3. The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961
Maternity benefit is “an indemnity for the loss of wages incurred by a women who voluntarily before child birth and compulsory thereafter abstains from work in the interest of the health of her child and herself.
a) Coverage
The act is applicable to all establishments not covered under the Employee’s State Insurance Act.
b) Eligibility
As per the Act, to be eligible for maternity benefit, a woman must have been working as an employee in an establishment for a period of at least 80 days in the past 12 months. Payment during the leave period is based on the average daily wage for the period of actual absence.
c) Benefits
The Maternity Benefit Act 1961 protects the employment of women during the time of her maternity and entitles her of a ‘maternity benefit’ – i.e. full paid absence from work – to take care for her child. The act is applicable to all establishments employing 10 or more employees. The Maternity (Amendment) Bill 2017,an amendment to the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, was passed in Rajya Sabha on August 11, 2016; in Lok Sabha on March 09, 2017, and received an assent from President of India on March 27, 2017.
d) Key Amendments
i. Increased Paid Maternity Leave:
The Maternity Benefit Amendment Act has increased the duration of paid maternity leave available for women employees from the existing 12 weeks to 26 weeks. Under the Maternity Benefit Amendment Act, this benefit could be availed by women for a period extending up to a maximum of 8 weeks before the expected delivery date and the remaining time can be availed post childbirth. For women who are expecting after having 2 children, the duration of paid maternity leave shall be 12 weeks (i.e., 6 weeks pre and 6 weeks post expected date of delivery).
ii. Maternity leave for adoptive and commissioning mothers:
Maternity leave of 12 weeks to be available to mothers adopting a child below the age of three months from the date of adoption as well as to the “commissioning mothers”. The commissioning mother has been defined as biological mother who uses her egg to create an embryo planted in any other woman.
iii. Work from Home option:
The Maternity Benefit Amendment Act has also introduced an enabling provision relating to “work from home” for women, which may be exercised after the expiry of the 26 weeks’ leave period. Depending upon the nature of work, women employees may be able to avail this benefit on terms that are mutually agreed with the employer.
iv. Crèche facility:
The Maternity Benefit Amendment Act makes creche facility mandatory for every establishment employing 50 or more employees. Women employees would be permitted to visit the creche 4 times during the day (including rest intervals)
The Maternity Benefit Amendment Act makes it mandatory for employers to educate women about the maternity benefits available to them at the time of their appointment.