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This article is written by Ilashri Gaur, pursuing B.A LLB. (Hons.) from Teerthanker Mahaveer University. This article tells about the complete information regarding the legal implications of paternity leave and other laws and provisions regarding paternity leave.

“Giving males a generous paternity leave helps them to build a good connection with their child”

Introduction

All the children want to build a healthy relationship with their father but it becomes tough. We spent most of the time with our mother and could not get a chance to strongly share our bond with our father. And for the same, it is necessary that a father should get paternity leave. It is possible that many of you are thinking what actually Paternity Leave is? Is it good? Does it have legal implications? And much more, let us discuss in detail all of these.

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The “Maternity Leave is a matter of fact” and the “Paternity is the matter of opinion”. It is one of the basic family rights. In India, it is basically the right of the father, who gets leaves from work to spend time with the newborn baby or to take care of the baby. All the workers have the advantage to take the paternity leave of 15 days and it can be extended till 3 months.

What is paternity leave?

When a father is working as an employee and when he gets to leave to take care of his newborn baby it is called Paternity Leave. This is the right of the father who is the husband of the pregnant woman to take two weeks to leave in one block (month). And in this leave, the father is entitled to take 2 weeks paid leave. Its main aim is to assist the wife to recover from childbirth and to share a bond with his child.

During paternity leave, the employment contract continues except for pay, all benefits continue as normal.

Eligibility to take leave

The male employees who:

  1. Is having a newborn baby;
  2. Or adopt a child below the age of one year;
  3. There is no minimum services year requirement for the employees to be eligible for the benefits under this policy.

Policy of leave

  1. You are eligible for 2 weeks of paid paternity leave at 100% of your fixed annual salary.
  2. The working days are exclusive of public holidays and paid off time.
  3. It must be taken within six months of the birth or adoption of the child.
  4. If you join the work before the leave gets over then your rest of the leave will be ceased and remaining days will be forfeited.

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Benefits

  • After the birth of the child, you can take a medical insurance policy within the 45 days.
  • While on the paternity leave you will maintain the same as you were maintaining as an active employee for the full duration of the leave. And if you do not return from these leave then these benefits will be ceased.
  • You continue to collect any type of paid leave while you are on paternity leave. This includes paid annual leave, sick leave and casual leave.

Paternity leave in India

With the rise of the trend in a nuclear family in India, there is a need for paternity leave. As it is the responsibility of the Government to bridge the gap between the needs of the people and the prevailing laws relating to paternity leave in India. It has become equally important for the mother as well as the father to participate in the upbringing of the child.

There is no provision regarding paternity leave in India. The Maternity Benefits Act, 2017 protects the working women during the period of her childbirth and provides Maternity Benefits. Women under this Act have provided various facilities, benefits, and incentives. This Maternity Act is applicable to women employed in both private as well as the public sector.

If we talk about the Paternity leave in the public sector then the government will pay money and even the leave but in the private sector, the grant for Paternity Leave will totally depend on the will of the employer.

Indian Policy

  • Before taking the leave you have to tell the manager 30 days earlier.
  • For the approval of paternity leave, you can submit the application and date of birth or the letter of adoption.
  • If the need for the leave is not predictable, then you must request for the leave as far as possible.
  • In the case of an emergency, you can notify your manager or Employee Resource Centre.

Paternity Benefit Bill, 2017

After the Maternity benefit Bill 2017 which was passed in the upper house and after that the Paternity benefit bill was introduced in 2017 in Lok Sabha. The bill focuses on providing equal parental benefits to both father and mother. The bill aims to increase the duration of the leave period for every man. They will receive paternity benefits for the period of fifteen days, at the expected delivery date. But this is valid only for the father who has his first or second child only.

The bill asked the Central Government to formulate a scheme to be known as the parental benefit scheme for providing paternity benefit to every man and also to constitute a Parental Benefit Scheme Fund in which all employees, employers and the Central government will contribute.

New Bill proposed in India

Father has no same privileges as a mother has in legal terms but there are few companies who are providing paternity leave, but even now there is no such provision made by law. The paternity benefits bill which is come to India soon are:

  • This bill would allow the father’s up to three months of paid paternity leave.
  • UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund has proposed 16 weeks paid paternity leave earlier which was for four weeks.
  • This bill will be for fathers of a newborn baby who can make a bond with their child.

The companies with paternity leave rule

Companies are expanding and improving their paternity leave policy in different ways.

