"A decent policy can blur gender role divide- Parental Leaves"
I am a big fan of the Indian cricket team captain “Virat Kohli”, but this write up is not about cricket or his playing spirit. It’s about the paternity leave availed by him for his first child. The cricketer's decision of availing paternity leave has earned both praise and criticism from fans. While some commended him for being with his wife during such an important time of their life, others have said he is in “dereliction of national duty” as he is leaving an important series against Australia.
In India, the concept of paternity leave is still new and many men don’t even avail it, even if they get it. It’s more about the mindset than companies or laws. Also, new parents here have a huge support system, be it the parents or domestic helps. But, in a nuclear family, it’s imperative for fathers to be more hands-on. Slowly, people are becoming more aware about it.
A Paternity Benefit Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha in 2017. The bill, which emphasizes upon equal parental benefits for both parents, proposes that all workers, including those in the unorganized and private sector, can avail paternity leave of 15 days, extendable up to three months. However, the bill has not yet been passed by the Parliament. The government made provisions for paternity leave for all public sector employees in 1999 through the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rule 551 (A). This allows any male central government employee with less than two children to avail a 15-day paternity leave. It can be either 15 days before or within six months from the date of delivery of child. There is no provision on paternity leave in Indian labour law for private sector workers. The civil servants (Central Government) however are entitled to paternity leave. Workers on paternity leave are paid their leave salary equal to the pay drawn immediately before proceeding on leave.
The food delivering app Zomato made waves after rolling out a 26-week paternity leave for its employee which is among the highest duration of paternity leaves in India. Similar to that, IKEA India, which provides for a six-month paid parental leave to all its employees. Men can avail this policy if their spouse goes back to work. PepsiCo India provides for 12-week paternity leave, like wise Microsoft provides for 12 weeks of Paternity Leave, Infosys for 5 days of Paternity Leave, Facebook for 17 weeks of Paternity Leave, Starbucks for 12 weeks of Paternity Leave, TCS for 15 days of Paternity Leave, Oracle for 5 days of Paternity Leave, Deloitte for 16 weeks of Paternity Leave and Unicef for 16 weeks of Paternity Leave.
I strongly believe that this policy is a fair start to a world where both parents are allowed, rather encouraged, to assume equal responsibility. I hope that new fathers lead by example to change this myopic view of primary caregiving. As the need of the hour, more people need to talk about parental leave, encourage it and endorse it professionally and socially. “We will never have truly gender-neutral organizations, unless we have gender-neutral communities and nations.”
When we still don’t have the best maternity policies across organizations, Do we dare talk about paternity leaves? Men are still considered the “breadwinner”, and many men may not be comfortable spending time on feeding, changing diapers, etc. for their newborns. They worry that a long duration break may become a career setback which is quite a real problem. We are so used to getting all the support from our extended families and house helpers that we don’t consider this as imperative. I would also add that the new generation mothers actually expect that fathers must equally contribute which forces them to initiate in such a cause favoring the global movement. We talk about gender equality and then we are still not at par with laws in Norway, Sweden, and Japan, where parental leave benefits are the best references.