Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) announced that -“the male employees of the government are also now entitled to Child Care Leave.”
“the provision and privilege of Child Care Leave (CCL) will be available only for those male employees who happen to be “single male parent”, which may include male employees who are widowers or divorcees or even unmarried and may therefore, be expected to take up the responsibility of child care as a single - handed parent.”
More in the official release
The announcement categorically mentions that “government employees”. So does it mean that it is not mandatory for private companies to give this leave to their male employees? Thanks.
In September 2017, pursuant to enactment of Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017, a bill known as the Paternity Benefit Bill, 2018 (“PB Bill”) was proposed in the Lok Sabha mandating that paternity leave of fifteen days (extendable up to three months) be granted to new fathers.
At present, all India and Central Civil Services Rules allow Central government employees 15 days of paternity leave. This also extends to cases where a child has been adopted.
Paternity leave is sanctioned for the government employees, but there is no law that mandates private sectors when it comes to paternity leave. Therefore, it is open to interpretation by the individual companies themselves.
