Jabong extends Maternity leave to 6 months

Much before the Maternity Benefits (Amendment) Bill becomes an Act, corporates have started making changes in their maternity leaves already. Online fashion portal Jabong has extended the company’s maternity leave to six months from the earlier practice of three months leave.

In a statement by Jabong, the move, which comes ahead of the Maternity Benefits (Amendment) Bill 2016 expected to be tabled in Lok Sabha in the upcoming Winter Session, is part of Jabong’s endeavour to enable a conducive working environment for young expectant mothers.

“Women represent 30 per cent of Jabong’s workforce and (impact) 60 per cent of our revenue. We believe that making our culture more inclusive is an economic imperative for the success of our organisation and the country,” Jabong CHRO Deepa Chadha said.

While the legal requirement on maternity leave is three months, firms like Hindustan Unilever, Accenture, Microsoft and Flipkart have proactively enhanced it to benefit their women employees.

Jabong, which was acquired by Myntra in July, already offers in-house creche, flexi-timings and work from home among other programmes.