What is Maternity Laws?

What is the need for Maternity Laws?

How is Maternity Laws legally recognized in India?

What are the benefits of Maternity Laws?

Vidhikarya will help you find a most suitable lawyer, for you in your city, who will be able to answer all your Maternity Laws related queries and also guide you on how to resolve this matter with ease.

About the Maternity Laws

India now qualifies among the 16 countries having the longest paid leave for new mothers, ensuring a smooth transition when they finally return to work. The primary statute under this statute is “The Maternity Benefit Act it was declared a valid law since March 27, 2017 when the President gave his assent to this bill.

Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017:

Some of the major highlights of this Act are:

Creche facility – New Act makes crèche facility a compulsory feature for every organisation involving 50 or more employees, with women employees being allowed to visit it 4 times during a day.

Option of working from home – there is now a provision for women which allows them to work from home after the period of ’26 weeks’ leave period ends.

Increased Paid Maternity Leave- As per the new provisions, period of the paid maternity leave has been increased to 26 weeks.

Provision for adoptive & commissioning mother – provides for 12 weeks of maternity leave for women from the date of adoption.

It also makes spreading of awareness about the maternity benefits available a compulsory activity.

Khaitan Law Firm’s comment on the new Act:

Various aspects of the MB Amendment Act need further clarity, for example, period up to which the crèche facility could be extended to the concerned woman as well as the aspect of availability, frequency and extent of nursing breaks. It is also unclear whether increased maternity benefits will apply to women who are presently undergoing maternity leave. Employers may have to wait until the rules are issued clarifying the position on the arrangements which could be made with third party service providers for crèche facilities with specific requirements in terms of distance from workplace, dimensions and other related aspects.

Moreover, the rationale for having separate effective date for implementing 'work from home' option is also unclear, given the fact that work from home is an enabling provision to encourage the employers to provide such option to a woman depending upon nature of work being handled by her and not a statutory requirement under the MB Amendment Act. We expect the Ministry of Labour to shortly come out with rules clarifying these aspects.

The MB Amendment Act has come into force from 1 April 2017. All establishments covered under the MB Amendment Act would be required to amend their existing maternity benefit policies in accordance with the MB Amendment Act with effect from 1 April 2017.