Maternity Leave Benifit

I am a doctor working in a corporate hospital for last two years. The hospital is rejecting maternity leave benefit citing that I am on contract basis and I am getting professional fee not the salary. Is there a rule like that if professional fees is paid maternity leave benefit is not applicable? If not so 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 as professional fees and not as salary, you are not an employee of the hospital and therefore, you are not eligible for maternity benefits under the Maternity Benefit Act.
However, if you establish that you have employee-employer relation with your hospital, you are eligible for maternity benefits under the Maternity Benefit Act. In this case you need to struggle to get your right.

Thanks a lot for the information. The hospital has given me an employee code and the professional fees is also fixed per month like a salary. The hospital, I think, strategically show it as the professional fees and not the salary to avoid such claims. I think then nothing can be done. Anyway, thanks a lot.

Dear Roopalidr,
You can establish employee employer relationship on various grounds or parameters. One of them, as you mentioned is employee number or code.
Following may be other grounds / paparameters need to test.
1. I card;
2. Letter of appointment, wordings in it;
3. Duty schedule;
4. Reporting system;
5. Communication between you & hospital, between you & other colleagues / peers;
Any many more.
But as I said, you need to struggle to prove that you are an employee.

1. Dear member, in the remarks while starting this thread, you have not disclosed whether your appointment is either as"consultant" or "on contract" or on "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 "consultant", there is no employer-employee relationship, and such engagement is on such terms and conditions as mentioned in agreement. Consultants like law advocates etc. are doing the work for so many firms and are not bound by the terms and conditions of employment as may be applicable in any industry or business.
2. However, in order to know about some court cases, please see following another thread in this citeHR:
https://www.citehr.com/521552-maternity-leave.html
3. The cases as mentioned in above thread primarily relate to such situations like "on contract' or "on consolidated salary" etc. and no such case of "consultant" could be found.

Dear Harsh Kumar Ji,

Thanks for your participation Sir.

In a given case, the queriest said that she is a doctor working for hospital on contract basis and getting professional fee.

When she says that she is working means she is working for full time and not for part time basis or on visit basis.She has not said that she is freelancer and visits other places too apart from her hospital. That means she is in full time employment.

Now, employment can be full time or part time. It can also be classified in to regular, contract i.e. contractual or through third party. All such kind of employments confers the employee employer relationship even though you term them as consultant, professional etc. and pay them in any other kind other than term as "salary or wages."

What is important, is there employee employer relationship?

Any person including professional establishes that he is giving his services of any kind during fix period of time and his services are being monitored or he works under directions etc. then he is treated as employee.

Sir, thanks. In the thread of "maternity leave", the online link of the same was indicated by me as above, I had mentioned some judgments of the hon'ble courts. Therefore, it is for the initiator of this thread to examine her case keeping in view said judgments.

Dear Mr Harish,
The link you have posted leads us to another thread where ECHS Lady doctor wants clarification about maternity leave.
There is one letter in which maternity lave is being denied saying as per contract conditions,this leave is not admissible.
But there are Honble High Court judgments which give right of maternity benefit to contract employees also.
The querist would need to consult a local advocate and see whether the appropriate authority has extended the coverage of Maternity Benefits to that class of establishment where she works.

Dear Korgaonkar Sir and Mehta Sir,
Thanks for the replies. As Korgaonkar Sir mentioned I am working for the hospital full time with shift duties and call duties, only thing contract doesn't say as full time anywhere. Compensation amount is fix but it is paid as professional fees and not the salary. I am not at the consultant post either. Hospital I card is also issued. I am not working for any other hospital either.
Sir, where to make the appeal first hand if I want to? Do I need to approach Labour Commission first?