S. No.

            Company Name 

                     Time Period
1.

                    Amazon 

                        6 weeks

2.

                    Reddit

                      16 weeks

3.

                    Facebook

                      17 weeks

4.

                    Etsy

                      26 weeks 

5. 

                    Apple

                        6 weeks

6.

                    Microsoft

                      12 weeks

7. 

                    Zomato

                      6 months

8. 

                    Novartis

                      26 weeks

National Policy around the World

India has been counted with the 90 countries in the world without national policies and the other countries like Nigeria which have high infant populations are now counted among the 92 countries that do not have the national policies which can ensure that the new fathers get adequate paid time off with the newborn babies.

Other countries with high infant populations, including Brazil and Congo, have national paid paternity leave policies, even though offering relatively short-term entitlements.

According to Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director, positive and meaningful interactions with mothers and fathers from the very beginning which helps to shape the children’s brain growth and development for life, making them healthier and happier, and increasing their ability to learn. It’s all of our responsibility to enable them to fulfil this role.

Employer Action Code: Act

  • The Cypriot Parliament has passed the Protection of Paternity Law, it provides the father with statutory paternity leave and allowances from the Social Insurance Fund for the first time.
  • The law also provides the father with the two consecutive weeks of paid leave.
  • Leave must be taken within the first 16 weeks of the birth or adoption of the child.
  • The employees are required to provide written notice within two weeks of their intention to take the leave.
  • During the leave, the father will be provided with the same level of employment and social security protection as it is already provided to the employee. 
  • Eligibility is based on the same social security requirements that apply for most other Cypriot social security benefits.

Barriers to more paternity leave

If it is so good then why do most of the men do not take such types of benefits? There are some barriers as everything cannot be controlled according to us.

  1. In the beginning, it is easy as you get paid leave but afterwards, it creates economic crises as it becomes hard to pay bills and afford various other expenses.
  2. If both the parents took leave then who will earn for the survival and there are various things needed for a newborn child which need to be bought.n such situations it is necessary for someone to earn.
  3. Even in some countries like Sweden, the US issues related to paternity leave arise.
  4. Sometimes due to paternity leave, there are chances that the employer gives your position to someone else and you lose the opportunity of promotion.
  5. Whenever you get back to work after the leave you are supposed to work out of your limit due to which it leaves does not make any difference as the becomes equal that you are unable to give you time to your family.

                   

Economic consequences to paternity leave

When both the parents take leave to look after their child then it affects the economy of the company as there will be no work to be done but the company pay to there employee and if it happens for a long period of time then the company financially gets affected and then the employee suffers the losses as their salary will be cut off to maintain the balance. Sometimes due to the increase in paternity leaves, there is receiving of lower-income as compared to earlier one. Most of the time it happens in the maternity leaves in comparison to the paternity leaves because men do not get many opportunities for taking paternity leave. Limitations and penalties

  • Any firm or organization is prohibited to take work from any employee who is on paternity leave; it will be considered as an unlawful act, and it violates the provisions of the bill passed.
  • If any person is deprived of the benefits that he is entitled to under the paternity benefit rule by the employer then the employer would be imprisoned which will not be less than 3 months and it can be extended to one year and fine not less than fifty thousand which can be extended.
  • If there is any infringement in the provision laid down in the rules by the employer, then he would be punished for the same with imprisonment and a fine or can be both.
  • If the person is granted leave under this provision and he works for another organisation during that period of time then he would be refused the right to claim for the paternity benefits.
  • If the inspector requires any document in the execution of this act and the person hides it and prevents the person to appear for the examination then he would be punished with the imprisonment of one year and a fine which can be exceeded.

Conclusion

There should be provision for Paternity leave in India as it is necessary for every father to develop a strong relationship with their child. And the father should also know to support their wives through this phase as it is not only the responsibility of a mother but the father too. It also makes a husband realise how his wife goes through this phase. It was also researched that when the father spends time with the child, he grows healthier, and happier as compared to the time spent with the mother. With the presence of the father, the child grows with better mental health, self-esteem, and is more satisfied with their lives, as they grow up.

Companies in India need to think about work-life balance with their employees. The organisation needs to understand that taking care of their employers would be beneficial for them as more and more new employees would take initiative to work with them and it also leads to a positive impact on the company. This will not only change the mindsets internally but also contribute to the broader corporate ecosystem.

References

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