Let's popularise paternity leave
Recently, a social media post from the clothing and lifestyle brand Aarong went viral. It was titled "Embracing Fatherhood," and mentioned that Aarong provides one month of paternity leave to its male employees to care for and bond with their newborns – which people highly appreciated.
Fathers are frequently regarded as the heads of their families, and someone who can have the most impact on children's development. In the initial stage of parenthood, it is necessary for a father to be there for his partner and their newborn, and to celebrate some of the most precious moments of their lives together with family and friends.
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An adequate paternity leave period increases a father's likelihood of being involved in the lives of his young children. This can lead to improvements in gender equality at work and at home, and may introduce positive changes in interpersonal interactions, parenting responsibilities, and ingrained preconceptions of how parenthood should be.
In most families, a mother often performs the majority of childcare duties. But fathers are vital to the proper development of their children as well. According to recent studies, fathers who are actively involved in their children's upbringing might be able to have a beneficial long-lasting impact on them.
Normally, if a female employee becomes pregnant while working, she is eligible to receive maternity leave. Assuring a maternity leave period of at least 14 weeks is required under Article 4(1) of the Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 of the International Labour Organization (ILO). Female government employees are entitled to six months of leave under Section 197(1) of the Bangladesh Service Rules, as amended on January 9, 2011. And under Section 46 of the Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006, women employees are entitled to 16 weeks of maternity leave.
But what about male employees whose partners are pregnant or have given birth? Most workplaces in Bangladesh do not offer paternity leave to their male workers, even though this is a well-established practice in many other countries.
In 2021, 115 of the 185 countries assessed by the ILO were found to be offering the right to paternity leave, with 33 new countries having implemented such a policy in the last 10 years. This indicates the growing acceptance of men's role in child care, because it means that 4 out of 10 prospective fathers reside in countries that offer paternity leave. However, approximately two-thirds of potential fathers (1.26 billion men) don't have access to paternity leave and are thus missing out on the chance to form close relationships with their newborns. In some countries, men are also discouraged from using their paternity leave due to gender norms that dictate that men should be breadwinners and women should be caregivers.
As such, companies should actively encourage fathers to take time off to care for their newborn children by developing a supportive workplace culture, and ensure that fathers are not subjected to discrimination for engaging in caregiving activities in order to enhance the take-up rates for paternity leave.
Considering how crucial a father is to a child's development, it is long past due for the government to consider passing a paternity leave law for male employees in Bangladesh. Fathers who take paternity leave get the chance to spend quality time with their newborns and are able to participate more actively in family life. Additionally, the increased involvement of men in domestic tasks enables women to better balance their personal and professional responsibilities.
Providing paternity leave benefits the company as well. Levelling the playing field for men and women makes the workplace family-friendly and aids companies in reducing gender gap. Paternity leave should be provided to all male employees so that they can care for their partners and newborns throughout and after pregnancy. Any such provision ought to encourage an accepting workplace where fathers are welcomed into parenthood, including being provided with paid leave as part of the paternity benefits.
Shohana Islam Sraboni is a final-year student at the Department of Law and Human Rights, University of Asia Pacific.
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