Navigating Resignation After Maternity Leave: How Can We Handle This Dilemma?

My wife's maternity leave just ended last month. Now, the company is asking her to return to the office in person. However, since our baby is only 4 months old, she is unable to join the office at this time. She even offered to resign, but the company insists she serves a 90-day notice period. She then suggested serving the notice period while working from home, but this request was also denied.

She has been presented with only two options: either return to the office to serve the notice period or risk not receiving an employment letter. We are seeking advice on any potential courses of action in this situation.

Hi, It is very common for many female employees to be unable to continue working after their maternity leave to take care of their newborn baby. On humanitarian grounds, the employer should not enforce a notice period or should accept a work-from-home option for the notice period. Holding the experience/relieving letter is not a professional practice. Make a request to the topmost official of the company and get it resolved.

The problem is that it is the co-founder who is forcing her to come to the office. Her manager was okay with letting her go, but her HR then looped in the co-founder, and now he is the one who is not allowing her to waive the notice period.

Dear friend, every paid employment is essentially a contract of service and is governed by the terms of the contract pertaining to every aspect of employment. When there is a difference of opinion regarding handling a situation that gives rise to a contentious issue due to the implementation of a particular condition of the contract of employment, both the employer and the employee must step into the shoes of the other and understand the relative gravity of their respective difficulties to prevent the situation from escalating into a conflict.

Resignation and the exit clause

Resignation is one of the modes of termination of the contract of employment and is governed by the exit clause contained therein. It imposes a responsibility on the resigning employee to comply with the exit clause to the extent practically possible. That's why a notice condition is introduced in the exit clause. At the same time, the employer has no discretion in accepting or rejecting a resignation other than on grounds like pending disciplinary proceedings or the urgency of completing an important project in which the resignee holds an irreplaceable role. Thus, it is the prerogative of an employee to decide whether to serve an employer or not for any reason of their own choice.

Maternity leave and resignation

In light of the increase in the duration of maternity leave due to recent amendments to the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, the practical scenario indicates that many women employees fail to rejoin after the expiry of their maternity leave for various reasons. If the reason is solely post-natal care of the newborn baby, the employer can accommodate such a request for some time. Otherwise, resignation is the only option available to the employee, in which case the employer has to accept such resignation subject to the employee's compliance with the exit clause.

However, the options provided by the employer, as mentioned in your post, seem impossible given the situation. I believe that the perspective of the Co-founder of the company seems more influenced by the negative aspects of the situation. It might be better to request a meeting with him and try to persuade him to either allow your wife some additional months of leave without pay or to formally accept her resignation immediately.

Hi All, The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 also addresses the provision of a creche facility that an employer must provide if they have more than 50 employees. During our discussion with her company's HR, she mentioned that they do not have such a facility despite having more than 50 employees. In this scenario, can we use this point as leverage to request exemption from serving the notice period?