SEBI grants 15 days paternity leave for surrogacy to employees with fewer than 2 surviving children

Notification No. SEBI/LAD-NRO/GN/2022/111, Dated 30.12.2022

The SEBI has notified the SEBI (Employees’ Service) (Third Amendment) Regulations, 2022. An amendment has been made to regulations 40, 40A of the SEBI (Employees’ Service) Regulations, 2001. A new sub-regulation has been inserted which states that Paternity Leave for a period of 15 days may also be granted to a male employee with less than two surviving children in a case where fatherhood is a result of surrogacy, within 6 months from the day the custody of the child is given to him.

Further, new sub-regulations 5 & 6 have been inserted to the existing regulation 40 i.e ‘Maternity Leave’ of the SEBI (Employees’ Service) Regulations, 2001.

A new sub-regulation 5 states that a commissioning mother having less than 2 surviving children, who commissions a child through the applicable legal process, may be granted maternity leave for a period not exceeding 180 days within the overall admissibility of 360 days of maternity leave.

A “commissioning mother” has been defined in section 3(ba) of the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 as a biological mother who uses her egg to create an embryo implanted in any other woman.

For the purpose of this regulation, the period of maternity leave shall be calculated from the date the custody of the child is given to the commissioning mother.

Whereas, a new sub-regulation 6 states that a female employee with less than two surviving children, on adoption of a child below the age of one year, may be granted maternity leave for a period of 180 days within the overall admissibility of 360 days of maternity leave, from the date the custody of the child is given to her. The only condition is that the employee furnishes to the Board, the adoption deed or any other document as may be sought by the Board.

Earlier, no such regulations were there.

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