Maternity Leaves Not Applicable In Office - Need Help Urgent

Hi,

My wife works in an import-export registered firm, and she has been working there since August 2014. She has completed 14 months with the organization. She is currently expecting and is in her 7th month; her due date is around January 15, 2017. Considering this, she verbally informed the office about her pregnancy approximately 2 months after conceiving. She also informed the organization that she would be taking leave from December 15th to February 15th, 2017.

Recently, it was discovered that a replacement has already been hired for her position, and she was verbally notified that she needs to leave the office by November 30, 2016, as the new resource has been hired. She expressed to her manager that she does not wish to leave as she intends to rejoin the office in February 2017. However, the office made it clear that due to concerns about potential complications during her delivery, they have hired a replacement.

When she initially notified the company about her pregnancy, she was informed that she would be entitled to 3 months of unpaid leave, to which she agreed due to our need for the job.

Lately, individuals from HR and finance have been pressuring her to make a decision to leave immediately, occasionally presenting her with counts of prorated leave days, indicating that only 1 leave day remains, among other things.

This situation has caused her to experience depression as it directly impacts her career. As her husband, I understand that this is not the right time for her to endure mental pressure and deal with these issues.

Regarding a few questions:
- The absence of a maternity leave policy in the company is not acceptable.
- Should she resign immediately or work until November 30th? As her husband, I strongly oppose immediate resignation.
- Asking her to resign after agreeing to 3 months of unpaid leave seems unfair.

I am unsure about what steps to take next, whether to file a legal complaint or not. The treatment she is receiving feels like harassment. I kindly ask for your advice on the available options for us to consider moving forward.

Regards,
Chetan Sharma

A woman employee who has already completed 14 months of service would definitely be entitled to paid leave for 84 days and Rs 5000 as medical bonus as prescribed under the Maternity Benefit Act. Replacement for the days she is not working is the headache of employer but once she comes back after maternity leave, she should be given employment. Therefore, you need not tender resignation nor ask for leave without pay. Employer cannot deny the benefits and if denied, the consequences will be very high. This will even lead to harassment of woman employee. Therefore, first apply for maternity leave following section 6 of the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961. I am not sure if there is any form prescribed other than Form E which is meant for Mines or Circus, but in general it can be as follows:

FORM E

[See rule 5(1)]

NOTICE UNDER SECTION 6 OF THE MATERNITY BENEFIT ACT, 1961

To ………………………………..(name of employer)

I,………………………………(name of woman employee), wife/daughter of…………………………………..employed as………………………………., do hereby give notice that:

1. I expect to be confined within six weeks next following from the date of this notice/have given birth to a child on………….(date) and shall be absent from work from………..(date). I shall not work in any establishment during the period for which I receive maternity benefit.

2. For the purpose of section 7, I hereby nominate…………….. (here enter name and address of the nominee) to receive maternity benefit and/or any other amount due to me under the Act in case of my death.

Date …………. Signature of woman employee

This application will become a formal intimation of pregnancy and request for maternity leave. The HR cannot just reject the application when it is submitted in the formal format quoting the relevant sections and rules. Therefore, you may send the same asap and wait for the reply. If the employer is still negative, she can raise it as an industrial dispute before the Labour Officer. But I don't think that that would not be required and the matter will be settled before that.

Madhu.T.K

Advice given by the learned member, Shri Madhu, is correct. In case of further harassment, the Labour Officer of the district is always available for complaints.

This Act is a social welfare act, and the company cannot pressure anyone to leave or take unpaid leave, etc.

I too had faced the problem in one of the Pune companies. Despite the policy, they had stopped payment for the third month of maternity leave. Moreover, they kept pressuring me to come to work even when work from home was granted.

Agreed with Madhu TK, an employer can deny maternity benefits to its employee in any respect after completion of 84 days of service. If the employer is still in denial mode, you may contact the office of the labor department immediately to seek justice.

Thanks & regards,

Sumit Kumar Saxena

Hello Madhu TK,

Do you think Chetan Sharma's wife approaching the Local Chapter of Women's Commission in parallel would also help expedite the resolution, or do you think it will sidetrack the whole issue?

@ Chetan Sharma -- I think your wife made a mistake by not putting the developments in writing. It's also not clear whether the company notified her that she will get 3 months' leave and that these would be unpaid leaves, either verbally or in writing. If the company's notification is in writing, then you surely have a strong foundation. If not, I suggest modifying the draft suggested by Madhu TK slightly to ensure that the past verbal communications are all put into writing at least now, to ensure you have written records of what transpired in case the issue goes to the Labor Officer.

All the Best.

Regards,
TS

Dear Chetan Sharma,

You should ask your wife to forget about any discussions she had with her seniors or colleagues regarding her maternity leave. She does not need to worry about her maternity leave at this crucial juncture; instead, she should focus on the future. Kindly advise her to submit a formal leave application to her reporting authority, with a CC to others, clearly stating her desire to take leave from --- to ---. Avoid mentioning any laws or rules in this application. Instruct her to wait for a few days, and if she does not receive a written reply, she should send a reminder marked as "reminder." If there is still no response after the reminder, she may send the same application again marked as "2nd reminder" and copy it to a) the labor officer, b) the Human Rights Commission, and c) the Women's Rights Commission. I am confident that taking these steps will be beneficial for your wife, and whatever the outcome, she should proceed with taking leave as scheduled. I recommend that you start looking for a new job for your wife, even if her leave is approved. Any legal battles can be fought after the baby is born, as this is not the right time, physically or mentally, to be involved in such matters.

Best of luck.

As per the law, women employees are entitled to leaves. Please ask her to write to them, and let's see what they reply.

Where do women's rights commission and human rights commission come into play? Here, it is a question of a woman being on maternity leave, which is purely a matter to be taken up with the local labor officer if the company fails to follow the law. Bringing any other angle will not be in order and will sidetrack the main issue.

It is surprising that Chetan Sharma, who started this thread, has not responded to the discussions despite having read the advice and suggestions given by all of us. Is it that these are useless comments/advice?

Madhu.T.K