Facing Maternity Discrimination at Work: How Can Legal Advice Help?

Seeking Legal Advice for Employment Issues

In this situation, it is important for your wife to seek advice from a legal professional who specializes in employment law. She should also document all communication with her manager and HR regarding this matter. By having a clear record of events and seeking legal advice, she can better understand her rights and options moving forward.

Regards

Legal Position on Employment of Women During Maternity

4. Employment of, or work by, women prohibited during certain periods.

(1) No employer shall knowingly employ a woman in any establishment during the six weeks immediately following the day of her delivery or her miscarriage.

(2) No woman shall work in any establishment during the six weeks immediately following the day of her delivery or her miscarriage.

(3) Without prejudice to the provisions of section 6, no pregnant woman shall, upon making a request, be required by her employer to do any work during the period specified in sub-section (4) that is of an arduous nature, involves long hours of standing, or is likely to interfere with her pregnancy or the normal development of the fetus, or is likely to cause her miscarriage or otherwise adversely affect her health.

(4) The period referred to in sub-section (3) shall be:

(a) the period of one month immediately preceding the period of six weeks before the date of her expected delivery;

(b) any period during the said six weeks for which the pregnant woman does not avail herself of leave of absence under section 6.

Expected Due Date and Maternity Benefits

A woman looking forward to maternity benefits could ask the employer to give her light work for a month. Such a request should be made at least 10 weeks before the date of her expected delivery. At that time, she needs to produce a certificate confirming her pregnancy. (Section 5)

In this case, she may be required to take some amount of leave without pay.

Regards

Swedish laws will apply. So you will have to check if both are working in Sweden.

Understanding Work-from-Home Policies and Legal Implications

There is no mention of location, so we all assumed that Indian laws will apply. If the company does not have a work-from-home policy, you can't force the issue. If you can't get to the office, then you need to take leave. They are willing to offer you leave without pay. If you think you are entitled to sit at home and get full pay, that's not going to work.

It is obvious that the company is not happy with the performance of employees not present, especially where it results in meetings being missed and someone else having to take the load. Since the option is being given to take medical leave, you would be better off taking it. Your legal action would have no basis unless Swedish laws have a provision for it specifically.

Regards

Further to what other members mentioned/suggested, your post gives the impression that you want to have your cake and eat it too. What do you mean by this line, "...coz HR is not supportive as well"? So if HR, regardless of the Company Rules, agrees to advocate for your wife's case with the management, would this HR be considered supportive?

Please also understand that not all job roles can qualify for work-from-home. You have not mentioned your wife's role/function in this MNC. If it's related to regular production activity, I don't see any grounds for it to be eligible for work-from-home, irrespective of whether the Company has such a policy or not, as production (and all related functions) is essentially a team effort requiring daily/frequent production floor visits and meetings.

Since the Company has offered your wife the option of Leave with a loss of pay, the choice is yours and your wife's – whether it's the well-being of your unborn child or salary.

Regards,
TS

My sincere advice to the employee: if you incur loss of pay, never mind; your health and your baby's health are more important than work.

The HR Manager of your company should, in turn, abide by the regulations of the Maternity Benefit Act 1961. More than this, he should be humane. Apart from this, he should also note that other employees will be watching him, and there is no point in the HR program that he rolls out to bond if he is not resolving this.

I think everyone has mistaken a major point. My wife is in non-production related work where work from home is possible. Her manager has informed her to apply for leave or LOP after she has worked from home for 1 month, meeting the deliverables. This means the salary for the period she has worked is being denied on the grounds that there is no WFH policy.

No one here has missed any point while discussing this issue. Most of the posters are people with immense experience in HR and other fields. Try to understand that the company did not feel the need for a work-at-home policy. They may have their own reasons. It becomes difficult for a company to frame a policy for one person. You have to abide by what the company finally decides. Legally, no one can compel the company to allow work at home, whatever the nature of the employee's work. I understand your point of view, but the company policy is what matters.

Regards