Cars24 has revamped its maternity policy to extend support for employees for up to 15 months, introducing a phased return to work and measures intended to prevent maternity leave from affecting longer-term career progression.
Employees will continue to receive 26 weeks of paid maternity leave, during which no work contact is expected unless initiated by the employee.
The more significant changes begin after the paid-leave period ends. From months six to nine, employees can work from home on their own schedule without fixed office days. Between months nine and 12, they can move to a hybrid arrangement requiring two days in the office each week.
Nursing breaks and childcare support will continue until the 15th month.
The revised policy, called ‘Care’eHer’ internally, also introduces career safeguards for employees taking maternity leave. The leave period will count towards tenure, while employees will retain at least the performance rating they held before going on leave. Subsequent ratings will be based on performance after they return.
Cars24 has also introduced a placement mechanism for situations where organisational restructuring affects an employee’s role or location while she is on maternity leave.
Other provisions include counselling, re-entry planning and regular HR check-ins during the transition back to work.
The policy was developed following discussions with women employees about their experience of returning to work after maternity leave, with the company shifting its focus from the duration of leave to the period following an employee’s return.
“For a long time, the conversation around maternity has centred on one question: how much leave is enough. We wanted to ask a different one. What happens when women come back?” said Vikram Chopra, founder, Cars24.
“Careers aren’t built over six months, and they shouldn’t lose momentum because of six months away. If we genuinely want more women to build long-term careers, the support cannot end when the leave does,” he added.
The policy change also comes as Cars24 looks to increase women’s representation in its workforce. Earlier this year, Chopra said women accounted for around 14 per cent of the company’s India workforce. Cars24 has since introduced other initiatives, including an all-women Auto Hub in Delhi NCR.
The revised maternity framework attempts to address one of the more difficult points in retaining women at work: not maternity leave itself, but the transition back into the organisation once that leave ends.