ESI contribution for 30 days - now she want maternity benefit from ESI - is she eligible for it?

Hi, please tell me - if any person (a female worker) worked in a company and gave ESI contributions for 1 year. But now she has left the service after contributing for 30 days in a contribution period. She now wants to claim maternity benefits from ESI - is she eligible for it?

In order to be eligible for maternity benefit under ESI, a woman employee should have contributed for 70 days in the preceding two consecutive contribution periods. Therefore, the actual or expected date of confinement should fall within the first benefit period. Even a woman employee who had contributed for more than 70 days in the contribution period will not be eligible for benefits if her date of delivery takes place before her first benefit period.

In the absence of information about the contribution for the preceding two contribution periods (the post only gives that there were 30 days contribution in the contribution period just preceding the date of delivery) and the actual or expected date of delivery to see whether it falls within her first benefit period, it is not possible to give a proper reply.

Regards,
Madhu.T.K

Dear friend,

Actually, she was working from 1st March 2008 and paid her contributions for every period as follows: (Oct. 07 to March 08) for 20 days, (April 08 to Sep. 08) for 122 days, and in the current period, she has worked for 28 days. However, there is a problem as she resigned on 20th October 2008, and her due delivery date was 12th December 2008. Now, she wants to avail benefits from ESI for these days. Is it possible for her to claim benefits after resigning? Please help me.

Regards,
Saurabh Sharma

Since her date of joining is 1st March 2008, her benefit period starts on 1st December 2008 (nine months of first entry). Since she resigned from service well before her benefit period, it is not possible to get maternity benefits. Moreover, from the post, it seems that the notice of the expected date of confinement in Form 21, the claim for maternity benefit in Form 22, and the certificate of confinement in Form 23 were not given to the ESIC in due time. She should have filed the certificate of confinement within 30 days from the actual date of delivery, i.e., 12-12-08. Similarly, Regulation 93 of the ESI (General) Regulations, 1950 provides that a woman employee shall be disqualified from claiming maternity benefit if she fails to attend for a medical check-up.

Regards,
Madhu.T.K