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Provision of Creche under the Act
An important provision, Section 11A, introduced by the Maternity Act is that any establishment which has 50 or more employees shall have the facility of creche. This provision has sparked a lot of debates and discussions among employers on whether the provision is to be interpreted to be applicable on establishments with 50 or more female employees or on establishments with 50 or more employees.
It is pertinent to note that since this section specifically mentions the term 'employees', therefore, the obligation to have a creche applies to all establishments with 50 or more employees, inclusive of males and females. The term 'employees' has been used to make the provision gender neutral, because though a woman is biologically endowed to give birth, however, the responsibility to take care of a child lies with both the father and the mother. Therefore, even if an establishment consists of only males, such establishment should have a creche facility so as to enable fathers to bring their children to the creche.
Further, Section 11A of the Maternity Act safeguards the intent of Section 48 of the Factories Act, 1948, which requires factories with more than 30 female workers to have a creche. Therefore, even if a factory has less than 50 employees but has at least 30 females, such factory will be under the obligation to have a creche under the Factories Act, 1948. Further, if Section 11A of the Maternity Act had been framed to be applicable on establishments with 50 or more female employees, then, Section 48 of the Factories Act, 1948, would have lost its effect as factories having more than 30 women workers but less than 50 women workers would have done away with the compliance of having a creche.
Source
https://www.mondaq.com/india/employe...dment-act-2017