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Cos go extra mile with flexi-maternity leave
Mumbai: Organizations are
gradually warming up to the idea of allowing woman employees to decide how
they wish to take their maternity leave (ML). This was not the case
earlier, when the leave was offered as ‘bulk’ ML.
To ensure women officers are able to balance their
roles as mothers and their work, Citi India introduced a new flexible
maternity policy that entitles one to avail 180 days in three options.
Women officers at Citi can avail leave for a continuous period of six
months, or opt for either a four-month leave and two one-month periods, or
a five-month period followed by a month of leave. The choice is hers.
Flexible ML allows a woman employee to multi-task
between home and work priorities during this crucial phase in her life, by
ensuring adequate support for an extended time period. “Women at the
workplace often face preconceived notions and unconscious biases regarding
their ability to multi-task or on their serious commitment towards work
from fellow colleagues. Consequently, they may be assigned to less complex
or demanding roles, which could affect the way they contribute or how their
potential is maximized by the organization,” said Anuranjita Kumar, country
human resources officer, Citi India.
In addition to the staggered maternity leave
policy, Citi introduced enhanced performance guidelines to enable
consistent and high-performing women officers that are proceeding or
returning from maternity to maintain their performance rating. So a manager
will determine the better of two ratings (manager rating v/s average rating
of the last two years) and arrive at the final rating for the performance
year. These policies were introduced in 2012, India being the first country
within Citi’s Asia-Pacific region to do so.
At JP Morgan India as well, a staff member has the
option to stagger her leaves.
Typically, most private sector organizations in India have a three-month
maternity leave benefit. Employees can club this with other pending leave
that they have to extend the same, possibly by another month or half.
Commenting on flexible work options, Mahesh Aras, MD & head HR, JP
Morgan India, said: “While this is dependent of the nature of the role and
applicable regulations, where possible, the firm recognizes an employee’s
decision to opt for flexible work options or a sabbatical. An employee can
avail of these options after discussions with her manager.”
“For women professionals who have family help at
home, this can be a viable option if staggered. This way, they can take
some leave immediately after birth and re-join sooner so that they can take
their remaining maternity leave in a staggered manner, timed as per the
baby’s important milestones,” said Simran Oberoi, knowledge advisor, SHRM,
a global association devoted to human resource management.
HSBC India, on the other hand, allows women
employees to club their privilege leave (PL) of 25 working days with ML.
This can be followed by leave without pay of up to four months on approval
by the business head. “We also offer new mothers returning from leave
various flexible work arrangement options. One of them is working
part-time, where the employee can work for 4.5 hours per day. The other
option available to new mothers is telecommuting. Under this option, a new
mother can work in the office premises during the core working hours of
10:00 am to 4:00 pm. The remaining three hours she can telecommute. This
option is available up to three months from return from ML,” said Vikram
Tandon, head of HR, HSBC India.
JP Morgan also has a maternity buddy programme,
while HSBC is exploring a maternity cover option, where for the duration
that the new mother is away, a temporary replacement is foundand then on
returning back, the employee can resume her role.
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