Navigating Job Termination After Maternity Leave: How to Handle ESIC Declarations?

Hello Sir/Madam, This is Mr. Gopala Krishna. My query is about termination/resignation after maternity leave and receiving maternity benefits up to 90%. My wife took maternity leave from 23.12.2017 to 23.06.2018. She was an employee of a staffing company/placement agency but worked for another company (Client) as a contract employee. She informed both companies about her maternity leave.

She gave birth to a baby boy and received some maternity benefits from ESIC. It was very happy news for us. In the meantime, the client company recruited someone as a temporary employee in my wife's position to complete pending work.

At the final stage of my wife's maternity leave, the client company decided to make the temporary employee permanent. So, there was no position for my wife to return to after her maternity leave. My wife decided to resign from her job to take care of our baby boy, but she didn't officially resign. In the meantime, she received her gratuity amount and realized she had already been terminated by the staffing company/placement agency. This is the situation my wife is in.

She received a call from ESIC asking her to provide Form 10 and a self-declaration stating that she ceased to work after maternity leave or will rejoin the job. We have already provided Form 10 (a declaration from the employer stating they were aware of the leave and any salary given during maternity leave) to ESIC.

My query is that there is no position for my wife at either company. How can my wife provide such a declaration to ESIC? What should we do? Please suggest a better way to solve this problem. My wife has decided not to return to work for another year because our child is six months old, and her presence is essential.

Note: My wife received 90% of ESIC maternity benefits, and 10% of the ESIC maternity benefits are yet to be received.

Termination and Resignation After Maternity Leave

During maternity, the employer has no right to terminate the employee as per the Maternity Act. If anyone can hire temporarily or if there is mutual concern, resignation can be acceptable.

In your case, you mentioned receiving ESIC benefits, including the 24 weeks of basic wage, etc. The only action the company has taken is moving the temporary hire to permanent status and removing your wife from the company.

Questions About Gratuity and PF

My question is, how has gratuity come without your wife's signature on documents? Also, what about PF – is your wife contributing to PF every month?

The declaration of ESIC must be done to receive maternity benefits post-delivery. You cannot file a complaint against the company because they are allowed to claim maternity benefits, and they have paid her gratuity.

Since you mentioned your wife will not be working for a period of time, my advice is to keep the ESIC number active. This number can be provided to a new employer in the future for continuous service.

Thank you for your suggestion, please see below doubts/query:

How to claim my wife's PF amount?

1. PF was deducted from my wife’s salary. How can we claim my wife's PF amount?

Gratuity credited without intimation

2. My wife called her HR and was informed that her account was credited with the gratuity amount without any prior intimation. How can the company terminate her and credit her account with the gratuity amount? The HR replied that they had already mailed her (client) company regarding this gratuity, but nobody informed my wife.

Keeping the ESIC number active

3. Please advise me on how to keep the ESIC number active so it can be provided to a new employer.

Facing issues with ESIC declaration

4. After submitting the self-declaration stating that she would work from 25/06/2018 (completion of maternity leave) to ESIC, is there a chance that ESIC might raise an objection or complaint against my wife, claiming she gave a false declaration since she was already terminated from the company? Could the government or ESIC penalize her? How should we handle such problems?

Please advise...

Thank you for your suggestion, please see the doubts/queries below:

How to claim my wife's PF amount?

1. PF was deducted from my wife’s salary. How can I claim my wife's PF amount?

Gratuity credited without intimation

2. My wife called her HR and was told that her account was credited with the gratuity amount without any prior intimation. How can the company terminate her and credit her account with the gratuity amount? The HR replied that they had already mailed her (client) company regarding this gratuity, but nobody informed my wife.

Keeping the ESIC number active

3. Please advise me on how to keep the ESIC number active so that it can be provided to a new employer.

Handling false declaration concerns with ESIC

4. After submitting a self-declaration stating that she would work from 25/06/2018 (completion of maternity leave) to ESIC, there is a concern that ESIC may raise an objection or complaint against my wife, claiming she provided a false declaration since she was already terminated from the company. Could the government or ESIC penalize her? How should we address such problems? Please advise me, sir.

Thank you for your suggestion, please see below doubts/query:

PF Deduction and Claim

1. PF was deducted from my wife’s salary. How can we claim my wife’s PF amount?

Gratuity and Termination

2. My wife called her HR and was informed that her account was credited with the gratuity amount without any prior notice. How can a company terminate an employee and credit their account with the gratuity amount without informing them? The HR replied that they had already emailed the (Client) company regarding this gratuity, but my wife was not informed.

ESIC Number Maintenance

3. Please advise me on how to keep the ESIC number active so that it can be provided to a new employer.

Self-Declaration and ESIC Objections

4. After submitting a self-declaration stating that my wife would work from 25/06/2018 (after completing maternity leave) to ESIC, could ESIC raise any objections or complaints against my wife, claiming she provided a false declaration since she was already terminated? Could the government or ESIC impose a penalty on my wife? How should we address such issues?

Please advise me, sir.