Intel India expands maternity, adoption benefits for employees

New Delhi: Tech giant Intel today said it has increased maternity leave benefits to five months and doubled paternity benefits for its employees in India. It has also increased leave to 10 working days for male employees and 150 calendar days for women employees for those adopting, in line with maternity and paternity programmes.[caption id=“attachment_1242981” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The Intel logo. Reuters[/caption] Microsoft, Adobe and Flipkart had also earlier reworked their schemes related to maternity and paternity benefits. “Maternity leave is increased from 84 calendar days to 150 calendar days (5 months)… Women employees returning from maternity will be entitled to work part-time on full pay for up to one month (30 calendar days) post their return to work,” Intel said in a statement. The company has increased paternity leave from five working days to 10 working days (two weeks), it added. “Intel India today announced important changes to its employee benefit programmes, reaffirming its commitment towards being a diversity-focused and family-friendly employer. These changes are effective from September 1, 2015,” it said. The changes aim to bolster Intel India’s employee benefit offerings in the maternity, paternity and adoption space, while boosting the overall experiences of women employees who are new or soon-to-be-mothers, it added. “Diversity and inclusion are key business imperatives at Intel. Our corporate business principles, policies and strategic initiatives are designed to further develop and retain our diverse workforce. This leads to a work environment where every employee feels productive, valued, motivated and committed to do their very best,” Intel India president Kumud Srinivasan said. Last month, e-Commerce major Flipkart liberalised its maternity and paternal leave policy and also offered an allowance of Rs 50,000 to employees looking to adopt children. Other global tech majors like Adobe, Netflix and Microsoft have made similar announcements as part of their efforts to support workforce diversity and ensure that women return to workforce post their maternity breaks. PTI