Is My Wife Being Denied Maternity Leave Due to Delayed Confirmation at Her Job?

Probation and Confirmation Issues

My wife joined a company on 01.07.2018 and has been working continuously till date. The company has a policy for confirmation after 6 months, which happens based on multiple internal criteria fulfillment. During the probation or unconfirmed period, an employee is not entitled to any sick leave or paid leave (except public holidays).

In October 2018, she conceived and informed the office immediately with all the required documents. At that moment, she was still in the probation period. During her second month of pregnancy, due to physical problems, the treating doctor advised complete bed rest for one month. Since she was not confirmed by then, she had to take Leave of Absence (LOP) during November 2018. She rejoined in December 2018 and has continued working since then (she is now in her third trimester).

Meanwhile, the confirmation, which was supposed to happen at the end of December 2018, was extended by one month because of the LOP in November 2018. The confirmation, which was supposed to happen by the end of January 2019, was delayed again for one more month because she received an HR warning due to a minor argument with another female employee who reported a complaint to HR against my wife. The complaint was later not proven and was withdrawn.

At the end of March 2019, during the confirmation meeting, she received feedback that the company apologizes for not confirming her until now. The company stated they are unable to confirm her because they want to assess her ability on a live project, which the company currently doesn't have. Once a project becomes available, they will assign her to it and provide feedback for confirmation.

She now realizes that the company is intentionally not confirming her so that they will not have to provide paid maternity leave and may force her to take a 6-month LOP.

Dear Anony,

Any woman who has worked for a minimum of 80 days preceding the date of her delivery is eligible for maternity benefits as per the act. Whether confirmed or not, she is eligible for maternity benefits.

Regards,
Rahul

Eligibility for Maternity Leave

In order to be eligible for maternity leave, confirmation is not an issue because probation and confirmation are purely dependent on the company's decision. However, having worked for 80 days will not qualify for maternity leave. To my interpretation, these 80 days of work (including all paid leaves, holidays, and weekly off days) should be within the 12 months preceding the expected date of delivery. The significance of "during 12 months preceding" is very important.

For example, in the case of an employee under the ESI scheme, she will not receive benefits if she has not worked for 70 days in two contribution periods, with each contribution period comprising 6 months. Another condition is that the benefit is available only during the benefit period, and for new employees, it will be 9 months from the start of contribution.

Therefore, to be eligible for maternity leave, one should have worked for 12 months, and during these 12 months, she should have worked for at least 80 days. If you have a different opinion on this, please share it.

Dear colleagues,

While I concur with Mr. Madhu's comments, I would like to comment on the last paragraph of his post. There are two conditions for eligibility of ML under the MB Act. One is that the concerned female employee should be in the company's employment during the preceding 12 months as well as should have worked for 80 days prior to the date of delivery.

Regards,
Vinayak Nagarkar
HR Consultant

Dear Colleague,

Sorry, my interpretation of the preceding 12 months' requirement for being in employment prior to the date of delivery is incorrect. The only condition is that she should have worked for at least 80 days during the preceding 12 months before the date of her delivery.

Thanks for making me rethink.

Regards,
Vinayak Nagarkar
HR Consultant