Maternity Leave Salary: Which Pay Components Are Included and How to Manage Leave Duration?

Hello Members, I am working on the Maternity Leave policy and I am slightly confused about the salary part that has to be paid to a woman employee during her maternity leave.

Salary Components
The salary components that we follow are mentioned below:

- Basic
- HRA
- LTA
- Mobile reimbursement
- Special allowance

So my question is, what components are included from the above while calculating maternity leave salary? Also, can the employee take the maternity leave at a stretch for 6 months, or is it compulsory to take 8 weeks before and 16 weeks after delivery? If the employee wishes to extend the leave, will it be unpaid?

Hi, Fixed monthly salary needs to be paid as maternity benefit. Any other reimbursements or grade benefits that were not part of the salary may be excluded.

Maternity Leave Salary Components

The salary preceding the day on which the employee goes for maternity leave should be paid during the leave period. The salary means the total salary, which shall not include allowances paid for physical attendance, traveling, and reimbursements. In your case, the Basic, HRA, and Special allowance will qualify for payment during the maternity leave period. While calculating LTA, the days she has spent on maternity leave should be counted as days worked, and LTA paid without a proportionate deduction in it.

Maternity Leave Duration

It is not compulsory that her leave should start from 8 weeks before childbirth, but she can take the entire 26 weeks from the day on which she gave birth to her baby.

Extension of Maternity Leave

An extension of leave for one month on medical grounds in continuation of some complications associated with delivery, as advised by the medical practitioner, shall be with pay. In other cases, it can be unpaid, or she can avail her leave on credit.