Maternity Leave Dilemma: Can We Extend Without a Medical Certificate? Seeking Advice on Procedures

Dear All,

My colleague is on maternity leave from mid-April 2019 to mid-October 2019. She is supposed to return to the office on the 15th of October 2019. However, she has not communicated with anybody regarding extending her leave.

Now, she is requesting an extension of her leave for another 3 months. We have asked her to submit a medical certificate from a government hospital to support the extension, but she is unwilling to do so.

Can we extend her maternity leave for 3 more months without a certificate? Could you please advise on the procedure for leave extensions under the Maternity Act?

Kindly advise.

Thank you.

Dear Veena,

At the very outset, I would like to highlight that "the maternity benefit" contemplated under Section 5(1) of the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, is 26 weeks of leave of absence from work only. Besides this, the Act provides for leave with wages in case of miscarriage under Section 9 for a period of 6 weeks, in case of tubectomy operation under Section 9-A for a period of 2 weeks, and leave for illness arising out of pregnancy, delivery, birth of a child, miscarriage, medical termination of pregnancy, or tubectomy operation under Section 10 for a further period of one month, subject to the submission of medical proof.

Therefore, the particular employee already on maternity leave can be granted a further period of one month leave under Section 10, subject to the production of a medical certificate in this regard. Regarding the remaining two months of leave requested, it is for the employer to decide. If she produces a proper medical certificate, there is no problem; she can be sanctioned 3 months leave, of which one month may be with wages and the two months as Loss of Pay (LOP).

If you believe in the genuineness of the leave requested based on requirements such as looking after the baby, you can sanction 3 months leave on loss of pay without insisting on any medical proof.