India extends paid maternity leave to 26 weeks

[B@tt!eDoom]

India’s lawmakers passed a bill Thursday that mandates 26 weeks of paid maternity leave for women, upping the benefit from its previous 12-week level, according to media reports.

The bill passed India’s upper chamber of Parliment, the Rajya Sabha, in August. It passed the lower house, the Lok Sabha, Thursday, after four hours of debate, much of it focused on paternal benefits.

“This is my humble gift to women, a day after the world celebrated the International Women’s Day,” said Labor Minister Bandaru Dattatreya, according to NDTV.

The new provisions only apply to a woman’s first two children. After that, the benefit is 12 weeks. They also only apply to women working in what is considered the organized sector of India’s economy, which accounts for about 10 percent of the country’s workers.

The vast majority of workers in India are considered unorganized, working for themselves or small business.

The government is already providing 26 weeks to its employees, according to NDTV.

A 2016 study by the Pew Research Center found that the United States was one of 41 developed countries that did not provide any paid parental leave mandated by the federal government. The U.S. is one of a handful of the 193 countries in the United Nations that does not offer paid paternal leave, NPR reported in 2016. The U.S. is joined by New Guinea, Suriname and a few South Pacific island nations.

“We urgently need to catch up in the United States. For a high-income country, we have some of the worst outcomes for our infants. We have some of the highest rates of infant mortality. We have huge health inequalities,” Jody Heymann, founding director of the World Policy Analysis Center at UCLA, told NPR.

Some states, including California, New Jersey and Rhode Island, have state-mandated paid-leave plans, according to Pew.

The Family and Medical Leave Act covers eligible employees for 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave.

Many private companies offer paid maternity leave for employees. Netflix offers unlimited paid parental leave for the first year.


http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/nation-world/national/article137603703.html

 

[Śakra]

Excellent news. It'll go a long way in helping women join (and remain) in the workforce.

 

[RISING SUN]

India’s New Maternity Leave Policy Puts the U.S. to Absolute Shame
In India, only 27% of women work, and that deficit costs the country an estimated 2.5 percentage points of gross domestic product per year. Last week, India's government made an attempt to rectify the problem by doubling its federally mandated paid maternity leave from three months to six.

The new, extended policy puts most of the rest of the world to absolute shame.

India's new 26 weeks of paid maternity leave surpasses France's 16-week leave and easily bests the 14 weeks available in Germany and Japan. If India was an OECD country it would rank sixth, alongside Israel and Poland, for longest paid leave. Only the U.K., Greece, Ireland, the Slovak Republic, and the Czech Republic offer new mothers more paid time off.

The United States, of course, guarantees women no paid leave at all. The Family Leave and Medical Act, made law in 1993, only ensures that eligible women don't lose their jobs if they take up to 12 weeks off after having a child, but the measure does not require that women be compensated during that time. The prospect of a federally mandated paid parental leave policy received unprecedented attention in last year's presidential election with both candidates rolling out their own proposals for nation-wide measures.

Since winning the White House, President Donald Trump has not officially introduced a plan, but he referenced paid leave for "parents" during his address to a joint session of Congress in late February, and First Daughter Ivanka Trump is reportedly pushing for Congressional support for a paid parental leave measure and child care tax benefits. The proposal President Trump endorsed on the campaign trail would give new moms six weeks of paid leave, which—if the measure passes—would put the U.S. in last place among OECD countries, tied with Australia and Portugal, which also guarantee six weeks.

Despite its generosity, India's new law has its flaws. It only applies to the nation's 1.8 million female workers in so-called organized labor and only if their company employs 10 or more people. Another 16 million women, who are either self-employed or work from home, exist outside that "organized labor" classification and won't be covered. There's also fear that the new policy will be a disincentive to hiring women because their potential leave is an additional expense and could be seen by employers as an inconvenience. But a reduction in turnover costs could offset the benefit's expense if the new policy causes fewer women to leave the workforce to have children.

More broadly, there's hope that the new policy will make Indian business more accommodating to women. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for one, is convinced of its upside. On social media, he called the bill a “landmark moment in our efforts towards women-led development.”
http://fortune.com/2017/03/13/us-maternity-leave-india-new/

India more than doubles paid maternity leave
India's parliament has more than doubled its paid maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks. The move entitles working mums-to-be in that country the third longest duration of fully paid maternity leave in the world.

