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Maternity leave: Govt. employees to get 6-month break for surrogacy— here are the new rules for ‘commissioning’ couples - Karma Global
The Central Government amends the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules to grant 180 days maternity leave for surrogacy, paternity leave for commissioning fathers and child care leave for commissioning mothers. Read Karma Global’s compliance-focused analysis on the updated rules.
Original publication: 2024-07-23 15:03:16
Government employees get 6 months maternity leave for surrogacy: new rules for commissioning couples
Sweeping technological advancements are creating a sea change in today’s regulatory environment. The pace of development of today’s innovations and the scope of the transformations they induce is unprecedented, and at times, regulatory frameworks may not be agile enough to keep up. This update highlights a key amendment to the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972, introducing maternity and related leave benefits for surrogacy-linked parenthood.
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Key change introduced by the amended leave rules
Women government employees can take 180 days of maternity leave in case they have children through surrogacy, following amendments to the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972. The amended rules clarify that in case of surrogacy, the surrogate as well as the commissioning mother with less than two surviving children may be granted maternity leave of 180 days, in case either or both of them are government servants.
Until this amendment, there were no rules to grant maternity leave to women government employees in the case of a child born through surrogacy. The new framework addresses this gap and provides formal leave entitlements under notified conditions.
Paternity leave for commissioning fathers
In case of a child begotten through surrogacy, the commissioning father who is a male government servant with less than two surviving children may be granted paternity leave of 15 days within the period of six months from the date of delivery of the child, as per the amended rules.
Child care leave provisions and the amendment reference
In case of surrogacy, the commissioning mother with less than two surviving children may be granted child care leave, as stated in the Central Civil Services (Leave) (Amendment) Rules, 2024, notified on June 18.
Existing rules allow a female government servant and a single male government servant child care leave for a maximum period of 730 days during the entire service for taking care of two eldest surviving children for rearing or for needs such as education, sickness and the like.
Definitions clarified in the amended rules
The Personnel Ministry clarified definitions in the amended rules: the surrogate mother means the woman who bears the child on behalf of the commissioning mother, and the commissioning father means the intending father of the child born through surrogacy.