Maternity Benefit During COVID 19 lock down period - employer has to pay or any new changes?

Dear All, Any new changes in Maternity Benefit during this lock down, employer has to pay the Maternity period wages to women employees or any changes as per Telangana Govt. Please comment.

Why should not an employee be paid maternity leave pay during lock down period? Suppose an employee takes earned leave during lock down period. Shouldn't be paid pay for these EL days? He should be paid. Similarly, if maternity period falls during lock down, the woman employee should be paid salary. An employer can refuse to pay employees who have not come for work due to lock down. Though the government order is to pay full wages, the employer can say that if there were no work, he can not pay. Even the Supreme Court has made it clear that if any employer has not paid salary, no legal action shall be taken against that employer by the department. That implicitly says that employer need not pay salary during lock down period. However, if any employee is availing his eligible leave during this period, how can an employer refuse to pay for that leaves? He cannot. Similarly, maternity leave, being a right of a woman employee subject to the conditions as provided in the Act, should be paid leaves and the employer cannot refuse it.

I think no acts and/or law, either central or state made inoperative during the lockdown, no amendments to provisions of existing acts sought to be implemented. Therefore there is no reason to see ML can be denied subject to other conditions of the act. Lockdown has been imposed under the different act i.e.Disaster Management Act,2005 prescribing certain procedures to be adhered to by public and others. There is no stipulation in the 'Lockdown' directives which takes away the rights of a pregnant employee under the MBAct.

When govt is saying pregnant women employees are exempted to attend office it means she will be marked as present and full salary is required to pay .
Maternity leave shall be marked as per maternity act.
Thanks

As per the Maternity Benefit Act 1961, the maternity period is conferred with leave, full pay, and benefits. Employers should pay the salary when women in maternity leave at any circumstance, and there is no change in the act even during COVID-19.

As per the Maternity Benefit Act 1961, the maternity period is conferred with leave, full pay, and benefits. Employers should pay the salary when women in maternity leave at any circumstance, and there is no change.

Pl.check whether the firm is covered under ESI scheme.

Dear Friends,
In a significant ruling of the High Court of HP has held that the benefit of Maternity Leave is available to contractual Employees also with all consequential benefits, including continuity in service.
It is one of the good significant change during this COVID-19 situation. (SEE THE ATTACHED JUDGEMENT)
Regards,
Dr. PBS KUMAR

I do endorse the views of Mr.Madhu .T.K2

It is just a coincidence that a female employee has be leave on maternity grounds during the lock down period . It should not be construed that she was on leave due to Lock down and thereby deprive her of salary which she is entitled to as a maternity benefit arising out of statute , however confining the specified period as laid down in the act /state rules . It is altogether a different issue whether an employee is eligible to receive wages during lock down period . If the employer is benevolent he can pay salary as per Government's recommendation or otherwise. But SC has held that the employer is liable to pay salary during lock down periods and hence no action can be taken against an employer for not paying wages during lock down period despite

Government's orders or recommendations which are not mandatory

Panchsen

P.Senthilkumar

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Dear friends,
When an employee is entitled to all legally vested leave, it includes ML also. Extending this, there is no bar on employees to avail legitimate leave irrespective of whether it's intervening lockdown spells. Therefore it's right to grant ML with pay, even if others are paid or not paid since it's approved leave & leave pay thereof can't be denied. That's my view.