Letter Requesting Parental Leave

The primary purpose of this letter is to make a formal written request to the employer to sanction parental leave from the work for a specific period. Sometimes, parental leave may be sanctioned over verbal communication with the employer, but it is always better to put the request in writing (even if verbal approval has already been provided) to avoid any disputes in the future.

This letter can be used by any type of employee working in different types of organizations/companies. This letter can be used by a mother expecting Delivery, a mother adopting a child, a commissioning mother, and a father expecting a child.

How to use this document?

Using this letter will help the employee put the request and other details on record for further reference. This letter cannot be used as a letter requesting annual leave or a letter requesting general leave.

This letter clearly mentions the details such as the number of days required for a parental leave, start date and end date of parental leave, delegation, or assignment of pending tasks and duties to someone in the organization, payment of maternity benefits, contact details of the employee during the parental leave period and so on.

Once drafted, the letter can be printed, signed, and directly handed over to the organization or sent through a registered post. This letter can also be sent as an email attachment.

Applicable law

Under the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, the mother expecting the first or second child is entitled to paid leave of 26 weeks. The maximum paid leave that can be availed before the expected delivery is 8 weeks.

The paid leave for a mother who has two or more living children is of 12 weeks. The maximum paid leave that can be given before the expected delivery for such mothers is 6 weeks.

A woman adopting a child below the age of three months and a commissioning mother is entitled to a paid leave of 12 weeks from the date the child is handed over to the adopting mother or commissioning mother, as the case may be.

This is available for any employee who has worked for more than 80 days in the immediately preceding 12 months in the establishment. This applies to every establishment having more than ten employees.

The maternity benefits in India are generally covered under the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961. Parental leave for the father is not covered under the maternity benefit act and may be covered under the special departmental acts or respective company's policy.

How to modify the template?

You fill out a form. The document is created before your eyes as you respond to the questions.

At the end, you receive it in Word and PDF formats. You can modify it and reuse it.