New Delhi: There is a possibility of increasing maternity benefits to motivate women to work in the financial sector. Global financial companies in India are expanding maternity benefits in an effort to attract and retain women employees.
These efforts also include many perks that have not been seen before or will not be seen anywhere else. Let us tell you that less than a quarter of adult women work in India, which is one of the lowest rates in the world.
Aditya Mittal, Chief Human Resources Officer, Citi India and South Asia, said that without the participation of women, we will never be able to become a developed country. The bank announced last week that new mothers will now have the option to work from home for a year after their paid leave ends.
According to the World Bank’s Gender Data Portal, India already has a mandatory minimum maternity leave of 26 weeks at full salary. This is in stark contrast to the US, where there is no legal provision for paid leave. There, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp. both offer 16 weeks of leave for all new parents. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. gives 20 weeks of leave to parents. At the same time, Barclays has increased parental leave to 16 weeks for all American caregivers.
HSBC is recruiting wealth bankers for its reestablished private banking unit and Citigroup has identified India as one of its top markets for expansion. It is important to include talented women in the recruitment drive and retain the women already working in banks. In addition to required onsite daycare, HSBC Holdings plc provides female employees with a monthly child care allowance of up to $216 to pay for a nanny to care for children up to 6 years of age.
Archana Chadha, head of human resources at HSBC India, said that the bank found that many of its employees want to keep their children at home. In such situations, new parents usually rely on nannies. The London-based bank, which has around 39,000 employees in India, also offers flexible working hours and career growth after delivery to new mothers. He said that its aim is to provide support to women when they come back to work and make their lives easier.
Morgan Stanley can cover the cost of cab rides for pregnant employees in Mumbai and Bangalore to avoid crowded buses and trains. HR head Rajat Mathur said that we found that a lot of women left at that stage simply because it was very difficult to travel in public transport in those months.
