Since 2015, the Department of Personnel and Training of the Government of India has instructed all central ministries and departments to execute the order of the Supreme Court of Delhi on providing maternity leave to women who have decided to have a child under the surrogacy program. Such leave will include both prenatal and postpartum periods.
An amendment to the Maternity Allowance Act of 1961, aimed at significantly increasing maternity leave for women, was adopted by the government in Last year. These changes allowed to increase the maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks. In addition, the amendment allows an additional 12 weeks to increase the leave for mothers who care for surrogate and / or adopted babies.
In an attempt to support and motivate its employees, as well as create an atmosphere of understanding and approval, the Indian office of the largest international commercial real estate agency, Cushman & Wakefield, introduced six months of leave for women working in the company, who had children under the surrogacy program.
In accordance with its internal social policy, Cushman & Wakefield will offer women six months’ leave to care for surrogate children while maintaining wages. Employees who use the services of surrogate mothers have the privileged right to provide such leave. This practice applies to female workers who have worked for at least 80 days during the twelve months immediately preceding the date of transfer of the child from the surrogate biological mother.
Depali Bhartwai, Executive Director, Personnel Policy, Cushman & Wakefield India, in an interview with People Matters says: “Cushman & Wakefield is one of the first companies operating in the Indian real estate market, which has demonstrated a civilized approach to the needs of its employees, and which will continue to pursue a social policy that is not only focused on the present of our employees and customers, but also on her future. From the point of view of the culture of the organization of the workflow, we make sure that not only our affairs were attractive, but also our attitude towards the people with whom we work together. True to our desire to use innovative practices of tomorrow, we have already introduced a system for providing leave to care for surrogate children, which will create a favorable working atmosphere in the team and set the direction for future changes in the industry. We already understand that surrogate motherhood is a topic that will soon become one of the defining moments in HR, and although many cannot yet assess the consequences of this trend, we believe that we have moved far ahead in bridging the gap between real and expedient”.
Based on «People Matters»