NASSCOM, in association with Trilegal, has recently released a report on maternity benefits in the IT-BPM sector..The report was borne out of round-table discussions held by NASSCOM across different parts of the country on maternity policies prevailing in the industry. The empirical information was gathered from a handful of NASSCOM member companies including Flipkart, Accenture and HSBC, among others. These companies shared their best practices in ensuring maternity benefits to their employees..A group of lawyers from Trilegal’s Employment team is credited with working on the report. The team comprises Partner Ajay Raghavan, Senior Associate Swarnima and Associates Aditya Prakash, Rhuta Deobagkar and Ajay Patri..The report highlights the inadequacies of the existing legal framework governing maternity benefits under the Maternity Benefits Act, 1961. It also analyses the implementation of the provisions of the Act and the practices adopted by different companies in the IT-BPM industry..It states,.“It is quite common to see women employees leaving employment after the birth of a child due to lack of a supportive environment, where balancing professional development and childcare becomes extremely difficult. This issue is compounded by the fact that the statutory benefits currently available in India are far behind international standards. There is an urgent need to understand this issue and explore feasible solutions, in the form of improved benefits.”.The Act mandates a duration of 12 weeks to be given to employees as paid maternity leave, a period that falls two weeks short of the standards set by the International Labour Organisation (ILO)..The report states,.“The MB Act is quite an old statute, dating back to 1961, and it has not been updated in keeping with the times. As a result, a number of benefits that are pertinent in the present age are currently not addressed under the MB Act. New-age benefits, such as, adoption leave, paternity leave, surrogacy leave, leave for availing fertility treatments and flexible working find no reference under the MB Act.”.Quite surprisingly, the benefits for government employees surpass those prescribed in the Act. They can avail of types of leave such as paternity leave and adoption leave, which do not find a reference in the Act..On the bright side, the report notes that companies have taken the initiative to offer better maternity benefits to their employees than what the Act prescribes. This, in turn, has been rewarded with increased return to work post-maternity and greater employee retention..It is also noted that changes in the legislation are on the horizon. The report states that the Ministry of Labour and Employment has agreed to extend the maternity leave under the Act from 12 to 26 weeks. Moreover, the Ministry of Women and Child Development is pushing to extend the same to 8 months..Further, it has also been suggested that 12 weeks of leave be given to women using a surrogate and those adopting a child. Other possible changes include making it mandatory for companies to have a crèche with a radius of 1 km from the workplace and an option of work from home for an employee who has used up her maternity leave..While the interactions with companies of the IT-BPM sector provide valuable insight, it will certainly be interesting to have a similar survey conducted in law firms across the country..Read the full report below.
NASSCOM, in association with Trilegal, has recently released a report on maternity benefits in the IT-BPM sector..The report was borne out of round-table discussions held by NASSCOM across different parts of the country on maternity policies prevailing in the industry. The empirical information was gathered from a handful of NASSCOM member companies including Flipkart, Accenture and HSBC, among others. These companies shared their best practices in ensuring maternity benefits to their employees..A group of lawyers from Trilegal’s Employment team is credited with working on the report. The team comprises Partner Ajay Raghavan, Senior Associate Swarnima and Associates Aditya Prakash, Rhuta Deobagkar and Ajay Patri..The report highlights the inadequacies of the existing legal framework governing maternity benefits under the Maternity Benefits Act, 1961. It also analyses the implementation of the provisions of the Act and the practices adopted by different companies in the IT-BPM industry..It states,.“It is quite common to see women employees leaving employment after the birth of a child due to lack of a supportive environment, where balancing professional development and childcare becomes extremely difficult. This issue is compounded by the fact that the statutory benefits currently available in India are far behind international standards. There is an urgent need to understand this issue and explore feasible solutions, in the form of improved benefits.”.The Act mandates a duration of 12 weeks to be given to employees as paid maternity leave, a period that falls two weeks short of the standards set by the International Labour Organisation (ILO)..The report states,.“The MB Act is quite an old statute, dating back to 1961, and it has not been updated in keeping with the times. As a result, a number of benefits that are pertinent in the present age are currently not addressed under the MB Act. New-age benefits, such as, adoption leave, paternity leave, surrogacy leave, leave for availing fertility treatments and flexible working find no reference under the MB Act.”.Quite surprisingly, the benefits for government employees surpass those prescribed in the Act. They can avail of types of leave such as paternity leave and adoption leave, which do not find a reference in the Act..On the bright side, the report notes that companies have taken the initiative to offer better maternity benefits to their employees than what the Act prescribes. This, in turn, has been rewarded with increased return to work post-maternity and greater employee retention..It is also noted that changes in the legislation are on the horizon. The report states that the Ministry of Labour and Employment has agreed to extend the maternity leave under the Act from 12 to 26 weeks. Moreover, the Ministry of Women and Child Development is pushing to extend the same to 8 months..Further, it has also been suggested that 12 weeks of leave be given to women using a surrogate and those adopting a child. Other possible changes include making it mandatory for companies to have a crèche with a radius of 1 km from the workplace and an option of work from home for an employee who has used up her maternity leave..While the interactions with companies of the IT-BPM sector provide valuable insight, it will certainly be interesting to have a similar survey conducted in law firms across the country..Read the full report below.