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Offices in the city are coming to terms with the fact that giving paternity leave is important. However, new parents feel that a three-five day leave isn’t enough
With fancy infrastructure, five-day working schedules and emphasis on employee motivation and team building activities, offices in the capital are pretty much at par with their international headquarters and industry leaders. But one department where Indian employers do not match up to their foreign counterparts is recognizing paternity leave as a justified HR practice. But the good news this Father’s Day is that the process has begun. Industry majors and new players, all are showing the way for a shift in policies by launching paternity leave as an employee right, despite no legal obligation to do so. While the number of leaves varies and has received mixed feedback, it’s still a positive development for younger and to-be parents in the city. We spoke to industry insiders and also to parents, who seem to think that the leave duration is too short to be of much help to new parents.
It’s an employee retention technique
According to HR managers in the city, practices like paternity leaves are a means to increase the employer-employee connect and demonstrate to the latter that the company cares about them. Small steps like these go a long way in employee retention in this age of competition and quick job switches.
Puneet Rathi, advisory and knowledge head, SHRM India, a HR consultancy, tells us, “The concept of paternity leave
has slowly picked up in India over the years.”
Srimathi Shivashankar says, “Nowadays, the overall approach towards parenthood has changed. In nuclear families, the father has to step in and care for his wife and child, and therefore spend much more time at home. The cultural shift is such that now male employees don’t shy away from accepting that they want to spend time with their families and be a part of their child’s growing process. All policies today are gender neutral – even the PTM requires both parents to be present. So, paternity leave is an acceptable requirement.”
Prateek N Kumar, managing director and chief executive officer, NeoNiche Integrated Solutions Pvt Ltd, adds, “The nuclear family set-up is the biggest pressure point behind companies recognizing the needs of their employees as fathers, too. Currently, our employee base is formed by couples where both the spouses are working and are living independently in metros, away from their families. In such set-ups, during childbirth, the husband has to be the complete support system of the new mother, and needs time off from work.”
At Oxigen India in Udyog Vihar, paternity leaves as a concept was formally included in the policy book earlier this year. Meher Sarid, president, corporate affairs and head, HR, tells us, “We had been granting leaves to new parents earlier also, but, this year, we decided to make a formal announcement regarding the same. We have a lot of employees who come from an international background, and for them, paternity leave is a routine concept. In our company, husbands whose wives are in town for their delivery, get four days of leave, and those who have to travel back home from their outstation work locations, get six days off.”
Three days don’t count as leave: NEW Parents
While they agree that three-five days off is better than none, new age and to-be parents believe that there is still scope for more support and understanding from their employers.
Jaya Manot Bhansali, who became a mother in 2012, tells us, “At the time of my delivery, my husband received only two days of paternity leave from his Australian investment banking company. Two days, according to me, is a joke, like a weekend, and I didn’t even realize when those two days got over. It was just the two of us. Though we had a full-time maid back then, in the first few days as a new parent, you’re not even in the state to guide your maid around, and I needed my husband to be present at home. Unlike before, when the full family is by the new mother’s side, these days, it’s just the husband and the wife. I got back home from the hospital on the fourth day; and after the fifth day, my husband was back to work.”
Manprit Kaur, who stays in Sector 51, was really upset when her husband had to get back to work after his five days of paternity leave was over. She says, “My husband was on paternity leave for five days, and even on those days, he was constantly getting calls from work. Every single time I would look for him, he was on some call or the other. Thankfully, I had some family members staying with me in the days immediately after the delivery. But after coming back from the hospital, you need support to settle down, but my husband had to get back to work. Sure, five days are better than no off at all, but I think fathers should get at least 15 days off.”
Geetanjali Mehra*, who gave birth to her son in December 2013, adds, “I had my mother at home with me during the days leading to my pregnancy, and for a few days after it. But she went back a month later. I actually needed my husband’s support more in the days after she left, but his company had a policy, that paternal leave could be taken only in the days following the birth of the child. More than just helping me around, I wanted him to be able to bond with our son, which cannot happen in the after-work-before-sleep time band.”
Akhil Sachdeva*, who works in a marketing firm at Sohna Road, tells us about his interaction with his boss during the days leading to his paternal leave last year. “Call it bad luck or whatever, but I was in the middle of a major project during my wife’s final trimester. When she went into labour, I obviously headed to the hospital, but I knew I would be losing points in front of my boss for leaving a very important meeting. Nobody said it to my face, but I could feel the pressure in the three days that I was off from work, and I didn’t combine my leaves and headed back right after the paternity leave days were over. I had missed a major chunk of work, and my boss was not the same again. I quit that job two months back, and till date, I regret not being able to be with my family – the way I should have – because of a bad boss. It’s not enough to just allot leaves – your team manager should create an environment where taking that leave is not looked down upon.”
Paternity, unlike maternity, is not mandatory
Offices in the city are fully aware that they are not legally obligated to provide paternity leave to their employees. While the duration of the maternity leave is a fixed minimum of 12 weeks’ period across offices, paternal leave depends on the individual policy-makers and vary from a minimum of two days to two weeks. As Deepak Adhar, vice president, human resources and administration, Greenply Industries Limited, puts it, “Our company gives three days of paternity leaves, over and above the other leaves allotted. The concept of paternity leave is still developing, and has a long way to go in the Indian context. We feel that this changing family structure, where the father feels the need to be more involved, is only at the upper middle class level. So, it’s going to take time for companies to recognize the need for a separate paternity leave.”