New Delhi [India], Mar. 7 : Ahead of International Women's Day, Ayurvedic healthcare company Dabur India Ltd has taken up the cause of health and safety for its women employees.

As part of its efforts to create a healthier workplace, Dabur will be hosting special 'Yoga @ the Workstation' classes for its women employees to help them reduce work-related stress and inspire them towards a better work-life balance along with insights on nutrition. Additionally, the women employees at Dabur would also undergo a special training on proactive safety and security for self.

"Today, women's participation is imperative to any company's growth, as employees, as consumers and as stakeholders. This initiative is aimed at empowering our women staff in dealing with various aspects of life with greater confidence," said V Krishnan, Executive Director-HR, Dabur India Ltd.

Dabur has been consciously working towards enhancing gender diversity at the workplace. Hiring of women in Dabur has been growing at a CAGR of 10 percent over the past 3 years. Around 33 percent of the young talent hired from campuses this year in the Sales and Marketing functions has been women, and this trend will continue in the years to come.

In Corporate Finance, Marketing and R&D, almost 20 percent of the employees are women. Being a large healthcare company, Dabur has also put in place a separate structure of product specialists who interact with medical practitioners and 12 percent of the workforces, therein, are women.

In the parlour channel, almost 60 percent of the frontline sales staff are women.

The company has also put in place several policies towards encouraging women and enhancing workforce diversity, including initiatives on work-life flexibility focused on women.

Given the fact that a growing number of young employees are working couples, Dabur today offers paid maternity leave of four months, which is a month more than the statutory requirement. It also offers paternity leave of up to two weeks for male employees.

In addition, Dabur has also rolled out a host of CSR initiatives aimed at empowering women, particularly in rural India. In the remote areas of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, Dabur runs vocational training centers, where women are offered vocational courses and encouraged to start their own enterprises and become financially independent.

The company currently runs 16 Nari Shakti Kendras, in addition to nine adult literacy centers. The company has also helped three villages - one in Baddi (Himachal Pradesh) and two in Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh) in constructing household toilets, thus enabling eradication of open defacation in the aforementioned areas. (ANI)