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The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961

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Maternity Leave and Benefit Policy

Maternity Leave is a leave for a female employee’s position and applies to expectant or new mothers who require time off for pregnancy, childbirth and child care.

Maternity Leave eligibility:

Every woman employee, whether employed directly or through a contractor, who has actually worked in the establishment for a period of at least 80 days during the 12 months immediately preceding the date of her expected delivery, is entitled to receive maternity benefit.

According to the policy women employees will be eligible to get paid maternity leave of 26 weeks.

The 182 days of maternity leave will be fully paid by the employer, and all other benefits which is due to the employee shall also be given to those employees on maternity leave.

This maternity leave should not be availed before eight (8) weeks from the date of expected delivery.

For a woman who has two or more children, the maternity leave will be 12 weeks, which can only be availed six weeks before the date of the expected delivery.

The position of employees and the benefits associated with them will not be affected during the maternity leave. The company is allowed during that time to fill the position with a temporary replacement.

All pregnant employees can utilize reasonable paid time off for any kind of prenatal care including but not limited to medical examinations.

All new mothers can petition for an extension of unpaid maternity leave on grounds of medical or other reasons that are subject to company’s judgement (e.g. complications during pregnancy or childbirth may be cause for extension).

Maternity leave for adoptive and commissioning mothers

Provides 12 weeks of maternity leave to:

  • A woman who legally adopts a child below three months of age; and
  • A commissioning mother. A commissioning mother is defined as a
    biological mother who uses her egg to have a surrogate child

The 12-week period of maternity leave will be calculated from the date the child is handed over to the adoptive or commissioning mother.

Procedure

A woman employee entitled to maternity benefit may give a notice in writing (in the prescribed form) to her employer, stating as below:-

  1. That her maternity benefit may be paid to her or to her nominee (to be specified in the notice);
  2. That she will not work in any Establishment during the period for which she receives maternity benefit; and
  3. That she will be absent from work from such date (to be specified by her), which shall not be earlier than 8 (eight) weeks before the date of her expected delivery.

This notice may be given during the pregnancy or as soon as possible, after the delivery.

On receipt of the notice, the employer shall permit woman to absent herself from work after the day of her delivery. The failure to give notice, however, does not disentitle the woman to the benefits of the Act

If a certificate of pregnancy or proof of adoption is requested, she must provide one signed by a physician, or other appropriate source

She must arrange a meeting with her supervisor to agree on ways of keeping in touch (any arrangement should exclude any compulsory maternity leave)

The employee will be officially notified of the approval of her request, after her eligibility under the law has been evaluated. The document she will receive will clearly state the length of the maternity leave with the beginning and end dates. Additional benefits such as pay will also be explicitly explained.

If labour occurs earlier than estimated, the beginning and ending dates of maternity leave can be modified accordingly, through an official document.

Option to work from home

An employer may permit a woman to work from home, if the nature of work assigned permits her to do so.

This option can be availed of, after the period of maternity leave, for a duration that is mutually decided by the employer and the woman.

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