April 11 is National Safe Motherhood Day. On this occasion, we would like to make all mothers and mothers-to-be out there aware of their rights under Indian laws.
1. Maternity leave
Under the Maternity Benefits Act, 1961 (“MB Act“), a women employee is entitled to maternity leave up to 26 weeks of paid leave – out of which eight weeks can be taken prior to the delivery date and remaining period of leave after delivery. If the women employee suffers an illness or miscarriage, then she can get one month of additional paid leave. The law protects these new mothers from dismissal during the period of maternity leave. Once the child is born and the woman employee has returned to work, she is also allowed to take two nursing breaks in a day.
Read: Maternity Benefits For Indian Women: Changes In The Maternity Benefit Law From 1961 To 2017
2. Crèche
A crèche facility was already mandatory in any factory having more than 30 women employees but with the amendment to MB Act in 2017, a requirement to set up crèche became mandatory in companies having more than 50 employees.
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Thus far, only Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala and Karnataka have incorporated rules providing clarity on the finer details of setting up of this crèche facility i.e. where, how and what. To fill this void, in 2018 the Ministry of Child and Women Development formulated the ‘National Minimum Guidelines for Setting-up and Running Creche under the Maternity Benefit Act 2017’ (found here). These guidelines provide certain norms and standards which could be used as a reference point to ascertain a well-maintained crèche facility set up by the company or even on a stand-alone basis by any organization in the business of child-care.
Read: Impact Of Amendments In Maternity Benefits Act On Leadership In India Inc.
