Selyn as Best Practice for Employer Supported ChildCare | Daily News

Selyn as Best Practice for Employer Supported ChildCare

Selyn, Sri Lanka’s only fair-trade guaranteed hand-loom company, has been recognized by International Finance Corporation (IFC) as one of the 15 organizations to offer employer-supported childcare in the country. Selyn currently employees over 1,000 workers out of which 90% are women, leading the company to providing a work environment to retain its human resources.

Selyna Peiris, Director, Business Development at Selyn, says, “Sri Lanka’s hand-loom industry has traditionally been dominated by women. However, in the recent past, we have seen a decline in the industry due to number reasons, one of which was the lack of skilled workers. Many women who were skilled in the art were unable to continue working in the industry, mainly due to family obligations, such as looking after their children. We recognized this issue and decided to establish a number of initiatives to support the women, so that they could continue to remain in the workforce.”

The company developed three employment options to provide its workforce flexibility to manage their familial demands, while continuing working. Selyn’s direct employees work in its four hand-loom factories, its dye plant and toy factory. Selyn also has an independent workshop model, where clusters of people work together, completing tasks such as weaving and sewing. Additionally, the company has over 200 homeworkers who work from home, producing non-weaving items. This model is becoming more popular amongst women who need the flexibility to tend to the needs of their families. In another bid to support parents, Selyn has a flexible working structure which permits parents to drop their kids off at school, work in factories, pick them up after school and continue working from home. This enables them to work part-time in factories as well as benefit from the homeworker model. Facilities such as a breast-feeding rooms, a waiting area for kids and a doctor on call are also available at the factory.

Back in 2013, Selyn introduced a daycare center for young pre-school children in its largest weaving village in Kumbukgette. This year, the facility was extended to include primary school children, while plans are being made to further extend it to accommodate children up to 18 years of age very soon. The child care facility has immensely benefitted the employees, who previously had to rely on unreliable child care options leading them to drop out of the workforce in most instances.

“Not only do these initiatives benefit the well-being of local children and community, they also make a perfect business sense to us. The daycare facility in particular, has resulted in reducing absenteeism, increased staff productivity, retention of skilled workers and reduced staff turnover costs. It is very clear that we as an organization, could truly make a difference in the lives of our employees by taking time to identify their difficulties and also taking steps to support them with sustainable solutions,” Ms Peiris added.

Selyn Exporters (Pvt) Ltd., began operations in 1991, working with 15 women in the village of Wanduragala in Kurunegala and has since, grown into a network of around 1,000 workers across the island. Selyn exports its fair-trade products to 40 countries around the world and at the same time, retails in premium locations across the country.


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