‘Pay me for paternity leave’

The Delhi high court will decide on Friday whether a male employee is entitled to paternity leave to take care of his wife and newborn.

The case assumes importance as many private sector firms deny the mandatory paternity leave of 14 days to employees.

A private school teacher, Chandramohan, has challenged the deduction in his salary while he was on paternity leave. NK Bagrodia Public School had rejected his application for paternity leavelast year.

This is the first litigation over paternity leave in the country. Chandramohan said he had to stay away from work to take care of his wife after she gave birth to their child in December 2008. The school deducted his salary on the ground that it had no provision for paternity leave.

Chandramohan’s lawyer Ashok Aggarwal said in a petition to the court that unaided schools in the capital were bound to provide paternity leave for a fortnight 60 days before or after delivery.

According to the Delhi Education Act and Rules, employees of unaided public schools are entitled to all benefits enjoyed by their counterparts in government schools. In 1999, the Centre said all its employees would get paternity leave for a fortnight. The Delhi government notified the same for its employees and staff of unaided public schools. Yet, Chandramohan had to move court to get his dues.