Child care leave

Child care leave (CCL) is a special leave under Rule 43-C of the CCS (Leave) Rules, 1972, that lets a woman government servant, and a single male government servant, take up to 730 days over the whole of their service to care for their two eldest surviving children. It is paid at full salary for the first 365 days and at 80 per cent for the next 365, and it is not debited to the ordinary leave account, which makes it one of the most valuable welfare provisions in central service.

It is also one of the most misunderstood, because the 730 days is a lifetime pool and not a yearly quota, because only a single male employee qualifies among men, and because the pay is no longer full for the entire period. This article sets out what child care leave is, the entitlement and the age limits, the salary during it, the conditions on spells and on the leave account, the eligibility of single male employees, and the recent extensions. It should not be confused with maternity leave , which is for childbirth, or with ordinary earned leave .

What child care leave is

Child care leave is granted to care for a child, whether for rearing or for a specific need such as education, an examination or sickness. It was introduced on the recommendation of the 6th Central Pay Commission, through a Department of Personnel and Training Office Memorandum dated 11 September 2008, and later given form as Rule 43-C of the CCS (Leave) Rules. The purpose, as the Commission framed it, is to let an employee attend to a child at a time of genuine need without exhausting the ordinary earned leave that the employee would otherwise use.

Two features set it apart. It is not maternity leave, which is granted under a separate rule for childbirth. And it is not a year-bound entitlement that lapses if unused; it is a lifetime pool that stays available until it is exhausted or the children age out of eligibility.

The entitlement

The maximum is 730 days, that is two years, during the entire service. This is not per child and not per year: it is a single pool shared across up to the two eldest surviving children, and once it is used across a career, no further child care leave is admissible.

The leave is for up to the two eldest surviving children. A third or later child does not create a fresh entitlement, because the ceiling is on the number of children, at two, not on which child is being cared for. For a normal child, the leave may be taken up to the age of 18. For a child with a disability of 40 per cent or more, certified as prescribed, there is no age limit, so child care leave for a qualifying disabled child can be availed at any age of the child, still within the 730-day pool; an earlier age cap for a disabled child was removed. A woman government servant is eligible regardless of marital status and without any minimum length of service.

The salary during child care leave

The most important recent change, and the point readers most often get wrong, is the pay. For the first 365 days of child care leave taken across a career, the leave salary is 100 per cent, equal to the pay drawn immediately before proceeding on leave. For the next 365 days, it is 80 per cent of the leave salary. This split was introduced by the Department of Personnel and Training Office Memorandum dated 11 December 2018, giving effect to the 7th Central Pay Commission; before it, all 730 days were paid at full salary.

The split is reckoned cumulatively across the whole service, not reset each year. So the first year’s worth of child care leave, whenever taken, is at full pay, and the second year’s worth is at 80 per cent, regardless of the calendar years in which the days fall. An employee planning a long spell should factor in that the later part of the pool pays less.

The conditions

Several conditions govern how child care leave is taken. A spell must be not less than 5 days at a time, an earlier 15-day minimum having been withdrawn, and not more than three spells may be taken in a calendar year. It is not ordinarily granted during probation, and may be allowed then only in an extreme situation for a minimal period. It may be combined with leave of any other kind, such as earned leave or half-pay leave.

The treatment in the leave account is the feature that makes child care leave so valuable. It is not debited to the earned-leave or half-pay-leave account; it is tracked separately against the 730-day pool and is treated as duty. Earned leave continues to be credited during child care leave, which means that taking it does not reduce the 300 days of earned leave an employee can encash at retirement, covered in leave encashment . It also counts for the annual increment and for qualifying service for pension. The Supreme Court, in Kakali Ghosh versus Chief Secretary, held that child care leave cannot be refused without recorded reasons of exigency, so while it is not an absolute right to a chosen date, it cannot be denied arbitrarily.

Single male government servants

Child care leave was originally a women-only entitlement. It was extended to a single male government servant by a Department of Personnel and Training Office Memorandum dated 6 June 2014. A single male government servant is understood as an unmarried, widowed or divorced man. A married male government servant is not eligible, which is a frequent source of grievance but is the settled position under Rule 43-C, the reasoning being that a married couple has the mother’s entitlement available.

Interactions and boundaries

A few boundaries are worth stating. There is no entitlement for a third child beyond the two eldest surviving children. The leave is not year-bound and does not lapse, so an unused balance simply remains available until the pool or the child’s eligibility is exhausted, but unused child care leave is not encashable, unlike earned leave. Because child care leave is not debited to the leave account and earned leave keeps accruing, availing it does not eat into the earned-leave encashment at retirement, which is a real financial advantage over using earned leave for the same purpose.

Recent extensions

Two welfare changes in 2024 widened child care leave. A commissioning mother, that is the intending mother of a child born through surrogacy, with fewer than two surviving children, was made eligible for child care leave on the same basis as a biological mother, by a Department of Personnel and Training notification dated 18 June 2024. And the limit of three spells in a year may be relaxed, by up to three additional spells, where the child is admitted to hospital as an inpatient, under an Office Memorandum dated 29 July 2024. Both changes reflect a continuing move to make the leave respond to the real circumstances of a parent.

Common errors

• Thinking the 730 days is per child or per year. It is a whole-service pool shared across up to two children.
• Assuming any male employee qualifies. Only a single male, unmarried, widowed or divorced, is eligible; a married male is not.
• Assuming full pay for all 730 days. It is full pay for the first 365 days and 80 per cent for the next 365, since December 2018.
• Confusing child care leave with maternity leave. They are separate rules for different purposes.
• Believing it is debited to the earned-leave account. It is not, and earned leave keeps accruing during it.
• Assuming a disabled child ages out at 18. There is no age limit for a child with a 40 per cent disability.

See also

• Leave encashment
• Leave Travel Concession
• CCS (Leave) Rules, 1972
• Maternity leave (central government)
• Earned leave
• Central government pension
• Annual increment
• National Pension System
• Technical resignation
• Superannuation
• 7th Central Pay Commission
• Department of Personnel and Training
• Central government employees in India
• Take-home salary for central government employees
• House-rent allowance
• Transport allowance
• Dearness allowance
• City classification for HRA
• Pay matrix
• Minimum pay
• Modified Assured Career Progression
• Family pension
• Commutation of pension
• Gratuity for central government employees
• Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare
• Old vs new tax regime
• Standard deduction
• 7th CPC salary calculator

External references

• Department of Personnel and Training
• Press Information Bureau

References

1. CCS (Leave) Rules, 1972, Rule 43-C (child care leave).
2. Department of Personnel and Training Office Memorandum No. 13018/2/2008-Estt.(L) dated 11 September 2008 (introduction of child care leave, 730 days, two children).
3. Department of Personnel and Training Office Memorandum dated 6 June 2014 (extension of child care leave to a single male government servant).
4. Department of Personnel and Training clarificatory Office Memorandum dated 22 June 2018 (minimum spell of 5 days; not more than three spells a calendar year).
5. Department of Personnel and Training Office Memorandum No. 13018/1/2018-Estt.(L) dated 11 December 2018 (leave salary of 100 per cent for the first 365 days and 80 per cent for the next 365 days).
6. Kakali Ghosh versus Chief Secretary, Andaman and Nicobar Administration (2014), Supreme Court of India (child care leave cannot be denied without recorded exigency).
7. Department of Personnel and Training notification dated 18 June 2024 (commissioning mother made eligible) and Office Memorandum dated 29 July 2024 (additional spells where the child is hospitalised).