Maternity Leave for More Than Two Kids: Are There Restrictions in Your Company?

Dear Seniors,

I just wanted to know if there is a restriction on availing maternity leave for more than two children while working in the same company.

Women employees shall be entitled to Maternity Leave subject to conditions prescribed in the ESI Act or the Maternity Benefits Act, 1961, whichever is applicable, and after completion of six months of employment.

Maternity Leave Entitlement

Female employees will be eligible for 12 weeks of leave (6 weeks before delivery and 6 weeks post-delivery). This can be extended for up to one month in case of any illness arising out of pregnancy, delivery, premature birth of a child (miscarriage, medical termination of pregnancy, or tubectomy operations), for a maximum of 2 occasions during their tenure with the company.

No restrictions on the number of children. Six months of service are not required. Only 80 days of work during a 12-month period with one employer are sufficient to qualify for benefits under the Maternity Benefit Act of 1961.

Dear Mr. Mathew,

Thank you for your input, but the bare act states that the female should have worked for at least 160 days prior to the date of her delivery to be eligible for maternity benefits.

Mr. Banerjee, would you have the official gazette for this amendment? My boss is hell-bent on the idea that it is restricted to two childbirths in a year. I would like to prove my point by sharing the official gazette with him.

I do not have that. But the latest copy of the act will be on the NIC server. You can do a Google search. But I don't think there was any provision for maternity benefit for 2 kids.

Mr. Banerjee, I believe all central government organizations follow PSU guidelines, and they have capped it at 2.

For Central/State Government/PSU employees, separate rules are framed for maternity benefits, and they do not fall under the Maternity Benefits Act. For government employees, the number of days of maternity leave is 180 days, whereas it is just 84 for employees in establishments covered by the Maternity Benefits Act. Similarly, there are some 365 or 730 days of leave which can be availed at any time before the child becomes a major! These cannot be included in the Maternity Benefits Act meant for employees in the private sector, and if included, I don't think it will be feasible to run the organization with female employees. Of course, under government rules, there are restrictions regarding the number of issues, which is anyway not there in the Maternity Benefits Act.

Regards,
Madhu.T.K

If you are talking about PSU, you should have specified that in your post. The law applicable to them is different from that applicable to private enterprises, as Madhu has just pointed out.