Paternity leave for govt employees on adoption……..Divya Pathak
GURGAON: Male employees of the Haryana government who legally adopt a child below the age of one year can now claim 15 days paternity leave.
While the Centre has a similar plan in place for its employees, Haryana will be one of the first states to adopt it for its employees.
Employees can avail the paternity leave within a period of six months from the date of adoption. When we proposed the idea to the chief minister, he encouraged it. Now that we have a go-ahead from him, all state government departments will be asked to implement this, a senior government official said. According to the new policy, the applicant should not have more than two biological children to avail these leaves.
For its women employees, the state already has a provision of 180 days of maternity leave, 730 days of child care leave and 180 days of adoption leave.
Raghuveer Singh, a state government employee who has been planning to adopt a child, welcomed the new development. I am very happy to know that finally the government has understood the importance of encouraging adoptions. Such policies should also be extended to the private sector, he said.
In India, the concept of paternity leave on adoption is relatively new, but in developed countries like the UK and Sweden, such leaves are mandatory for all employers. And even though there is no specific law in India that enforces such leaves, more and more companies are increasingly offering paternity leave to their employees.
For example, Omega Healthcare gives its employees five days of paid paternity leave on the adoption of a child. Last year, for the first time, the central government decided to allow its male employees to avail child adoption leaves. The central government has also been mulling over a proposal to amend its laws and make paternity leave on adoption compulsory for all employers.