Pa’s the word!
Gone are the days when some dads would get back to their workplaces to escape endless diaper changes. The Gen X dad thinks otherwise. And several employers, in an endeavor to accommodate their male employees’ needs, believe in introducing a ‘paternity leave’ policy, finds out Viren Naidu
PATERNAL NEEDS
“I believe that today we operate in an environment where it is imperative to keep pace with the ever-changing social demands. Hence, it’s crucial for companies to adopt progressive people policies like ‘paternity leave’, and consider the many societal factors that necessitate the need of implementing such a practice,” says Sudheesh Venkatesh, Head - HR, Tesco Hindustan Service Centre (HSC). This year, at Tesco HSC, 60 employees have already availed the benefit of this policy, which entitles a male employee a leave of five days. This benefit is restricted to a maximum of two children only. And in cases where employees have opted for adoption, this policy can still be availed. “Introducing such a policy has several positive implications. It helps in building emotional loyalty with the staff and christens the company as an ‘employer of choice’,” adds Venkatesh. Mini Khanna Chaudhuri, Head-HR, India Business, Microland adds, “Today, we are observing trends where nuclear families and working couples are on the rise and are centered in cities, away from senior members of the family. More and more young couples are having children in their place of stay, without their family members around, for support, thus making it imperative for fathers too, to contribute towards the baby’s well-being,” says Chaudhuri. At Microland, a paternity leave of five days is given to the male employee that can be used anytime, within three months of the child’s birth. Microland pays for all benefits during the leave period of the male employee.
PATERNAL INSTINCTS
Ranvir Sikand (name changed) didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity of spending every single moment with his child, when his bundle of joy was born. For him, spending a few hours with his newborn before and after work just wasn’t good enough. Luckily for Sikand, his employer, Synygy India Pvt Ltd. was supportive and let him work from home for two days in a week so as to enable him to take care of his newborn baby. When Vikram Jha’s (name changed) spouse gave birth to premature twins, he was allowed to take a month’s leave to take care of his personal responsibilities, by Synygy. “Many companies in the West and even in India have provisions for paternity leave. However, what is more important is that, irrespective of classification of leave, a father should be given leave of absence, as necessary, on such a great occasion in his life. On the part of the company, this has to be within the overall annual leave entitlements’ policy. The objective, for an organisation is not so much to keep giving leaves under various occasions, but to spare the employee at the right time and occasion, depending on the joy or solemnity of the occasion,” says S K Dutt, Head - Group HR, ABG Group of Companies. At Infosys BPO, around 111 employees, last year, have availed this benefit. Paid leaves are only for five days, at Infosys BPO, and for the remaining days, the employee will be availing earned leaves in case he is unable to join work.
At Synygy, in case of emergency, the father of a newborn can increase his leave or make use of the flexibility options, by either working half days or working from home. The employee is also eligible for an Rs.25, 000 allowance, which is paid after child’s birth to reimburse any medical or miscellaneous expenses that may arise. In cases where the employee is not able to rejoin work within the estimated time frame, he is allowed to work from home or with his mentor’s pre-approval allowed to change his work timings.
PATERNAL BLISS
IBM provides paternity leaves to all its male employees, irrespective of their designation/position in the hierarchy ladder /time spent in the organisation etc. The ‘IBM Paternity Leave Policy’ entitles male employees to avail their leaves within 120 days of the birth/adoption of their child. Employees can avail paternity leave up to a maximum of five days and it should be taken as a single block and cannot be broken down into parts. Committed to creating a flexible work environment, IBM provides employees with a variety of flexibility options and these options are available to male employees too, who after serving their paternity leave period are looking for greater flexibility. The ones who want to spend more time with his child/wife or need to address certain health issues pertaining to them or if he has triplets to take care of, the gratitude of the right employer can do wonders! Here are a few steps adopted by IBM: 1) Individualised work schedule: Employees in consultation with their respective managers can work out a special working hour schedule, 2) Telecommuting: The employee utilising this option is on the move, uses shared IBM workspace such as visitor centers, and does not have a dedicated desk, 3) Work-athome: Employees can perform their regular work schedule at home, 4) Leave of absence: This is to provide the employee with the option of being absent from work, without salary, for a period of time in order to manage a personal situation.
So when will men start getting three months’ paternity leave? It will certainly even things up, right? But organisations believe in taking one step at a time and male employees too, aren’t complaining.
Courtesy : Times Ascent
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