A bill has been introduced in Parliament to grant 45 days of leave to employees to take care of their parents.
This Bill seeks to introduce 45 days of mandatory paid leave for both government and private employees to care for elderly parents (aged 60+). This proposed leave is distinct from existing Child Care Leave (CCL) and covers medical and wellbeing needs.
Important Points of this Bill
- Employees caring for biological, step, adoptive, or parents-in-law aged 60 or older can get this leave
- Employees can take this leave up to 45 days over the entire service period.
- This will be a Paid leave with full salary, not debited from other leave accounts.
- This leave can be taken in one go or multiple spells.
Currently, there is no such provision of such leave in India. If an employee needs to take care of his/her father, he/she needs to take PL or CL. This leave if implemented will be a type of dedicated leave for taking care of parents.
In case of emergency, an employee may proceed on parent care leave without prior sanction, subject to submission of prescribed documents within seven working days from the commencement of such leave.
The employer shall dispose of the application within forty-eight hours of its receipt. If leave is refused on account of exigencies of service, the reasons for such refusal shall be recorded in writing and communicated to the employee.
If any employer denies parent care leave to an eligible employee without proper reason, or subjects an employee to adverse action for availing such leave, they shall be liable to a penalty ranging from fifty thousand rupees to two lakh rupees.
