Can fathers get paternity leave in India?

Employees working in the public sector get certain paternity leave benefits. Male employees with less than 2 surviving children get a leave of 15 days to take care of their newborn/ adopted child. ¹ A man can avail this leave 15 days before delivery, or within 6 months from the date of delivery of the child. The payment during the leave will be equal to the pay last drawn immediately before proceeding on leave.

However, this concept does not exist for private-sector employees, unless specific companies allow for it. The proposed Paternity Benefit Bill, 2017 seeks to protect the paternity rights of working men, but it has not been passed yet.

1. Section 551 (A), Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules.[↩]