Microsoft shows its soft, family side

new delhi — Microsoft India on Saturday said it has enhanced all types of paternal leave benefits and introduced a new family caregiver leave — which entails four weeks of paid leave to take care of an immediate family member.

From April 21, Microsoft India has enhanced all types of paternal leave benefits such as paternity, adoption and surrogacy.

Besides, the company has introduced a new family caregiver leave benefit, which includes four weeks of paid leave to take care of an immediate family member with a serious health condition.

Definition of family in this case is spouse/domestic partner, parent/in-law, sibling, grandparent or child. With effect from February 2016, maternity leave at Microsoft India is 26 weeks.

Paternity leave at Microsoft India has been extended to 6 weeks from 2 weeks, while adoption leave for mothers has been enhanced to 26 weeks and for fathers it is increased to 6 weeks and surrogacy leave for mothers has been introduced at 26 weeks.

We hope the extended parental leave benefits will further improve work-life balance for our employees Ira Gupta, head of HR, Microsoft India

“This move is reiteration of Microsoft’s commitment to empower its employees through a suite of benefits,” Microsoft India director - human resources Ira Gupta said.

“We hope the extended parental leave benefits will further improve work-life balance for our employees, and help them transition back to the workplace at a time and pace that is more conducive to such a major development in their lives,” Gupta added.

Gupta further said that Microsoft India is actively reviewing its family leave policies across the globe to ensure that all countries offer an appropriate level of paid leave to support Microsoft employees and their families.

“At Microsoft, we are continually assessing, refining, and enhancing the world-class benefits we offer to ensure we are meeting the needs of our diverse employee population,” Gupta said. — PTI