Navigating Resignation Policies: What Happens If Employees Don't Return After Maternity Leave?

I am working on the Maternity policy, where I need to include a clause for resignation after maternity. I have 2 clarifications:

1. If the staff resigns without medical grounds post-delivery, what is the policy?
2. What if the employee does not return to duty after maternity leave?

Kindly clarify.

In both cases, it is up to the employee. The Maternity Benefit Act does not stipulate anything about resignation after delivery.

Pon

I agree with Pon. This dilemma is faced by many HR professionals. The reason is that they think Maternity Leave is a benefit extended by the company; a kind of compassion shown by the company. Please correct this view, and immediately the dilemma vanishes.

Maternity Leave: A Right, Not a Benefit

Maternity Leave is a right of a female employee as provided for in the Act. The Maternity Benefit Act is a wonderful piece of legislation that celebrates motherhood and the dignity of a working mother!

Warm regards,

If she has issued her due notice with the resignation, you cannot force the employee to come back and work. You cannot control the human situational impacts of early motherhood; do not try to impose on her more, as she will already have enough to handle.

I agree with the points presented by the eligible CiteHRians. You need to know that the decision regarding the resignation of a female employee after her maternity leave depends entirely on her. You may not need to have any clause on the same.

Yes, I agree it's a dilemma for an HR person to decide on a resignation after maternity benefits have been provided to the concerned individual. However, according to the Act, this benefit is a right of the working employee and must be given even if there is a possibility that the person may not return to work or resign after utilizing the benefit. An employer cannot refuse to provide this benefit.

Such situations also require very ethical conduct by the employee and a professional approach to submitting a resignation. The individual in question must return from maternity leave and explain the reasons behind their resignation. This process should be handled in the same manner as other resignations.

I am sharing this fully aware of the fact that I am a mother of two kids and have utilized these benefits. As an HR Head, I have to make decisions in an environment where individual employee productivity is constantly measured and has an impact on the organization.

Therefore, I recommend professional and ethical behavior from both the employer and the employee.

Regards,
Parul B Kapoor

Any rule of the Maternity Benefit Act regarding resignation immediately after availing maternity leave of 26 weeks? Kindly shed some light on this issue.

One of our employees joined us in January 2017. She informed us that she is pregnant and made a commitment to our director that she would not leave the company after maternity. Based on her assurance, we hired her. However, she has now completed her maternity leave and has submitted her resignation. We granted her employment due to her commitment. We are now confused about what to do.