Maternity Leave to increase from 12 to 26 weeks

Good news for women employees, with maternity leave to increase from 12 weeks to 26 weeks, as the government is set to tweak the guidelines regarding maternity leave.

Women and Child development minister Maneka Gandhi announced the scheme. “We had written to the Labour Ministry asking that the maternity leave be extended taking into account the six months of breastfeeding that is required post childbirth. The Labour Ministry has agreed to increase it to six-and-a-half months” according to a report in Indiatimes.com.

In a report in 2010, it was reported that India has about 23% of women workforce in the corporate sector. However, over the last decade, the number of women in corporate offices has risen sharply.

This news is sure to bring joy to the millions of Indian women who work in corporate offices. This is a welcome move, as even the most developed countries of the world like USA, Switzerland and New Zealand offer no more than 14 weeks off for maternity leave. With 26 weeks being given as maternity leave, it comes to almost 6 months in the year.

(Featured Image courtesy: wikipedia.org)

Related Articles

Stay Connected

1,378,511FansLike
640,000FollowersFollow
1,650,000SubscribersSubscribe

Latest Posts

MOST POPULAR