Is It Legal to Delay Maternity Pay Until After Rejoining? Seeking Advice on HR Policy

Dear Colleagues,

I work with a Pvt. School in Delhi. Regarding Maternity Benefits - as per the HR Policy here, an employee is eligible for this benefit if:

1) She has completed 2 years of service with the organization.
2) Only 3 months of paid leave is allowed. It can be extended up to 6 months, but beyond 3 months, additional leave will remain unpaid.
3) Disbursement of this maternity break salary will be done once the employee rejoins post-break. It is payable as an additional 1-month salary for 3 months from the 3rd month onwards of rejoining (i.e., the 3rd, 4th, and 5th month after rejoining). If the employee leaves in between, then no maternity break salary will be paid.

For example: If Miss A goes on break on 1st January, then she has to join back on 1st April (post 3 months from the start of the break). Her maternity break salary for January to March (break period) will be paid from June to August (in the 3rd to 5th month from the date of rejoining - 1 month additional salary each).

My question is - is it allowed/legal to mandate point no. 3? Please suggest.

Dear Deepika,

I would request you to go through the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 first and make sure that the Act applies to your school. If the Act is applicable, all the three norms mentioned above as parts of the HR Policy of the school are running counter to the corresponding provisions of the Act, 1961, and therefore illegal.

Regarding Maternity Benefits - as per the HR Policy here, an employee is eligible for this benefit:

1) Only if she has completed 2 years of service with the organization. There is no such clause in the MB Act.

2) Only 3 months of paid leave is allowed. It can be extended up to 6 months. But beyond 3 months, additional leave will remain unpaid. It is 6 months, as per MB Amendment 2016; 3 months was earlier, i.e., prior to 2016.

3) Disbursement of this maternity break salary will be done once the employee joins back post-break. Payable as an additional 1-month salary for 3 months from the 3rd month onwards of joining back (i.e., 3rd, 4th, and 5th month after rejoining). If the employee leaves in between, then no maternity break salary. Again, it is illegal as there is no such provision in the MB Act.