Maternity Benefits During Lockdown: Do Employers Still Need to Pay Wages in Telangana?

Dear All,

Are there any new changes in Maternity Benefits during this lockdown? Should employers pay the maternity period wages to women employees, or are there any changes as per the Telangana Government? Please comment.

Maternity Leave Pay During Lockdown

Why should an employee not be paid maternity leave pay during the lockdown period? Suppose an employee takes earned leave during the lockdown period. Shouldn't they be paid for these EL days? They should be paid. Similarly, if the maternity period falls during the lockdown, the female employee should be paid a salary.

An employer can refuse to pay employees who have not come to work due to the lockdown. Though the government order is to pay full wages, the employer can argue that if there was no work, he cannot pay. Even the Supreme Court has clarified that if an employer has not paid a salary, no legal action shall be taken against that employer by the department. This implicitly states that an employer need not pay a salary during the lockdown period.

However, if an employee is availing their eligible leave during this period, how can an employer refuse to pay for that leave? They cannot. Similarly, maternity leave, being a right of a female employee subject to the conditions provided in the Act, should be paid leave, and the employer cannot refuse it.

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

When the government states that pregnant women employees are exempt from attending the office, it means that she will be marked as present, and the full salary is required to be paid. Maternity leave shall be marked as per the Maternity Act.

Thanks

Maternity Benefits Under the Maternity Benefit Act of 1961

As per the Maternity Benefit Act of 1961, the maternity period includes leave, full pay, and benefits. Employers are required to pay the salary to women on maternity leave under any circumstances, and there have been no changes in the act even during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thank you.

Maternity Benefits Under the Maternity Benefit Act of 1961

As per the Maternity Benefit Act of 1961, the maternity period includes leave, full pay, and benefits. Employers are required to continue paying the salary of women on maternity leave under all circumstances, and this policy remains unchanged.

Thank you.

In a significant ruling, the High Court of Himachal Pradesh has held that the benefit of maternity leave is available to contractual employees as well, along with all consequential benefits, including continuity in service. It is one of the significant changes during this COVID-19 situation. (See the attached judgment)

Regards, Dr. PBS KUMAR

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

Maternity Leave and Lockdown

It is just a coincidence that a female employee has to leave on maternity grounds during the lockdown period. It should not be construed that she was on leave due to the lockdown and thereby deprived of the salary 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.

Wages During Lockdown

It is altogether a different issue whether an employee is eligible to receive wages during the lockdown period. If the employer is benevolent, he can pay salary as per the government's recommendation or otherwise. But the Supreme Court has held that the employer is liable to pay salary during lockdown periods, and hence no action can be taken against an employer for not paying wages during the lockdown period despite the government's orders or recommendations, which are not mandatory.

Regards, Panchsen

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When an employee is entitled to all legally vested leave, it includes maternity leave as well. Extending this, there is no bar on employees availing legitimate leave, irrespective of whether it’s during intervening lockdown spells. Therefore, it’s right to grant maternity leave with pay, even if others are paid or not paid, since it’s approved leave and leave pay thereof can’t be denied. That’s my view.

I am on maternity leave from 1st June 2020 to 30th November 2020. I delivered my baby in July 2020, and my HR head sent a circular in May 2020 stating that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the company would deduct 15% from all employees' salaries on CTC until April 2021. Currently, I am also receiving the same salary after the deduction of 15% and have not received any medical bonus. I want to know if this is right or wrong.

According to the Maternity Benefit Act, the company cannot make any deductions from an employee's CTC during maternity leave. I am not under ESI benefits. Please advise on what I should do.

What your employer has done is illegal. Did you say 15% on CTC? Are you sure it's on CTC? Can you share your CTC gross?

Presumably, your company would have observed a complete lockdown during April-May. Isn't that so?

I believe your company should have resumed full-capacity operations now after the pandemic lockdown. Or is it still under partial lockdown?

You may send a request letter to 'reconsider' their action of imposing a 15% cut and relax the same, restoring it to 100% and releasing payment of the maternity bonus considering your additional expenses on account of confinement, post-natal complications, and care. Let's see what their response is. Have you resumed duty? No, as you are still on maternity leave until the end of November. Why are you not covered under ESI? Is it not applicable, or did they simply leave it like that, come what may?

Please observe all formalities and documentation required under the Maternity Benefit Act. If possible, you can also opt for Work From Home to gain their goodwill and share the workload to some extent.