Dear Sir (s),
I have a couple of queries regarding the maternity act-
a) a woman can claim maternity benefit if she has worked from a minimum number of 80 days in the preceding 12 months; now the question is if the employee was on probation period of 3 months, are those 3 months will be considered for counting 80 days. what about leave without pay, if that employee has taken a lot of leaves which exceed the leave entitlement then can those leaves will be deducted while counting the 80 days.
b) the act says she is entitled to receive maternity benefit at the rate of the average daily wage; what does average daily wage stand for; are conveyance allowance, special allowance to be paid and is the employer needs to contribute to the PF during that time.
c) The act says that the maximum period for which any woman shall be entitled to maternity benefit shall be twelve weeks, that is to say, six weeks up to and including the day of her delivery and six weeks immediately following that day; does the employee has an option of not availing the six weeks before delivery an can take the total 12 weeks after the delivery?
d) what happens if the employee does not continue after 12 weeks can the company claim back the money it paid?
Looking forward to your suggestions.
Thanks
Priti