Opinion on Maternity Bill Passing by Priya Krishnan, CEO, KLAY

"As great a step as this is in its intent, we view the passing of the Maternity Benefits Amendment bill with both excitement as well as apprehension. Though the bill is a great start towards ensuring that women can continue to contribute to the economy of India. The apprehension is down to a multitude of unanswered questions and their potential impact.
For one, the law’s silence on paternity leave is questionable. It further reinforces the age old social norm that childcare is exclusively the mother’s responsibility. The fact that only maternity leave has a statutory backing and paternity leave doesn’t, threatens gender diversity and equality at workplaces as employers may prefer to hire more men over women.
If one were to look at the Nordic countries, we can see that they have closed over 80% gender gap. The one thing that stands out in achieving this, is the introduction of family or paternity leave policies for the workforce. Such policies allow both men and women to take time off from their careers for child or elder care and lets them return to the workforce at the same level.
Further, an increase in the maternity leave to 26 weeks, means an increase in the total cost to company for employers. The prominent question that lingers with this amendment is - whether employers would be offered any subsidy or rebate to ease this financial burden? Essentially now a woman who is being hired in a child bearing age is going to be seen as a more expensive hire if there is no support from the government to employers.

Way forward
While framing the Rules, our hope is that the authorities take into account not just the notional factors but have a holistic view of all possible outcomes of the act, some of which are shared above."