Navigating ESI Maternity Leave Pay: What Are My Rights If Delivering at a Private Hospital?

Dear Sir/Madam,

I work in Vadodara (Gujarat) at a private company as an HR Executive. I come under ESI, and my joining date is 1st October 2018. I am currently three months pregnant and would like to know what benefits I am eligible for in terms of maternity leave pay from ESI. Will I be paid fully? Additionally, I would like to understand the procedures involved.

My HR Manager seems to have no knowledge about this matter. He mentioned that there is no specific rule for maternity leave and suggested that if I take leave, it will be considered as Leave Without Pay (LWP), and they might hire someone else to cover for me during that time.

I kindly request guidance on the procedures to claim maternity leave benefit pay. I also want to clarify that I will be undergoing delivery at a private hospital, not at an ESI hospital.

I appreciate your assistance on this matter.

Thank you.

Understanding ESI Maternity Benefits

From the post, I understand that you need only cash benefits from the ESI Corporation but would like to undergo delivery at a private hospital. Then why do you ask for the facilities in ESI? If you need maternity leave, it should be sanctioned by the ESI Corporation, and the basic requirement is that you will undergo treatment, etc., in an ESI facility and not a private hospital.

Contributory Conditions for Maternity Leave

In order to be eligible for maternity leave, you should satisfy certain contributory conditions. The first one is that the benefit of maternity leave is available only in the benefit period. For an employee who joined in October 2018, the first benefit period will be from June to July, roughly. Now, being the 3rd month of pregnancy, the expected date of delivery should be sometime in September or October, and that is okay.

The second condition is that you should have worked at least for 70 days in two consecutive contribution periods. Anyway, you will cover the contribution periods of October to March, April to September before delivery. That means you will get maternity leave from the Corporation. During the leave period, you will be paid full salary, the salary on which your employer contributes ESI.

Procedure for Availing Maternity Leave

You have to go to your ESI dispensary and undergo tests, etc., there and collect the necessary certificates. You cannot opt for any private hospital unless the Medical Officer refers you to any private hospital. Under normal circumstances, they will refer you only if there is any complication. That is why I started the post with a negative note that if you don't want the facility but only want the 26 weeks leave, then it will not work.

Your HR manager's version that there is no maternity leave is not correct. But he is right when he says that in respect of an employee under ESI, the employer will not pay any leave salary.

Dear Madam/Sir,

I have been working at one of the affiliated degree colleges in Mysore for the past eight years. I am currently seven months pregnant. Our institution has asked me to take a one-year leave without pay. However, when I inquired about maternity leave, they informed me that I would need to pay for a replacement during my time off. I am a permanent employee in management. Could you please advise on the procedure to apply for maternity leave and how to claim delivery expenses at ESI hospitals?

Thank you.