It follows behind only Canada and Norway, which give 50 and 44 weeks respectively, according to the BBC. The global average is 20 weeks, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Paid parental leave in New Zealand is set at 18 weeks.

However, the new law doesn't come without some conditions. It will be available to women for their first two children only, after which they will be entitled to 12 weeks of paid leave. And it will apply to businesses which employ more than 10 people. India's minister of women and child development Maneka Gandhi says "this will help thousands of women and lead to much healthier children." While, labour minister Bandaru Dattatreya says the law is "a humble gift" to women. Activists believe it'll encourage more women to pursue their careers after pregnancy, increasing female workforce participation. At present, women account for just 29 per cent of India's workforce.

A survey by Assocham India found that a quarter of Indian women give up their careers after having a baby.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/p.../india-more-than-doubles-paid-maternity-leave

 

[Indika]

India’s New Maternity Leave Policy Puts the U.S. to Absolute Shame
In India, only 27% of women work, and that deficit costs the country an estimated 2.5 percentage points of gross domestic product per year. Last week, India's government made an attempt to rectify the problem by doubling its federally mandated paid maternity leave from three months to six.

The new, extended policy puts most of the rest of the world to absolute shame.

India's new 26 weeks of paid maternity leave surpasses France's 16-week leave and easily bests the 14 weeks available in Germany and Japan. If India was an OECD country it would rank sixth, alongside Israel and Poland, for longest paid leave. Only the U.K., Greece, Ireland, the Slovak Republic, and the Czech Republic offer new mothers more paid time off.

The United States, of course, guarantees women no paid leave at all. The Family Leave and Medical Act, made law in 1993, only ensures that eligible women don't lose their jobs if they take up to 12 weeks off after having a child, but the measure does not require that women be compensated during that time. The prospect of a federally mandated paid parental leave policy received unprecedented attention in last year's presidential election with both candidates rolling out their own proposals for nation-wide measures.

Since winning the White House, President Donald Trump has not officially introduced a plan, but he referenced paid leave for "parents" during his address to a joint session of Congress in late February, and First Daughter Ivanka Trump is reportedly pushing for Congressional support for a paid parental leave measure and child care tax benefits. The proposal President Trump endorsed on the campaign trail would give new moms six weeks of paid leave, which—if the measure passes—would put the U.S. in last place among OECD countries, tied with Australia and Portugal, which also guarantee six weeks.

Despite its generosity, India's new law has its flaws. It only applies to the nation's 1.8 million female workers in so-called organized labor and only if their company employs 10 or more people. Another 16 million women, who are either self-employed or work from home, exist outside that "organized labor" classification and won't be covered. There's also fear that the new policy will be a disincentive to hiring women because their potential leave is an additional expense and could be seen by employers as an inconvenience. But a reduction in turnover costs could offset the benefit's expense if the new policy causes fewer women to leave the workforce to have children.

More broadly, there's hope that the new policy will make Indian business more accommodating to women. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for one, is convinced of its upside. On social media, he called the bill a “landmark moment in our efforts towards women-led development.”
http://fortune.com/2017/03/13/us-maternity-leave-india-new/

India more than doubles paid maternity leave
India's parliament has more than doubled its paid maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks. The move entitles working mums-to-be in that country the third longest duration of fully paid maternity leave in the world.

It follows behind only Canada and Norway, which give 50 and 44 weeks respectively, according to the BBC. The global average is 20 weeks, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Paid parental leave in New Zealand is set at 18 weeks.

However, the new law doesn't come without some conditions. It will be available to women for their first two children only, after which they will be entitled to 12 weeks of paid leave. And it will apply to businesses which employ more than 10 people. India's minister of women and child development Maneka Gandhi says "this will help thousands of women and lead to much healthier children." While, labour minister Bandaru Dattatreya says the law is "a humble gift" to women. Activists believe it'll encourage more women to pursue their careers after pregnancy, increasing female workforce participation. At present, women account for just 29 per cent of India's workforce.

A survey by Assocham India found that a quarter of Indian women give up their careers after having a baby.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/p.../india-more-than-doubles-paid-maternity-leave

After europe, I think India must be trailing behind as far as benefits are concerned. US is a capitalistic society where every thing is seen wrt money their attitude towards welfare of employees will be the last thing on their mind.