10 September 2010
By Mahendra Kumar Singh
New Delhi, India
In a move that may help boost gender parity in government jobs currently heavily skewed in favour of the male workforce, the UPA government is set to relax the norms for childcare leave for its women employees.
Women workers will now be able to take two years (730 days) of childcare leave (CCL), even if they have earned leaves. So far, mothers on government rolls could take 730 days of CCL during their entire service for caring for up to two children–whether rearing, or to look after their needs during exams, sickness, etc–only if they had no earned leaves left. ‘Give leave benefits to single fathers’ New Delhi: Women government employees will now be able to take two years (730 days) of childcare leave (CCL), even if they have earned leaves left, the Centre has announced.
In the past, many women employees and their associations resented the link between CCL and earned leave. The change is effective September 1, 2008.
Interestingly, while the new rule has taken care of the grievances of women employees, many in government feel that CCL should be extended to single parents among male employees as well. According to the new rules, CCL will be treated like an earned leave and can be availed of by women with children aged less than 18 years. In case of those with physically challenged children, the age limit is 22 years.
CCL can be granted to a probationer under extreme situations, and only if the sanctioning authority is fully satisfied, and the period for which the leave is sanctioned during probation is minimal.
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