Am I Still Eligible for Maternity Benefits After My Salary Exceeded the ESI Limit?

I have paid two contribution periods of ESI until March 2011, from May 2010 to April 2011. From April 2011 onwards, my salary increased to 15,780. My delivery date is in August 2011. I want to know whether I am eligible for maternity benefits or not. Since April 2011, I have not been paying ESI contributions.

Thank you.

If your ESIC contributions are paid for 70 days in the two immediately preceding contribution periods, then only you are eligible for maternity benefits under ESIC.

Dear Ms. Snipo,

According to you, you have paid two Contribution periods of ESI till March 2011. That works out to 61 days. You need not worry about this. Once you go out of the ESI Act's coverage, you are automatically covered by the provisions of the Maternity Benefit Act, assuming that the Maternity Benefit Act applies to the establishment in which you are employed. Therefore, you are entitled to get maternity benefits under this Act. Moreover, as your delivery date is only in August 2011, by that time, you would have worked for more than 80 days in the establishment and would have fulfilled the requirements regarding the number of days worked to receive maternity benefits under the MB Act.

Dear Ms. Sinipo,

Contribution period is related to the wage period. The wage period simply means the periodical intervals for which you are paid wages/salary. That is, the wage period could be a month, a fortnight, a week, or a day. Therefore, the contribution of both the employee and the employer could be for a month, a fortnight, a week, or a day depending on the wage period. I presume that in your case, you should be paid monthly wages/salary.

Therefore, in your case, contributions under the ESI Act would have been recovered in respect of each month until you went out of the applicability of the ESI Act.