Maternity leave extension, does it solve the real problem?

Enroute Kolkata, I read this news of new maternity leave policy of 26 weeks and suddenly I was in 2011 when I had decided to pursue motherhood over my career. With mixed feelings,  I looked at my 4 year old sitting next to me and I asked myself how six and a half months over three months maternity leave would have changed my decision then and here is all I could think of:

THE MOM IN ME

As an employee and a new mom, I would gladly welcome the move for extended paid leave to spend more time with a new born is indeed a boon for any working mom.Infact not many women join work just after three months of maternity break, they delay their comeback by a couple of extra months using their balance leaves and sometimes "leave without pay". 

Though even after four years I feel like my son still needs me all the time, as per milestone charts, a six month old baby is little more grown-up and can be weaned away from moms more easily than a three month old infant.

THE OTHER SIDE

Having said that, apart from those milestones nothing much changes and many moms infact take the hard decision post this stage.  The concern for the small baby still remains while one is at work until and unless someone really has a strong family support system, but then for that segment 3 months and 6 months wouldn’t have changed the scenario. So all said and done, the new policy is not changing the face but postponing the dilemma of a new mom.

Mothers are needed at different stages while the child is growing. If that was not true than why would women continue quitting jobs even when their kids are at a school going age?

Aren’t we just increasing the cost of retaining female employees in the system and in turn discouraging potential employers from hiring them? My experiences with various organizations have given me enough incidences to quote where hiring a female employee raised questions around her expected family plans. A baby bump does get linked to one’s current and expected performance and this happens everywhere.

Even after joining back the question is how would companies handle the 6 months leave period with annual appraisal cycles. After being out of the system for 6 months will it be easy to perform at par for the next six months and demand the same rating? How would this exemption be dealt with?

One of the booming segments of today’s Indian market are start-ups. But the scenarios there change overnight and most of them still struggle with three months maternity leave so will they be able to afford a six months break from the system?

WHAT IS REALLY NEEDED?

I still feel women need more support in terms of better work infrastructure if they have to be equal players in the game. A mother has a life-time role and attention is needed at different stages. Daycares, work policies, flexi-hours, leave on special days, kids area at work, maids on calls, activity school tie-ups are some other possibilities which can support this extension.

As much as a mother is important in a life of a child so is a father, hence organizations should encourage men by providing paternity leaves and all the other facilities which are required to participate and help them experience the wonders of fatherhood. Equality is not gender specific and fathers too should get the benefit of childcare as much as mothers do. This will also help in inculcating a culture where child birth is considered a celebration and not a career hindrance for the employee and employer.

These are just my thoughts and come with my past experiences of being a mom and also working in HR for close to a decade now. But like any other working parents my career and my child are both my priorities and I am happy with one just because I have the other one. We need organizations and policies which can help us in creating happy and healthy kids for TOMMOROW.   

By Rakshita Dwivedi