Navigating Maternity and Paternity Leave: Seeking Clarity on New Amendments for Adoption and More

Dear All, I am formulating a leave policy for my organization and I am not clear about the maternity leaves for adoption and commissioning mothers, as well as paternity leaves as per the new amendment. Please advise on the below points.

For female employees:

• Female employees who have completed 80 working days in the last 12 months are eligible for maternity leave benefits as below.

• For a commissioning mother or a female employee who adopts a child below 3 months of age, she will be entitled to 12 weeks of paid leave. (Does this mean if an employee adopts a child older than 3 months, it is the company's choice to provide leave or not? Please advise.)

• Employees undergoing medical termination of pregnancy under medical advice or miscarriage are entitled to 6 weeks of maternity leave, at a stretch.

• What is the minimum time gap for availing the aforesaid maternity leave benefits for another child?

For Paternity Leaves:

• Male employees who have worked for at least 90 days shall be entitled to paternity leave (non-paid leave) of a maximum of 7 days (at a stretch) per child, own or by adoption. Paternity leave should be availed of within 8 weeks of the birth of the child or adoption. (Please advise.)

• The facility of paternity leave shall be restricted to two occasions during the total tenure of service. Repeat paternity leave will be admissible only after a minimum gap of 2 years between the completion date of the first leave and the start of the second maternity leave. (Please advise.)

I look forward to your response asap.

Regards, Ruchi

You need not cover maternity leave in your leave policy; it already exists as statute.

Dear Mr. Shrikant,

Thank you for your response. However, we would like to include a few main pointers in our policy, if not the detailed one. That is why I need clarity on the aforementioned details. It would be really helpful if you could advise me on the same.

Regards,
Ruchi

Dear Ruchi,

Maybe the answers below will meet your requirement:

For Female Employees:

1. A commissioning mother or a female employee who adopts a child below 3 months of age will be entitled to 12 weeks of paid leave. (This means if an employee adopts a child older than 3 months, it is the company's choice to provide leave or not. Please advise.) - Ans: Yes, that's right. If a child is more than 3 years old, then this rule is not applicable for the employee as per the new amendment of the act.

2. Employees undergoing medical termination of pregnancy under medical advice or miscarriage are entitled to 6 weeks of maternity leave, at a stretch. - Ans: Yes, leave is supposed to be at a stretch without any intervals or breaks.

3. What is the minimum time gap for availing of the aforesaid maternity leave benefits for another child? - No, there is no such specification in the law for a minimum time gap.

For Paternity Leave:

There is no such specification in the law, but yes, you can form it as per your company policy and benefits that you want to offer to the employees.

Thank you so much for your response. It is of great help. However, I would like to clarify a few things. In point no. 1, you have mentioned: "Yes, right if a child is more than 3 years old, then this rule is not applicable for the employee as per the new amendment of the act." Is it 3 months or 3 years? Please suggest.

Point 3: No, there is no such specification in the law for a minimum time gap. If this is the case, can I add the following point to our leave policy? "Any sort of repeat maternity leave will be admissible only after a minimum gap of 2 years between the completion date of the first leave and the start of the second maternity leave."

I look forward to your suggestion.

Regards, Ruchi

Dear Mr. Manoj,

In addition to my above post, please advise on this as well. Is this applicable for commissioning mothers and adoption as well? The maternity leave is awarded with full pay on completion of at least 80 days in an establishment in the 12 months prior to her expected date of delivery.

Look forward to your suggestion.

Regards, Ruchi

Point 1 - Yes, it is 3 months and not years.

Points 3 - You need not mention the time gap if these documents are to be published as rules; then someone can misuse it to put allegations on you or the company. In the case of adoption or commissioning mothers, leaves are applicable for 12 weeks, but you can always scrutinize the same. As you may hardly receive cases for the same.