Facing Maternity Leave Issues: Can We Still Claim ESI Benefits After Early Delivery?

Dear Sir, my wife works in a private school. Her expected due date (EDD) was on April 17, 2020. However, she delivered a baby on April 11, 2020, at a Government Hospital.

The leave was sanctioned by the Employee State Insurance (ESI) from February 28, 2020. Due to some school work, specifically paper checking, she continued working until March 17, for which she received payment.

Now, the local ESI employees are stating that due to this situation, she will not receive any further maternity benefits, including the remaining months' salary from ESI. They are also not cooperating or providing suggestions.

Please advise us on what steps we should take next. Is it possible for her to receive her salary?

Thank you.

An employee under ESI cannot receive a salary from both ESIC and the company/employer/school simultaneously. In such a situation, the amount paid by ESIC should be reimbursed to the ESI Corporation. To facilitate this process, you can provide a declaration from the school confirming that the salary paid from the date when the employee started receiving payments from ESIC until March 17, 2020, will be returned to ESIC. This declaration should serve the intended purpose. If, despite providing this declaration, the Local Office denies benefits, you should escalate the matter to the Regional Office.

We talked to school authorities. They told us that we should ask the ESI office to pay the remaining days' salary to the employee, as 18 days have already been paid by the school. Is this the right solution we can demand from ESI.

ESIC will pay the amount but only after ensuring that the insured has not received salary from both the employer and the Corporation. Therefore, first return the amount and then approach the Sub Regional Office if required.