24 October 2008
Motherhood is a truly special experience and organisations are waking up to the need of providing necessary support as well as medical benefits to their women employees. As more and more women join the workforce, such benefits are but a step to ensure that a woman employee does not have to sacrifice her career to fulfill her role as a mother.
Larger public sector undertakings (PSUs), public and private sector banks, the IT/ITES sector, and other multinational companies are generally sensitive to the needs of their female staff especially when they are pregnant. Such organisations have provisions for maternity leave which may vary from three to six months.
Some even allow young mothers to extend their maternity leave to a year (without pay of course) depending on how long the employee has been associated with the organisation. Some organisations, especially in the IT sector, allow their women employees to work from home for a limited period of time. They also provide day care facilities for the young children of employees as well.
A good HR policy for the women employees will ensure that they receive maternity as well as other health benefits including group medical insurance cover. Check with the HR department of your organisation to find out more about your company policy on maternity leave.
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