Is It Fair to Delay My Wife's Pay Raise Because of Her Maternity Leave?

Hi, good day. My wife is 7 months pregnant and she is working at XYZ Company. Every year in October, they have the appraisal, and as per that, they give the increment. However, due to her pregnancy, they are saying that they will give the increment once she is back from maternity leave, which she will be taking from January 2024. Please guide me on the same.

Though an increment in a scale of pay is a right, it is not a right in an open salary structure where there is no increment offered.

Understanding Pay Scales

To explain, you should have seen scales of pay like 10000-200-11000-300-12500-500-17500. In this scale, a beginner shall get a basic salary of Rs 10,000. Every year, he will earn an increment of Rs 200; i.e., one year after joining, his salary will become 10,200, the second year it will become 10,400, and so on. In five years, it will become 11,000, and thereafter for each year, the increment will be Rs 300. This is a time scale, and the increment is guaranteed. If you want to stop an increment, there should be a sufficient reason, and it shall be done following any disciplinary action. The offer letter will contain a scale of pay as referred to above, and as such, it is a right.

Open Salary Structures

In an open scale, there will not be any increment offered at the time of employment. Only a salary and (now it is Cost to Company or CTC) and there is no guarantee that one will get an increment. As such, the management will decide what the increment should be for each person based on various parameters. Obviously, by offering an increment, the management expects more inputs from the employee. If an employee is not expected to remain with us, or if we feel that an employee may leave us (say her marriage has been fixed, and she is planning to settle in the US with her spouse after marriage), we will not pay higher increments to her. In the same way, if an employee is expected to go for maternity leave in another few months, the increment shall be kept on hold.

Legal Considerations

The law does not speak about non-payment of an increment, but the law speaks only about non-payment of salary or dismissal of women while they are pregnant. Therefore, if your wife has not been given an increment, you cannot question it. Anyway, the management has said that she will get it once she returns after leave. But if the management has communicated it by means of an order, that can be questioned, saying that the refusal to give an increment was due to her pregnancy, and that was a stigmatic order.

There is nothing wrong with the employer withholding the increment during maternity leave. It is acceptable for the employer to release the increment to the employee once she resumes her job. In such cases, the employer pays the increment amount from the day it was declared. The employee should instead focus on her safe delivery rather than the increment.

With due respect to seniors, I may be permitted to indicate that perhaps the question has not been appreciated in its true perspective. A Citehr member states that his wife is 7 months pregnant; he does not say that his wife is availing of maternity leave. The other fact emerging from the post is that the company XYZ is granting an increment to all employees in the month of October every year as a matter of internal administrative policy. Now, in this case, his wife is performing active duty, and there appears to be no adverse report on her performance. Therefore, withholding or postponing an increment on the ground of future maternity leave amounts to unfair consideration or can be equated with a penal action in administrative laws of conduct rules and discipline. It is also pertinent to mention that an increment is allowed on the completed year of service, not on any future contingency. In these circumstances, the action of withholding or postponing an increment on the ground of pregnancy is not a reasonable, fair, and justified decision.

Further, there is no denying that an employer has a right to withhold, postpone, or deny an increment, but such a right should not be discriminatory when exercised as an internal policy at par with other employees. Therefore, in my opinion, the querist should prefer an application to the management of XYZ Company to reconsider the decision and allow a suitable increment based on criteria as fixed for the purpose.

With good wishes and regards,

Chandramani Lal Srivastava
Master Consultant - HR/IR-Admin, Tender & Contracts Management
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New Delhi/04.11.2023/10:36 pm