Maternity Benefit For Employee Drawing Rs. 33000/- Per Month

Hi,
This is the case of an employee (joined 6 months before) who is drawing Rs. 33000/- per month (ESI is not applicable), please let me know the following?
1.How to avail maternity benefit and from where?
2. Is she eligible to get any salary or cash benefit during her leave? if so, what is the procedure?
3. Any other valuable inputs regarding this(employer' s obligations when ESI is not applicable).
Regards,
Team HR

If the woman employee has worked at least for 80 paid days before her expected date of delivery she is entitled to get 84 days of maternity leave with pay and Rs 3500 as medical bonus (this is lumpsum amount and not on monthly basis)
Salary for 3 months (almost) is to be paid at the rate of salary prevailing just before her going for maternity leave. And during the period of maternity benefit or after her joining back she should not be transferred or asked to do any heavy job. Prohibition of engaging pregnant women in hazardous jobs is already there under the Act.
Madhu.T.K

hi,
as per maternity benefit act, the woman is entitled to 12 weeks maternity leave with pay. In case if the employee is a govt servant, she is entitled to get 180 days maternity leave with pay, if she has worked for min 80 days preceding her date of delivery.
also as mentioned above she is entitled to get 3500/- as medical bonus, only if the employer fails to provide pre & post natal care.

5. Right to payment of maternity benefit. -- (1) Subject to the provisions of this Act,

every woman shall be entitled to, and her employer shall be liable for, the payment of

maternity benefit at the rate of the average daily wage for the period of her actual absence

immediately preceding and including the day of her delivery and for the six weeks

immediately following that day.

Explanation. – For the purpose of this sub-section, the average daily wage means the

average of the woman’s wages payable to her for the days on which she has worked

during the period of three calendar months immediately preceding the date from which

she absents herself on account of maternity, or one rupee a day, whichever is higher.

(2) No woman shall be entitled to maternity benefit unless she has actually worked in an

establishment of the employer from whom she claims maternity benefit for a period of

not less than one hundred and sixty days in the twelve months immediately preceding the

date of her expected delivery:

Provided that the qualifying period of one hundred and sixty days aforesaid shall

not apply to a woman who has immigrated into the State of Assam and was pregnant at

the time of the immigration.

Explanation: - For the purpose of calculating under this sub-section the days on

which a woman has actually worked in the establishment, the days for which she has

been laid-off during the period of twelve months immediately preceding the date of her

expected delivery shall be taken into account.

These are the excerpts from the act itself..

and rs 3500/- as medical bonus is to be given only if the employer does not provides pre & post natal care...

Dear All,
Thanks for sharing your valuable knowledge. I have a query on the subject:
In case an employee gets cashless or reimbursement benefit for maternity from an employer's group mediclaim policy for which premium contributions are solely borne by the employer (with 30/60 days pre and post hospitalisation medical charges), can the same be treated as pre / post natal care and subsequently the liablity of payment of medical bonus doesn't arise?
Looking forward towards reply from Madhu Sir / other learned colleagues at the earliest.
Regards
Amitava Majumder

Section 8 which provides for free Prenatal and postnatal care to women. The section does not mention the way in which care should be given. When the Act was enacted in 1961 such facilities as provided under a mediclaim policy were in fact not available. Therefore, it should be interpreted as care by one maid employed by the employer personally present at the employees residence. At the same time, if the medi claim covers such care, naturally you need not pay the medical bonus.
Regards,
Madhu.T.K