Can Contract Doctors Be Denied Maternity Leave? Seeking Advice on Hospital Policies

I am a doctor working in a corporate hospital for the last two years. The hospital is rejecting maternity leave benefits, citing that I am on a contract basis and receiving a professional fee, not a salary. Is there a rule that states if a professional fee is paid, maternity leave benefits are not applicable? If not, what can be done?

Your payments and other benefits would be strictly as per the contractual terms.

If maternity benefits are not part of your contractual terms, then nothing much can be done about it.

Dear Roopalidr,

If you are paid professional fees and not a salary, you are not an employee of the hospital and, therefore, not eligible for maternity benefits under the Maternity Benefit Act. However, if you establish that you have an employee-employer relationship with your hospital, you are eligible for maternity benefits under the Maternity Benefit Act. In this case, you need to fight to assert your rights.

Thank you for the information. The hospital has provided me with an employee code, and the professional fees are fixed per month, similar to a salary. I believe the hospital strategically presents it as professional fees rather than a salary to avoid certain claims. In that case, I don't think there is anything that can be done. Nonetheless, thank you very much.

Dear Roopalidr,

You can establish an employee-employer relationship on various grounds or parameters. One of them, as you mentioned, is the employee number or code. Other grounds/parameters that need to be considered are:

1. ID card;
2. Letter of appointment, including the wordings in it;
3. Duty schedule;
4. Reporting system;
5. Communication between you and the hospital, as well as between you and other colleagues/peers; and many more.

But, as I mentioned, you may need to struggle to prove that you are an employee.

Dear member, in the remarks while starting this thread, you have not disclosed whether your appointment is either as a "consultant," "on contract," or on a "consolidated wages/salary" basis. I hope you may indicate the same so that the seniors may be able to express the correct views. So far as I understand, in any engagement as a "consultant," there is no employer-employee relationship, and such engagement is on terms and conditions as mentioned in the agreement. Consultants like law advocates, etc., are working for many firms and are not bound by the terms and conditions of employment as may be applicable in any industry or business.

However, in order to learn about some court cases, please see the following thread on this citeHR: https://www.citehr.com/521552-maternity-leave.html

The cases mentioned in the above thread primarily relate to situations like "on contract" or "on consolidated salary," and no such case of a "consultant" could be found.

Dear Harsh Kumar Ji, Thank you for your participation, Sir. In a given case, the querist said that she is a doctor working for a hospital on a contract basis and receiving a professional fee. When she states that she is working, it implies that she is working full-time and not on a part-time or visiting basis. She has not mentioned being a freelancer or conducting visits to other locations besides her hospital. This indicates that she is in full-time employment.

Types of Employment

Employment can be categorized as full-time or part-time, regular, contract (contractual), or through a third party. All such forms of employment establish an employee-employer relationship, regardless of whether they are referred to as consultants, professionals, etc., and the payment is made in any way other than as "salary or wages."

The key factor is the existence of an employee-employer relationship. Any individual, including a professional, who demonstrates that they are providing services of any nature for a fixed period and their work is supervised or directed, is considered an employee.

Regards

Sir, thanks for your message. In the thread about "maternity leave," I provided the online link above where I referenced some judgments from the honorable courts. It is now up to the initiator of this thread to review her case in light of these judgments.

The link you have posted leads us to another thread where an ECHS lady doctor is seeking clarification about maternity leave. In one instance, maternity leave is being denied citing contract conditions that do not deem it admissible. However, there are Honorable High Court judgments that grant maternity benefits to contract employees as well. The querist should consider consulting a local advocate to determine whether the appropriate authority has extended the coverage of Maternity Benefits to the class of establishment where she works.

Regards

Thank you for the replies. As Korgaonkar Sir mentioned, I am working full-time for the hospital with shift duties and on-call duties. The only thing is that the contract does not specify it as full-time anywhere. The compensation amount is fixed but is paid as professional fees rather than a salary. I am also not at a consultant post. The hospital has issued an ID card for me, and I am not working for any other hospital.

Appeal Process

Where should I make the appeal first if I want to? Do I need to approach the Labour Commission first?

Regards

Dear member, thank you for acknowledging our replies in this forum. I suggest that you please read through the procedure for claiming maternity benefits as outlined in the Maternity Benefit Rules established by the appropriate government in the jurisdiction where the hospital you are working at is situated. To submit your claims, you must comply with these rules and follow the procedures outlined within them. You can find these rules at any law bookstore in your city or online on the website of the Labour Department of the respective State Government where the hospital is located. Additionally, you can seek information on these rules and procedures from the Labour Department office.

However, I must also inform you that compliance with labor laws in this country is very poor. Employers often employ various tactics to deprive their employees of benefits guaranteed under labor laws. Engaging individuals on a contract basis, as consultants, or professionals (while having them perform similar duties as regular employees for extended periods) is one such method used to deny benefits like maternity benefits and gratuity to employees. Furthermore, employers or their contractors frequently terminate the services of employees who assert their rights to these benefits (under various pretexts). My intention is not to discourage you with the above statements, but rather to express my concerns.

Regards