The Assam government has introduced new regulations for female state-government employees regarding child adoption leave. These regulations fall under the Assam State Government Commencement Employees’ Child Adoption Leave (CAL) Rules, 2024. The rules provide guidelines on eligibility and leave duration for female employees adopting children, supporting the fostering and nurturing of adopted children.
According to the new rules, female government employees with fewer than two children, whether biological or adopted, are eligible for CAL. This leave applies upon the acceptance of a child into pre-adoption foster care or the valid adoption of a child under the age of one.
Eligible employees may be granted up to 180 days of leave, which must be taken immediately following the acceptance of the child. The leave is intended to help foster the adopted child, ensuring that the new parent has time to adjust to the responsibilities of adoption. However, CAL is not available to employees who already have two children at the time of adoption, and it cannot be taken during the probation period.
The rules broadly define a ‘female government employee’ to include married, unmarried, widowed, or divorced women employed by the state. For CAL to be granted, the employee must provide documentation proving either the child’s placement in pre-adoption foster care or the completion of the legal adoption process, as recognised by the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) or similar agencies.
During the adoption leave, employees will receive their full salary, and the leave will not be deducted from their leave balance. The rules further specify that CAL can only be taken in one continuous period and is not available in multiple spells. Additionally, women in the workforce may request up to one year of additional leave, based on the age of the adopted child, including other types of leave if eligible, though this does not include CAL.
The new regulations also clarify that CAL will be treated similar to earned leave, meaning all government holidays that fall during the leave period will be counted. The rules ensure that the adopted child is considered equivalent to a biological child, in line with the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.
