MUMBAI: In an attempt to better understand and serve women consumers who are driving big growth in e-commerce, Flipkart has rolled out an unprecedented maternity benefits package to attract and retain more women employees across levels. The online retailer on Monday announced that it will now offer six months paid leave plus four months of flexible working option with pay to mothers. Above this, it is also offering an extended maternity leave of up to 1 year of career break without pay, after which they can return to available jobs at that point of time. Among other benefits that are also a part of the new package, women get a transport reimbursement benefit of Rs 600 per day during the last two months of pregnancy. Women are also entitled to a reserved parking slot for 2 months before and after child delivery. Flipkart is also working on a proposal to pay 50% of day care charges at high-standard facilities for children up to 4 years of age. Such a maternity leave package is unprecedented in India Inc, where most employers offer three months of paid statutory maternity leave. “Flipkart needs to be able to attract more women talent,” Deepali Tamhane, senior director, product management, Flipkart, told ET in an exclusive interaction. “Big growth is happening in e-commerce in women’s segment. In India we are at the cusp of that. The sooner the company gets prepared for that we will have a very strong position in keeping our leadership slot,” she said. Flipkart is looking to hire more women candidates, particularly in leadership roles, to tap into the key inputs that women can provide in the ecommerce revolution. There are no women yet on the Flipkart board of directors, but the company is looking at adding a significant percentage of women representation to the board, a Flipkart official said. A recent report released by Google, with Forrester Consulting, showed that e-commerce market in India is likely to have a 100-million customer base, of which women will be the major contributors. The company recently formed a core group of senior members to evaluate hiring and promotion of candidates to bring in diversity and relook into its maternity and women’s policies. An emphasis on meritbased gender diversity is an integral part of our future growth and hiring strategy, Tamhane said. Only a handful of multinational companies in India, mostly in the banking space, offer a few such benefits piecemeal. No company has put this all together into such an extensive maternity benefits package. “An Indian company making sure that women talent are given the support they deserve during the most vulnerable period of childbirth and childcare is really one of its kind,” said Saundarya Rajesh, founder and president at Avtar Career Creators & FLEXI Careers India, who works in the area of re-engaging second career women. About 48% women executives under 30 years of age drop out of the workplace due to motherhood and related reasons, says Rajesh. The cost of replacing these women is higher compared to what can be achieved if they were retained. “Such a unique maternity policy can cut attrition by 20-30% of women and can lead to significant cost saving for the company,” said Rajesh.