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From boardroom participation to inclusive policies, India Inc is stepping up its efforts to recognise women at the workplace.
The Indian law mandates maternity benefits to female employees at the time of childbirth, under the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961.
However, there are a few companies, including tech giants like Accenture, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and SAP — that have gone beyond the basics.
Here are the five companies that extend adoption and paternity leave.
From boardroom participation to inclusive policies, India Inc is stepping up its efforts to recognise women at the workplace.
The Indian law mandates maternity benefits to women employees at the time of childbirth, under the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961. The maternity act is applicable to all companies employing over 10 people. Yet too many women continue to drop out of the workforce mid-career due to childcare and family responsibilities.
“Organizations across sectors have taken conscious steps to create an enabling environment for women as well creating the right infrastructure at the workplace to support the growth of women. The gender parity has improved significantly, with 28% organizations not differentiating between male and female apprentices. There is still a long path to walk, but the ecosystem is definitely getting more conducive and encouraging,” told Sumit Kumar, Vice President at NETAP, TeamLease.
However, there are a few companies, including tech giants like Accenture, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and SAP — that have gone beyond the basics.
In 2017, Accenture became the first company to equate adoption and surrogacy leave with maternity leave for female employees. Its ‘Returning Mothers Program’ enables flexi working, thereby helping new mothers to return to work.
“In an equal culture everyone feels they have an equal opportunity to belong, build a career and thrive. However, while organizations are making efforts to become more inclusive and equal, there seems to be a disconnect between their perceptions and those of their employees,” Lakshmi C, managing director and human resources head at Accenture told Business Insider.
With over a third of the total employees being women, TCS provides both maternity and adoption leave.
“This success is due to initiatives that weave diversity and inclusion into the ethos of the organization. We have multiple forward-looking policies such as maternity leave, special maternity leave, adoption and childcare which create this enabling environment. In addition, we also run programs internally such as Women Discussion Circles & Workplace Parents Group (WPG), that are meant to help through major life stages by mentoring, counselling and parenting workshops,” Ritu Anand, chief diversity officer at TCS told Business Insider.
Of the total 163,000 women employed at TCS, over 80% are in technology roles.
SAP India, which is also one of the most sought after workplaces in India, extends an adoption leave of over six months along with three weeks of paternity leave to encourage shared parenthood.
“SAP has set out to increase women in management in 2011 by establishing a target of having 30% women in leadership by 2022. Women technology leaders should narrate their success stories to encourage other women to follow suit,” said Sindhu Gangadharan, SVP and MD, SAP Labs India.
In addition, the company has an initiative called SAP Crèches, which is a childcare centre in Bangalore, which can accommodate 190 kids.
The global tech company offers maternity leave for adoptive mothers and via surrogacy for six months. It also has a four week paternity leave policy.
“It was our intention that birth mothers, adoptive mothers and commissioning mothers, all, have access to the same number of fully paid days during their maternity leave. This policy plays out the same for our employees who are (or part of) a couple, with same-sex partners,” said Tina Vinod – head of diversity and inclusion at ThoughtWorks.
Infosys offers a four month continuous paid leave to the primary caregiver along with other initiatives that support new mothers. Their Mom’s Net initiative focuses on integration of new mothers returning to work after maternity leave. It also offers childcare and workplace support.
“Regular sessions with senior leadership, training and talent teams are organized for new and expecting mothers to equip them with skills and new technologies required for upcoming projects,” said Aruna C. Newton, associate VP at Infosys.