When do men get 3-6 months paid leaves ?.

Few days back i had posted on fb ' Just wondering if men get 1-3 months paid leave ? Don't they ever want or need long paid leaves in their 25-35 yrs of working life ?'

I thought about this while sharing my views on another topic with one of my fb freind had put . Happen to read this piece of news today ''On Thursday (Sept 8th) professional-services firm Deloitte LLP is announcing that it will offer up to 16 weeks of fully paid leave for a wide range of caregiving, including maternity and paternity leave, eldercare and aid for other sick family members or partners.'
http://www.wsj.com/articles/deloitte-to-offer-paid-leave-for-elder-caregiving-1473336000?mod=e2fb 


“The 6 month maternity leave. I am curious . Having a child is a conscious choice that most women exercise. To expect other agencies to participate in that decision and "pay the price" for the same seems a bit unfair, no? In an economy that is already struggling , to stall work for long periods of time will only hurt us, wont it? Instead, could we not have thought about better child care options at work place, greater involvement of fathers and so on? So everyone wins?”

This was one of the topic of discussion on Fb posted by one of my fb friend – and I completely agree to her point that why should other agencies be made to ‘Pay the price’ . But before I go on with my opinion – let me declare, my view are based on my personal experience and yes it lacks wider vision on who or which section of the society would actually benefit from this rule.

I have been part of IT professional work force, working in Private and MNC companies,where we get 3 months of paid maternity leave and probably 1-3 months of unpaid leaves. Being in this industry since 98 and I know how demanding the projects and work can be. How much managers are under pressure to get the project done at the scheduled deadlines with limited human resources. Many of the project duration is between 6 -12 months, the difficulty in getting the right mix of skills resources, the challenges to find a stable replacement and endless checkpoints which manager has to take care of  for the team members. Now in the team which is already into very tight schedule comes a lady , and within one month time manager is tod that she is pregnant –  morning sickness and other issues related to first trimester (worst scenario- bed rest candidates), manager cannot release the rlady out of the project as it will be considered discrimination, also any backup or extra resource to fill up the gap will be extra financial burden and manager might not have that budget/option.

Now when we say 3 months or 6 months of maternity leave – 6 months from when? Say the lady needs bed rest from first trimester itself – so she takes 6 months leave, assuming that , this cover the 9 months , can she join soon after Delivery ? No, so what is company expected to do ? Continue the leave as without pay leave? Btw why should company invest so much on a resource, when there is no guarantee that resource will join back to work after the maternity break ? Or even if she joins back might have utilization challenges?  Work from home is an option, but note that unless the resource is work wise independent (that is requires no guidance/overseeing) WFH option is again not productive, also there are times when its not feasible also . Now if the company decides to let go the resource that again becomes discrimination against women, pregnant women! As it is many managers avoid young women – you would hear this more often, if possible take males,as there would be long hours and late nights …. We cannot take the risks associated with young women getting married/pregnant in between … now 6 months paid leave … that’s going to be extra financial burden. Probably the companies would now come up with policies like ‘atleast 1 year of service with the company to avail paid maternity leave ..

Now take another situation – you have a male employee, he is one you your good resources. And god forbids, he is diagnosed with tumour or cancer and requires 6 months of Chemo therapy or surgery  and 6 months rest – What does the policy say?And say this  guy is the only earning member of the family and is father of an infant – will he get 6 months paid Leave ? and after that 6 months would he have the surety that he will have the job ?Another situation where this guy's spouse or child or mom or dad needs medical attention and he is the only one  to take care and needs 3-6 months break, would he be given paid leave? Is it not discrimination against men? When is that they get to take long 2-3 months paid leave for personal/medical reasons? 

Another case – The house help lady who comes in your home for daily chores – she has been working for you for last 5 yrs , and then she gets married and becomes pregnant , would you give her 6 months paid leave? Would you not work out your budget and smooth functioning of chores at home which would mean you would look for replacement and you will try to negotiate the wages and would also mean you would ‘Let Go’ your current house help of 5 yrs ? How many of us would think of at least help financially for medical needs of the Lady ? Forget pregnancy, say 50 yrs old lady working for you , meets with an accident and has multiple fracture and needs 6 months recovery time, would you think of paying 6 months salary to her ? When I put myself in these situation where I am the employer – my answer is ‘No’ even though I would like to do the right thing of paying for 6 months or financial help in the medical needs, but I have my own limitations and restrictions and I cannot and will not pay for even 3 months forget 6 months … That’s the fact . So now should I  expect my employer to pay me for 6 months ?

Yes I agree that pregnancy, going through  whole lot of pain , and the physiological, pschycological, financial, social family changes it brings in women’s life is just too much that 3 months is not enough , but expecting third party to share the expense for 6 months of the changes which comes in your life , am not sure if it is correct …  You need to plan for things .. even when things are unplanned …

I think this rule can work fine in Government set up, where people have 9-5 job (in kerela its 10:30 to 4) and they get benefits of steady and stable job. Infact in Kerala govt employees have the option of taking leave for 5 yrs and work abroad or in private company and come back and join or extend the leave if possible and still be eligible for all the after retirement benefits. So you see lot of peole who have taken leave from their govt jos and working in private IT (and other fields) companies – they get the best of both the worlds J That’s what – one need to plan and work out things to their advantage J

Though I agree 6 months  maternity is good to have as policy for  better future of children , but the fact remains that in cities the percentage of mother breast feeding even for first 3 months is Very low . Rural India I must admit I ve no idea how much this rule will help. Being mother of 2, for my elder one I took break from job and she was on exclusive breast feed or 6 months when she was 8 months old I joined back , I had to take a new job. After 6 years , i had a miscarriage and again i was entitled for 45 days paid leave, after 30 days I was back at work.(I found going back to work a good therapy to overcome my depression). For my 2 child (which happened after 7 years of my first delivery)  I was working till the previous day of delivery, I joined back after 4 months used to pump milk and on long days had to depend on supplements , Also I had too engage a nanny who would stay till 6 pm and then if I don’t reach back by 6 my husband you to take over .Though the intentions are good but not sure how much this rule will actually help in getting the desired result in terms of investment in future and GDP, and I feel 3 months paid leave is fair enough …  Many might get a feel that I am being too biased or tough ,insensitive but,I have seen many women at work misusing/manipulating the leave privileges which they get …. 

"A girl should not expect special privileges because of her sex, but neither should she "adjust" to prejudice and discrimination." - Betty Friedan