Maternity Leave vs Parental Leave

Maternity Leave is leave that is given to mothers. Parental Leave includes Maternity, Paternity as well as adoption leave that may be utilised by any parent. Maternity leave for the mother is a generally accepted norm although the duration for this varies from 8 weeks to 52 weeks depending on the country and the local laws. this is generally paid leave and in case it needs to be extended can be done as unpaid leave. The parental leave for the father is only available in a few countries. Mostly the paid leave is only for a few days.

The maternity leave is essentially for the natural mother of the baby and starts either immediately before or after the birth of the baby. This is generally allowed in a single stretch. The parental leave however, can even be granted to Father, Mother or even to the grandparents in some countries and these benefits may even extend to adoption or adopted children. This need not be taken immediately after the birth and can also be utilized for family events relating to the immediate family.

The maternity leave is generally incorporated in the national law for the workers due to the medical requirements of the mother immediately after pregnancy whereas the Parental leave is generally allowed on compassionate grounds. Mostly parental leave is granted by the bigger corporations as a way to attract good workers and keep down the attrition rates.

Even though most corporations have accepted maternity leaves in their system there are still a lot of critics against parental leave. The corporate sector feels that enforcing this would generally lead to discrimination at the time of hiring workers especially in the smaller organization.

Summary

1. Maternity leave granted to Mothers while Parental leave can be for Fathers also.
2. Maternity leave is generally paid leave for the entire duration however the Parental leave can be combination of paid and unpaid leave.
3. Maternity leave essentially for Natural Mothers while Parental can be for Fathers and also Grandparents and can even extend to adopted children.
4. Maternity leave starts immediately after the birth whereas the parental leave may be for family events.
5. Maternity Leave is generally ensured by the law however Parental Leave is still not covered by law in most countries.
6. Maternity leave is generally accepted by the industry while there still are critics for the Parental Leave.

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