Introduction :- 

Child Care Leave was introduced by the 6th Pay Commission. Since then rules pertaining to CCL have been changed depending on need. Initially it applied only to women employees. Current move comes after the recommendation of the 7th Pay Commission. A single male government employee has been defined as “an unmarried or widower or divorcee government servant”.

During the period of child care leave, a female Government servant and a single male Government servant shall be paid 100% of the salary for the first 365 days, and at 80% of the salary for the next 365 days. Child care leave may not be granted for a period less than five days at a time. It shall not ordinarily be granted during the probation period except in case of certain extreme situations where the leave sanctioning authority is satisfied about the need of child care leave to the probationer, provided that the period for which such leave is sanctioned is minimal. It shall not be granted for more than three spells in a calendar year.

As per the recent DoPT notification, male personnel in the central government who are single parents to dependent children can now avail of child care leave (CCL) of a total 730 days during their entire period of service, a provision that till now applied only to women employees.

Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 :

• It provides for full paid absence from work for a period of 26 weeks (earlier 12 weeks) to take care of the child.
• The Act is applicable to all establishments employing 10 or more women.
• To be eligible for maternity benefit, a woman must have been working as an employee in the establishment for a period of at least 80 days in the past 12 months.
• For women who are expecting after having 2 children, the duration of paid maternity leave shall be 12 weeks.
• Maternity leave of 12 weeks to be available to mothers adopting a child below the age of three months from the date of adoption as well as to the “commissioning mothers”.
• he Act makes it mandatory for employers to educate women about the maternity benefits available to them at the time of their appointment.

Paternity Leave Policies around the World:- 

• Iceland: Both the parents have an independent right to parental leave of three months and also have a joint right to three additional months, which may be either taken by one of the parents or equally divided between them.
• Spain: Fathers are entitled to 30 days paid leave at 100% of covered pay.
• UNICEF had the provision of four weeks paid paternity leaves to its male employees but now it has been extended to sixteen weeks across all its offices worldwide.

Paternity Leave in India :-

• In Government Sector: The Central Government in 1999, by notification under Central Civil Services (Leave) Rule 551 (A) made provisions for paternity leave – for a male Central Government employee (including an apprentice and probationer); with less than two surviving children ;for a period of 15 days to take care of his wife and new born child.
• In private sector: There isn’t any such law that mandates private sectors to provide the paternity leaves to its employees. Therefore, paternity leave is open to interpretation by individual companies. Some of the major MNCs have already taken steps through their HR policies such as Microsoft (12 weeks), Infosys (5 days), Facebook (17 weeks), TCS (15 days).
• Paternity Benefit Bill, 2017 was introduced in Lok Sabha in 2017 as a Private Member Bill . As opposed to the Maternity Benefit Act which is only applicable to women in the formal sector, this Bill aims to extend the paternity benefit to both formal and informal sector, thus covering the entire 32 crore male workforce.

The maximum period for which any man with less than two surviving children shall be entitled to paternity benefit shall be fifteen days. It also talks about providing similar benefits to adoptive fathers and those who have had a child through surrogacy. The government should constitute a Parental Benefit Scheme Fund in which all employees (irrespective of gender), employers and the Central government shall contribute in a pre-defined ratio.

The maximum period for which any man with less than two surviving children shall be entitled to paternity benefit shall be fifteen days. It also talks about providing similar benefits to adoptive fathers and those who have had a child through surrogacy. The government should constitute a Parental Benefit Scheme Fund in which all employees (irrespective of gender), employers and the Central government shall contribute in a pre-defined ratio.

Benefits of Paternal Leave :-

• Better Childcare: It leads to improvements in prenatal & postnatal care, including decrease in infant mortality.
• Employee Retention: It will also lead to higher employee retention rate and higher job satisfaction.
• Life-long positive impact: Various studies have shown that when fathers are more hands-on with their parenting it can lead to improved cognitive and mental health outcomes for children.
• Positive Impact on Women career: When fathers take more paternity leave, mothers can increase their full-time work and it often leads to higher wages for women and has a positive impact on the female labor force.
• Less burden on women: When men increase their use of paternity leave, time studies show that the amount of household work fathers and mothers perform may become more gender-balanced over time.

Issues in paternal leave :-

• Loss of Productivity: Frequent Leaves may disrupt work and affect productivity.
• Lack of legal framework: Just like there is Maternity Benefit Act in place for women to get adequate time off, there is need of legislation to ensure Fathers too can spend time with Child after birth. Parliament should consider the proposed National Paternity Benefit Bill, 2017.
• Gender biased perceptions: Recent order for single parent seems to be “against the spirit of equality” as it is “officially announcing that care giving of children is solely a woman’s responsibility and the men are supposed to do it only if there is no woman in the family”.