Federal Ombudsperson for Protection against Harassment Fauzia Waqar has declared that granting 30 days\u2019 paternity leave at the birth of a child is mandatory, terming the denial of such leave discriminatory and tantamount to gender-based harassment.<\/p>\n
The landmark decision came on a complaint filed by a State Bank officer, Syed Basit Ali, who was refused paternity leave on the grounds that no relevant policy existed. The ombudsperson imposed a fine of Rs500,000 on the State Bank of Pakistan over the denial.<\/p>\n
According to the order issued by the Federal Ombudsperson Secretariat for Protection against Harassment (FOSPAH), Rs400,000 from the penalty amount will be paid to the complainant, while Rs100,000 will be deposited into the national exchequer.<\/p>\n
The ombudsperson also directed the State Bank to grant Syed Basit Ali 30 days\u2019 paternity leave with full pay and benefits. Furthermore, the institution has been instructed to formulate a comprehensive policy in line with the Maternity and Paternity Leave Act 2023.<\/p>\n
In its ruling, FOSPAH observed that granting maternity leave while denying paternity leave constitutes gender discrimination. It held that refusal of paternity leave amounts to harassment on the basis of gender.<\/p>\n
The order emphasized that childcare is not solely the responsibility of women and that denying paternity leave undermines the shared responsibility of parents and the best interests of the child.<\/p>\n
The complaint had been filed by an officer of the State Bank Banking Services Corporation after his request for paternity leave was rejected due to the absence of a formal policy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Federal Ombudsperson for Protection against Harassment Fauzia Waqar has declared that granting 30 days\u2019 paternity leave at the birth of a child is mandatory, terming the denial of such leave discriminatory and tantamount to gender-based harassment. The landmark decision came on a complaint filed by a State Bank officer, Syed Basit Ali, who was refused […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":72106,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,16],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[213],"class_list":{"0":"post-72105","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-latest","8":"category-pakistan"},"yoast_head":"\n