Recent Amendments in Maternity Benefit Act, 1961

India is the second most populous country of the world and will be overtaking China by 2030 with a population of 1.53 billion which almost 14% of World’s population. The country is creating a lot of human capital but is still caught under societal paradox which has resulted in holding back the female populace of 65.2 crores from achieving their fullest potential. Especially in the labour sector, the situation of women is pathetic. Hence, the recent amendment in the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 has given certain reliefs to women.

Key Amendments of the Act

The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act 2016, passed by the Rajya Sabha in August 2016, has also been passed by the Lok Sabha in March 2017.

The MB Amendment Act regulates paid maternity leave entitlement and other related benefits for women employed in factories, mines and shops or commercial establishments employing 10 or more employees. The summary of amendments is as follows:

Increased Paid Maternity Leave

• The MB Amendment Act has increased the duration of paid maternity leave available for women employees from the existing 12 weeks to 26 weeks.
• Under the MB Amendment Act, this benefit could be availed by women for a period extending up to 8 weeks before the expected delivery date and remaining 18 weeks 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).
• The Act also provides for adoption leave of 12 weeks for a woman who adopts a child under the age of three months. A commissioning mother in case of surrogacy is also entitled to a 12-week leave from the date the child is handed over to her.
• A commissioning mother is defined as “biological mother who uses her egg to create an embryo implanted in any other woman” (the woman who gives birth to the child is called host or surrogate mother).

Work from Home option

• The 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.

Crèche facility

• The Amendment Act makes crèche facility mandatory for every establishment employing 50 or more employees. Women employees would be permitted to visit the crèche 4 times during the day.

Free Medical Care

• A pregnant women worker is entitled to a maternity benefit (in the form of medical bonus) of one thousand rupees if no prenatal confinement and post-natal care is provided by the employer free of charge. It can be increased to a maximum limit of twenty thousand rupees.
• The Central Government is authorized to increase the basic amount every three years. In August 2008, the amount of medical bonus was 2500 Indian rupees which has been later raised in 2011 to 3500 Indian rupees.

Income

• The maternity leave is awarded with full pay on completion of at least 80 days in an establishment in the 12 months prior to her expected date of delivery. The maternity benefit is awarded at the rate of the average daily wage for the period of a worker’s actual absence from work. Apart from 12 weeks of salary, a female worker is entitled to a medical bonus of 3,500 Indian rupees.
• The amendments would ensure that full maternal care is provided during the full bloom period and will encourage more women to join the workforce in organised sector.

Criticism

New law will benefit only a minuscule percentage of women employed in the organised sector while ignoring a large demographic toiling in the country’s unorganised sector such as contractual workers, farmers, casual workers, self-employed women and housewives. In India most women are waged workers or do contractual work and face hugely exploitative work conditions. They are not even recognised under the ambit of labour laws. Moreover, it makes no mention of paternity leave, putting the onus of the newborn’s rearing on the mother. This is a blow to gender equality.