Zomato Started The Dialogue & Now¡¯s The Right Time To Discuss Paid Maternity & Paternity Leave

Reproductive rights, covered contraception in health insurance policies and gender pay gap are all issues that have made headlines in recent times. But there is a closely related issue that hasn't necessarily been given its share of attention - paid maternity and paternity leave, often referred to as paid parental leave.

Last evening, food aggregate, Zomato set an unprecedented standard for paternity leave in India. Deepinder Goyal, founder of Zomato, in a series of tweets announced 26 weeks of paid leave for new fathers. Citing a lack of universal paid paternal leave as the core issue that leads to fewer woman leaders in organisations, the community, and the nation, Goyal said that the result was a pressing lack of diversity across all levels of the workforce - something that needs be dealt with proactively. This policy also applies to cases of surrogacy, adoption, and same-sex partners. Zomato has promised new parents an endowment of $1000, per child.

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While Zomato has certainly set a benchmark for employers all over the world, the fact is - regardless of the circumstances, taking unpaid time off isn¡¯t an option for most people across the world. But is it now looking better than ever? Let¡¯s dig deeper.

1. United States of America:

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You might find it hard to believe, but USA is the only developed country that offers zero weeks of paid leave to new mothers at the federal level. What the United States does offer, under the Family and Medical Leave Act, is a guarantee that a woman¡¯s job will be waiting for her after twelve weeks off¡ªbut none of that time is paid under federal law. Most women cannot afford to go so long without a paycheck, so basically the benefit adds up to one incentive - if it¡¯s one at all - you don¡¯t get fired.

2. Canada:

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Canada has set rather high standards for the rest of the world to follow. A quick summary of Canadian parental leave is as follows:

The government provides partial income to a family for almost a year after a baby is born, the mother is entitled to 17 weeks of unpaid leave and can go on leave as soon as 8 weeks before the baby is due. This includes a guarantee that your job will be waiting for you at the same pay when you return. Moreover, apart from the maternity leave is a 35-week parental leave that can be taken by either parent and the time may be split between the two parents. Tack that 35 weeks of parental onto the 17 weeks of maternity leave and someone can be home with baby for a whole year!

3. United Kingdom:

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Provided she meets a few eligibility requirements, any new mother in the United Kingdom can avail 52 weeks of maternity leave, but not on full pay. The United Kingdom government, in 2015, launched Shared Parental Leave Scheme which allows new parents to secure 50 weeks of leave, where 37 weeks will be paid. Given that statutory paternity leave lasts for just one or two weeks, so this is a major step forward.

4. Australia

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Down under in Australia, there is a legal requirement is to provide 12 months of maternity leave to new mothers. With the flexibility of choosing your time off, the payment is $695 per week for a maximum of 18 weeks. The best part? This policy is for any and all new mothers despite their income. How are employers able to afford something so expensive? By splitting 50% of total cost with the Australian government.

5. India

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At home, we are better off than most countries as far is our laws about maternity leaves are concerned. The Maternity Benefit Act was amended in 2017 to increase maternity leave entitlement from 12 weeks to 26 weeks, for the first two children, for 65 crore women. The amendments sought to reverse the decline in woman labor force participation as it dropped to 27% in 2017 from 35% in 1990. This was a social, political and economic imperative. However, paternity leave is capped at a week leaving the woman bearing the stress of raising the child.

Zomato has signaled a start but there¡¯s a long way to go. While most of these maternity and paternity leave laws in some countries look really good on paper, accessibility and correct implementation of the parental policy still needs further refinement.