Companies provide a host of paternity and gender agnostic parental support policies in India. Parental support policies have seen an increasing prevalence in the last 3 years. To site a few examples:
J&J has launched a two month paternity policy to enable its working fathers spend time with the new born and be an active parenting partner.
Ikea launched a six-month parental policy for both female and male employees.
For men to be eligible for the parental leave, it is mandatory that their spouses have gone back to work. It gives women an opportunity to rejoin sooner and encourages men to take more responsibility at home.
Microsoft extended its paternity leave to six weeks from two, with the leave allowance covering also fatherhood through adoption.
Cummins India has extended its paternity leave to one month, setting a benchmark among manufacturing firms.
Tesco India offers two weeks of paid leave. In case the male employee is the primary caregiver of the child, he is entitled to 26 weeks of paid leave.
At Schneider Electric, male employees get two weeks of paternity leave, which can be extended up to four weeks. But those requesting for extension are required to share how they plan to contribute at home.
Even if we look at the Public Sector, central government employees are entitled to 15 days off, but there are no provisions for paternity leave in the labour law for private sector workers.
4 Reasons why paternity leave is important
- Creates a bond with the child
- Lends a helping hand
- Contributes to child development
- Helps you overcome the anxiety
While parental support is being provided by companies, ProEves insights based on coaching expecting and new dads reveal that – Fathers are keen to support, however they feel ill equipped on account of upbringing bias. Mothers are considered as primary care givers and dads are seen as outsiders in this.
With evolving gender roles it is important that we support Dads in the equal parenting journey not only through policies but also an inclusive culture where they feel comfortable to take on an active role in parenting both in formative and growing up years.