Maternity Benefit (amendment) Bill 2016 - PDF Download

Friends,

Please find attached the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill 2016 introduced in the Rajya Sabha today. The salient features of the Bill are:

a) Increase the maximum period of maternity benefit from the existing 12 weeks to 26 weeks in the case of women who have fewer than two surviving children. In other cases, the existing period of 12 weeks of maternity benefit shall continue.

b) Extend the maternity benefit to a "commissioning mother" and an "adopting mother." They shall be entitled to 12 weeks of maternity benefit from the date the child is handed over.

c) Facilitate "work from home" for a mother by inserting an enabling provision.

d) Make it mandatory for establishments with 50 or more employees to have the facility of creches, either individually or as a shared common facility within a prescribed distance. Also, allow four visits to the creche by the woman daily, including the interval for rest allowed to her.

e) Every establishment shall inform every woman in writing and electronically at the time of her initial appointment about the benefits available under the Act.

Thanks

Creche is required for every employer with more than 50 employees or 50 female employees.

I am wondering about the impact of the act. I think all small owner-driven companies will simply not employ women if they have to give 6 months paid leave to women employees who have worked even for 2 weeks.

Maternity benefits for working women: 5 things to know



Most of the Indian women opt out of their career after child birth. Keeping it in view, the Rajya Sabha has approved of the Maternity benefit (Amendment) Bill 2016 in order to increase the participation of women in workplaces and protect their employment during maternity period.

Key takeaways from Maternity Amendment Bill are as follows:

1. Now every working woman [working in shop or establishment to which Maternity Benefit Act is applicable] will be entitled to get maternity benefit of 26 weeks. Earlier they were allowed maternity benefit for only 12 weeks. However, such maternity benefit of 26 weeks would be available only to those women who have only one surviving child.



2. Now the benefit of Maternity Act would also be applicable for adopting mothers and for a mother whose child is born via surrogacy. Adopting mother means a mother who adopts a child below the age of 3 months. Such mothers will get 12 weeks maternity benefit from the date child is handed over to them.



3. Employer may allow woman to work from home after availing of the maternity benefit on such conditions as the employer and the women may mutually agree to. However, such benefit would be available where the nature of work is of such nature that she may work from home.



4. Every establishment having 50 or more employees shall have to provide crèche facility to their employees. Where employer shall allow four visits a day to the crèche by the women, which shall also include the interval for rest allowed to her.



5. Every establishment shall have to intimate in writing and electronically to every women at the time of her appointment about the maternity benefit.

Note:

The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 regulates the employment of women in factories, mines, circus industry, plantations and shops or establishments employing ten or more persons. However, benefit of Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 is not applicable to employees who are covered under the Employees State Insurance Act, 1948.

Dear Agrawal Sir,

Thank you very much for the explanation on the Maternity Amendment Act 2016. I have one more question. As per the Factory Act, if more than 30 female workers are there, creches are required. In the recent Maternity Amendment Act, if 50 or more employees are there, creches are required. From my understanding, it seems contradictory.

Please give your expert opinion.

J L Trivedi
Ahmedabad.

The rules are simultaneously applicable
So now you need to have a crèche if you have 50 employees. If you have less than 50 employees but 30 of them are women workers then also you will need to have a crèche

A factory registered under the Factories Act is required to set up a creche only when there are 30 women employees. Under the Plantation Labour Act, it is required if there are 50 women workers or if the number of children of women workers is 20 or more. The latter requirement is considered more genuine because legislation should bring some benefits. However, with the provision of creche in the Maternity Benefit Act, the employer is obligated to set up a creche even if there are no women employees, provided the total employment is 50 persons. This seems unreasonable.

Increasing maternity leave from 12 to 26 weeks may lead to decreased employability of women. Larger companies, capable of providing replacements for employees on maternity leave, can afford the extended leave period. On the other hand, smaller companies may struggle with resources to hire replacements for a longer period, as finding someone willing to join for a short period is challenging. Government organizations have better access to replacements for short-term positions, unlike private companies.

In the current scenario where maternity leave is 12 weeks, only around 10% of women return to work after the leave period, while approximately 90% extend their leave for three more months and sometimes even further. Eventually, if the company denies further leave, they resign. This pattern may continue with the extended leave duration, leading to blame on HR for refusal of additional leave requests.

The provision for 'Work From Home' will likely lead to varying interpretations, potentially resulting in court rulings within a year or two. This issue could become a point of contention, similar to the debates around the 4 years and 240 days rule in the Payment of Gratuity Act. While it may be feasible for employees in software companies, providing work-from-home options for roles like chemists or lab testers may pose practical challenges. Granting this option to one employee could set a precedent, turning it into a perceived right.

The bill should have included provisions for leave for surrogate mothers who endure childbirth on behalf of another woman, the commissioning mother. However, the current proposal limits leave entitlements to the commissioning mother only.

Madhu.T.K

Dear Sir,

As per the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill 2016, kindly update and confirm the following:

1. Will the above rule be implemented with effect from the date of notification or a previous period?
2. If an employee has already availed maternity leave from 01/05/2016 to 23/07/2016 (12 weeks), is she entitled to a further 14 weeks of leave with pay starting from 24/07/2016?
3. Are any other benefits, such as a medical bonus of Rs. 3500, applicable?

Thanks and Regards,
knjha

This is only a Bill to amend the Act. The amended Act will specify the date of effect of the changes. It may take time. Therefore, an employee already on maternity leave is not likely to benefit. The Act may not have a retrospective effect. The retrospective effect, similar to the one given to the Payment of Bonus Act, is troubling the legislators a lot because the legal validity of the same has been questioned by various courts. Therefore, there may not be any retrospective effect to the amendment, I feel. As she has already resumed her work after availing 12 weeks of maternity leave, let her be taken outside the purview of this amendment. At the same time, an employee on maternity leave during the notification date will get the benefit of additional maternity leave.

There has been no increase in the medical bonus payable by the employer.

Madhu.T.K

Dear sir,

Is this law applicable now, or do we need to wait for the president's approval before implementation? Kindly guide.

Hello Rishabh Agarwal,

I am preparing for a government exam and have some queries regarding recent amendments. Could you please confirm if these amendments have been applied? Additionally, I would like to know about the Maternity Benefit Act and the amendments made in the Factory Act in August 2014. Questions related to these topics may appear in the exam, so your guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your assistance.

Regards,
Rishabh Agarwal
Email: rishabhagarwal22@gmail.com