Across India, global financial firms are expanding maternity benefits to include perks rarely seen anywhere, as part of an effort to attract and retain women employees. In total, less than a quarter of adult women in India work, which is among the lowest in the world.
Individual Efforts of Firms
HSBC paid for bankers’ nannies in India for up to six years. Morgan Stanley allowed pregnant staff to expense cab rides, and Citigroup Inc. allowed new moms work to from home for a year after their maternity leave ran out.
Aditya Mittal, chief human resources officer of Citi India & South Asia, said, “We will never become a developed country without women’s participation.” The bank last week announced that new moms will now have the option to work from home for up to a year after their paid leave ends.
Overall Framework related to Maternity Benefits
India mandates a minimum 26 weeks of maternity leave at full pay — among the most in the Group of 20 economies, according to the World Bank’s Gender Data Portal — and employers with more than 50 employees are required offer a creche, or daycare, onsite or close by. PM Narendra Modi’s government also launched a job training program for women in 2021, and last year touted that adopting flexible hours could be a way to encourage women to work outside the home.
India’s position is in stark contrast to the US, where there is no legal provision for paid leave at all. There, JP Morgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corporation both offer 16 weeks off for all new parents. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. gives moms and dads 20 weeks off. Barclays has boosted parental leave to 16 weeks for all US caregivers.
As a consequence of the growing tensions between US and China, banks are hungry for talent in India. Many global lenders are targeting the country, drawn by its fast-growing economy and burgeoning middle class. Dealmaking has surged. HSBC is recruiting wealth bankers for its reestablished private banking unit, and Citigroup has identified India as one of its top markets for expansion.
Including talented women in the recruitment program, and retaining those already working at the banks, requires addressing the specific needs of female employees in the world’s most-populous country. In addition to the required on-site daycare, HSBC Holdings Plc provides female employees with a monthly childcare allowance of up to $216 to pay for a nanny to look after kids up to age of 6.
Archana Chadha, head of human resources at HSBC India, said that the bank found that many of its employees wanted to keep their children home, and a nanny adds to the traditional extended-family support systems that new parents typically rely on. The London-based bank, with about 39,000 employees in India, also provides new mothers with flexible hours and post-natal career development.
The HR head further said in an interview in Mumbai, “The idea is to provide support and make life easier for women when they come back to work.”
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