caring Caring Program, created in 2022 in order to recognize the right of people to care and receive care, from a human rights perspective and without gender bias, to promote balance between life work and family, and promote co-responsibility between genders for care tasks.
To know more, Montevideo Portal spoke about the proposal with Fernanda Manuel, manager of Sustainability, Diversity and Inclusion of the firm.
How did Arredo’s Cuidar Cuidando Program come about?
Fernanda Nogués, head of Logistics and Distribution of Arredo, and her son, Enzo. Photo: ceded to Montevideo Portal
At Arredo, respect for human rights and the promotion of a more equitable and inclusive society are fundamental values that are appreciated in concrete actions. We act out of conviction, seeking to create homes from a more sensitive, human and loving perspective, amplifying sensitivity. We are a brand that believes that the world has to be for all people, and we are aware of the gaps that exist in terms of gender and diversity. We use our businesses to collaborate with this deconstruction, starting with the home and expanding the reflection to other dimensions.
In this sense, in 2017 we organized a photography exhibition, “More days to care”, installed in the central hall of the Retiro Train Station in Buenos Aires, seeking to raise awareness about the importance of the role of parents in parenting and promoting the extension of paternity leave in Argentina. The exhibition was carried out together with the Center for the Implementation of Public Policies for Equity and Growth (Cippec), which had the support of the Embassy of Sweden, the country that grants the greatest benefits to parents in terms of leaves. The exhibition was made up of photos by Swedish photographer Johan Bävman, who portrays the daily life of parents who take leave during the first six months of their children’s lives, and Argentine photographers.
That year in Arredo, the extension to 15 business days for the father became effective, starting from the birth of the baby. For the mother, a part-time leave upon returning from maternity leave, for three months, receiving full remuneration, plus one extra hour during the breastfeeding period.
In November 2022 we went for more and launched our Caring Caring project, a comprehensive program of internal policies that promote the universal right to care and receive care, thus promoting co-responsibility between genders in the home.
¿What does it consist of? Who can access?
The objective of the program is to recognize the universal right to care and receive care, proposing a comprehensive program without gender stereotypes or biases, promoting the rights of children to receive care, promoting equitable co-responsibility between genders in care tasks and favoring the conciliation between work and family life.
Nicole Finfer, assistant store guide, and her daughter, Julieta. Photo: provided to Montevideo Portal
The program grants 180 days of leave for those who are part of the company who choose to mother/father, without gender distinction between pregnant and non-pregnant people, or between births and adoptions. Likewise, it contemplates all the stages and situations of care, from the preparation of the home to the arrival of a new foster child, its nutrition, accompaniment in difficult situations, the care of dependents, among others.
The program consists of five axes
Preparing to arrive home: Assist in the gestation of the new family. Scope: adoption, assisted reproduction, pregnant and non-pregnant couples, days to prepare for arrival home (ultrasounds, appointments with an obstetrician or pre-birth course, support for fertility treatments, psychological support).
Welcome home: Establish and strengthen family ties when childhood arrives at home. Pregnant women: they can opt for 90 days of leave with full pay, working half-time or not working at all. Non-pregnant people: they may choose 30 non-continuous days, prior to the arrival of their foster child, to prepare the home and attend medical appointments and ultrasounds. When the time comes for parenting, they can opt for 30 consecutive days during the first month and then have 120 flexible days for care tasks, with pay.
Nutrition and care: The non-pregnant person may opt for one hour of nutrition during the first year of parenting. Pregnant and non-pregnant people: reimbursement of a percentage of child care expenses from 45 days to 3 years. Psychological and nutritional support.
Difficult moments: In the case of the sole caregiver of a family member with illness, pregnancy loss or death of a partner or parent, 10 consecutive business days will be given with pay. Possibility of monetary benefit to cover expenses. Psychological support. Extension of licenses for births of people with disabilities, multiple births or adoptions, premature births or those with chronic illnesses.
Paternal and maternal: Raise awareness about the deconstruction of stereotypes and biases linked to care roles. Awareness workshops to accompany. Focused support for caregivers.
Yamila Olivera, store hostess, her daughter, Martina, and her son, Iván
How has the reception been from people who have used this program? What are the returns/comments?
The program has been very well received by our collaborators from Argentina and Uruguay.
We have received comments from parents such as: “Having these 180 days of leave is something unique, because we can share a lot of time as a family. I can tell my partner: ‘Don’t ask for the day, don’t miss it, I’ll take care of taking Helena to the pediatrician’”; “With my first child I did not have this opportunity, and today I see many things that I can share with this baby; be, that my family can count on me, which I couldn’t before”; “I remember sitting in a waiting room and seeing all women around me and me being the only father, changing my daughter’s diaper and giving her a bottle.”
What message do you think is important to transmit at a social level with this type of initiatives?
The program seeks to sow cultural changes towards the development of a more just, conscious and sustainable society, claiming equal opportunities as a right. For Arredo, believing in diversity means respecting all family compositions. And Caring Caring is for all people, under any circumstance in which care is required.
Learn more about Arredo’s campaign and work for equality in this website.
