Maternity Benefit Payments Payment window is 48 hours??

Sir/Madam,

Maternity Benefits Payment Timeline

1. As per Section 6(5) of the Maternity Benefits Law, are we required to pay the amount of maternity benefits within 48 hours of the production of the Birth Certificate? I checked with some colleagues in mid-sized companies, and their companies are sending the maternity benefits every month like regular salary.

Eligibility for Maternity Benefits

2. Our organization has fewer than 10 employees, and we are a company. Can we reject the maternity benefits claim?

Regards,
N. Pasha

Adding another question for respected members.

1. What would be the medical bonus in Bangalore? I see in the Act it is INR 1,000, but in other articles, it is mentioned as INR 3,500, and in some places, as high as INR 25,000.

Further, do we need to pay this when we have taken health insurance for her and maternity expenses are covered in the insurance?

[8. Payment of medical bonus—(1) Every woman entitled to maternity benefit under this Act shall also be entitled to receive from her employer a medical bonus of one thousand rupees if no prenatal confinement and postnatal care is provided for by the employer free of charge.

Maternity Benefits Overview

The maternity benefits involve two monetary components. One is the payment of salary for 26 weeks. The second is a payment of Rs 3,500 (it's not 1,000 or 25,000 but Rs 3,500) as a medical bonus. You can mark the woman employee availing of maternity leave as "leave" and pay her salary every month as if she is on leave. This will satisfy the provisions of the law.

Similarly, the payment of the medical bonus is to be made, and this is a one-time payment (not payable every month) provided you are not giving any natal care to the employee. If you send some nurse or ayah to her house to take care of her, then this payment need not be made. Naturally, you cannot offer any natal care for six months at a cost of Rs 3,500. Hence, pay it.

Applicability of the Maternity Benefits Act

Another important matter is the applicability of the Maternity Benefits Act to your establishment. If yours is a factory or mine, then it is applicable to you even if the number of employees is less than 10. But if your establishment is not a factory or mine, then there should be a minimum of ten persons for coverage. These ten persons shall include all employees, including those on contract and casually engaged.

For the applicability of any labor law, the constitution of the establishment, i.e., whether it is a proprietary firm, partnership firm, or a company, is immaterial. Laws become applicable depending upon the nature of activity, whether engaged in manufacturing, mining, plantation, trade and commerce, and the number of employees engaged.

Thanks, Madhu!!

Follow-up question

"You can mark the woman employee availing maternity leave as 'leave' and pay her salary every month as if she is on leave. This will satisfy the provisions of the law."

As per Section 6(5) of the Maternity Benefits Law, the prenatal portion of the leave is required to be paid in advance on the production of proof of EDD. Whereas the post-natal leave portion is to be paid within 48 hours on the production of a certificate of birth.

By paying the salary every month and not paying in advance or within 48 hours as the case may be, are we not violating the provisions of the law?

Thanks,
PKAssoc

Payment of Maternity Benefits

Payment of advance salary and full salary within 48 hours of childbirth is not practical, especially when the maternity leave was extended to 26 weeks from 12 weeks. Therefore, monthly payments would satisfy the legal requirements.

Hi Madhu,

We have a case where a candidate requested maternity leave immediately on her first day of joining. We couldn't do anything about it because we didn't know she was pregnant at the time of the interview, as it was conducted online. How should we handle such a situation?

She worked for exactly 80 days and is now going on maternity leave for 6 months. We are certain that she will not return.

Please advise us on how we can prevent such instances where candidates may be misusing these laws for personal gain.

Genuine maternity leaves are fine, but cases like these are rampant these days. We encourage genuine maternity leaves, but planning to join a company when a candidate is 6 months pregnant and then serving 80 days and never returning is concerning.

Members, has anyone gone through this kind of case?

Maternity Leave Choices

You have two choices: one, to deny maternity leave by stating that your establishment is not covered by the Maternity Benefits Act; and second, the leave is admissible to women employees who have worked for 80 days during the 12 months preceding the expected day of delivery. The legality of '12 months' preceding the date of delivery is left to you. This issue has been discussed in this forum at various times, and I have not received any clarification on that.

Concerns About Online Interviews

Anyway, this is a case of cheating, and the lady should not take advantage of an online interview. But I don't understand why a small organization like yours, which employs less than 10 employees, should opt for an online interview!

Thanks, Lakshmi and Madhu.

Online Interviews for Small Organizations

Madhu, why should a small organization like yours, which employs fewer than 10 employees, opt for online interviews?

We are hiring and plan to reach 100 employees by the end of the year. Most interviews nowadays are conducted online as that is the norm and preference; most female employees also prefer working from home. Online interviews are conducted in their interest to benefit them.

Addressing Maternity Leave Concerns

Madhu Ji, are there any ways to address this issue? Since it has happened once, there is a chance it could happen again. We certainly want to pay genuine maternity benefits, but we want to avoid cases where someone joins the company, completes exactly 80 days in their first 6 months, and then requests a 6-month maternity leave, never to return.

As I said, rejecting on the grounds that the Maternity Benefits Act does not apply to your organization and/or quoting the '12 months preceding the expected date of delivery' is a legal question that you have to decide. If you refer to the ESI Act, it is available only to those who have contributed a certain number of days (70 days) in two consecutive contribution periods (that means one year). That means maternity benefits will not be paid to one who has just worked for 70 days (let it be 80 days also).

Section 5(2) of the Act

Section 5(2) of the Act says that: No woman shall be entitled to maternity benefits unless she has actually worked in an establishment of the employer from whom she claims maternity benefits for a period of not less than eighty days in the twelve months immediately preceding the date of her expected delivery.

If the purpose is to give benefits to women employees who have worked for 80 days, then it should have been without the qualifying condition attached to 80 days, i.e., in 12 months. Moreover, it is like "NO woman is ENTITLED to get it if she has not worked for at least 80 days in 12 months immediately preceding the date of delivery. That means a woman employee who has been in service for many years shall not be entitled to get maternity benefits if she had not worked for 80 days in the 12 months immediately preceding childbirth. That clearly says that it is not the total length of service but the service in the 12 months just before childbirth that is important.

For further reasoning and interpretations, you may make.