Can Private Sector Employees Claim Paternity Leave Under the 1955 Leave Rules? Seeking Clarity

I am working with a private organization and I want to know if any employee of a private company can avail of paternity leave as per THE ALL INDIA SERVICES (LEAVE) RULES, 1955. This rule is not mentioned anywhere in our company's leave rules, and nobody has ever taken this. So, please help me out to understand whether this rule is compulsory for all companies in the private sector.

Amendments to the SERVICES (LEAVE) RULES, 1955

Has the SERVICES (LEAVE) RULES, 1955 been recently amended, and if yes, then can we avail of paternity leave? This rule is not mentioned anywhere in our company's leave policy.

Voluntary or Compulsory Paternity Leave

Is this paternity leave rule voluntary only or compulsory for all companies?

Please suggest.

Regards,
Abhay Sohoni

While it is not compulsory, to be considered an employer of choice, it is recommended. Let's face it, there are organizations that do provide it, like mine does. We started it last year and made it applicable for male employees who had an issue within 6 months and can avail 5 days of leave. For instance, in the case of maternity, the act does not state that the female employee should be married. Similarly, an unmarried male employee could also avail the leave but on producing the birth certificate which states his name as the father.

Regards,

The All India Services (Leave) Rules, 1955, as referred to by you, are applicable only to Central Government servants and are not applicable to private sector employees.

Warm regards.

What Raj Kumar has stated is largely correct. However, this rule is not applicable to all Central Government employees. For example, Indian Audit Services and Indian Revenue Services are Central Government employees, but the Leave Rules don't apply to them.

All India Service (Leave) Rules (1955)

The recital of the "All India Service (Leave) Rules (1955)" states that the rules have been drawn up under authority conferred by Sub Section (1) of Section 3 of the All India Services Act, 1951.

A look at the All India Services Act, 1951 provides the necessary clarification: The Act states that "the expression 'an All India Service' means the service known as the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) or the service known as the Indian Police Service (IPS)."

This Act was amended in 1963 to include the following:

1. The Indian Service of Engineers (Irrigation, Power, Buildings and Roads);
2. The Indian Forest Service;
3. The Indian Medical and Health Service.

Very clearly, there is no benefit that you as a Private Sector employee can get from these rules.

Paternity Leave in the Private Sector

Individual organizations decide whether or not they would like to extend the facility of Paternity Leave. There is no legal requirement regarding granting Paternity Leave to anyone.

Regards,
R. Bhatnagar