Leave rules ammended to include pre-adoption foster care

The Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules have been revised by the government to ensure equal provisions for male and female government servants regarding child adoption and paternity leave. The recent amendment allows female government servants to take child adoption leave, while male government servants are granted paternity leave, specifically for pre-adoption foster care of a child below one year of age. This applies to individuals who have less than two surviving children.

Previously, Rule 43AA of the CCS (Leave) Rules, 1972, entitled male government servants to a 15-day paternity leave within six months from the date of a valid adoption. Similarly, Rule 43B allowed female government employees to take a 180-day child adoption leave immediately after the date of adoption.

To address the need for leave during the pre-adoption foster care period, the department of personnel and training issued a notification on May 15, 2023, introducing the Central Civil Services (Leave) (Amendment) Rules. According to the amended Rule 43AA, paternity leave can now be granted not only from the date of actual adoption but also for pre-adoption foster care. If the government employee does not proceed with adopting the child, any leave already taken will be deducted from their remaining leave balance.

Likewise, the amended Rule 43B allows female central government employees with fewer than two surviving children to receive child adoption leave for up to 180 days when accepting a child in pre-adoption foster care or through valid adoption, depending on the circumstances. If the foster care does not result in the adoption of the child, this leave will be deducted from any other category of available leave.

During the 15-day paternity leave for male employees and the 180-day child adoption leave for female employees, the salary will be equivalent to the pay received prior to going on leave.