Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 | |
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Parliament of India | |
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Citation | PIB [1] |
Enacted by | Parliament of India |
Assented to | 27 March 2017 [2] |
Commenced | 1 April 2017 |
Repealed by | |
The Code on Social Security, 2020 | |
Status: Repealed |
The Maternity (Amendment) Bill 2017, an amendment to the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, was passed in Rajya Sabha on 11 August 2016, in Lok Sabha on 9 March 2017, [3] and received an assent from President of India on 27 March 2017. [4] The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 protects the employment of women during the time of her maternity and entitles her of a 'maternity benefit' – i.e. full paid absence from work – to take care for her child. The Act is applicable to all establishments employing 10 or more than 10 persons in Factories, Mines, Plantation, Shops & Establishments and other entities. [5] Establishments employing 50 or more employees are also required to provide crèche facilities, either separately or along with common facilities within a prescribed distance. [6]
The provisions of this act are effective from 1 April 2017. However, provision on creche facility (Section 11A) shall be effective from 1 July 2017. The Code on Social Security, 2020 consolidated the provisions of this and several other acts, repealing the acts in the process.
The Act was applicable to all establishments which include factories, mines, plantations, Government establishments, shops and establishments under the relevant applicable legislation, or any other establishment as may be notified by the Central Government.
As per the Act, to be eligible for maternity benefit, a woman must have been working as an employee in an establishment for a period of at least 80 days within the past 12 months. Payment during the leave period is based on the average daily wage for the period of actual absence. [7]
The Maternity Benefit Amendment Act has increased the duration of paid maternity leave available for women employees from the existing 12 weeks to 26 weeks. Under the Maternity Benefit Amendment Act, this benefit could be availed by women for a period extending up to a maximum of eight weeks before the expected delivery date and the remaining time can be availed after childbirth. For women who are having two or more surviving children, the duration of paid maternity leave shall be 12 weeks (i.e. six weeks before and six weeks after expected date of delivery).
Maternity leave of 12 weeks to be available to mothers adopting a child below the age of three months from the date of adoption as well as to the "commissioning mothers". The commissioning mother has been defined as biological mother who uses her egg to create an embryo planted in any other woman.
The Maternity Benefit Amendment Act has also introduced an enabling provision relating to "work from home" for women, which may be exercised after the expiry of the 26-week leave period. Depending upon the nature of work, women employees may be able to avail this benefit on terms that are mutually agreed with the employer.
The Maternity Benefit Amendment Act makes creche facility mandatory for every establishment employing 50 or more employees. [9] Women employees would be permitted to visit the crèche four times during the day (including rest intervals) and where creche facilities are not available to women employees there should be two one-half hour rest periods.
The Maternity Benefit Amendment Act makes it mandatory for employers to educate women about the maternity benefits available to them at the time of their appointment.
Policy design is important and making such leave an employer mandate, as in India, ensures employers will discriminate against women of childbearing age. [10] Additional requirements like creche facilities require more capital and operating expenditure. Some companies in India might shy away from hiring young women. When they do, the women might face a reduction in compensation as firms compensate for greater lifetime costs.
Employers have to bear the entire cost of providing leave to employees—in terms of both continued pay while on leave, as well as the indirect cost of having to get the work done by employing other workers to finish the work of the absent employee. Also, it increases the cost of temporary training provided to the employee which is employed on behalf of the absent employee. [10]
Regarding how the bulk of employment is in the informal sector, Team-lease estimates, that 11-18 Lakh jobs for women will be lost because of the implementation of the Act, over the first four years. [11]
In most countries, the cost of maternity leave is shared by the government, employer, insurance agency and other social security programs. In Singapore, for example, the employer bears the cost for eight weeks and public funds for eight weeks. In Australia and Canada, public funds bear the full cost. A social insurance scheme bears the cost in France. In Brazil, it shared by the employer, employee and the government. [12]
An impact study done by Team-lease after 3 years, 5 out of 10 sectors that were expected to show more participation of women in workforce, rather indicated a drop in share of women in workforce. [13]
National Insurance (NI) is a fundamental component of the welfare state in the United Kingdom. It acts as a form of social security, since payment of NI contributions establishes entitlement to certain state benefits for workers and their families.
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Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" and "paternity leave" to describe separate family leave available to either parent to care for small children. In some countries and jurisdictions, "family leave" also includes leave provided to care for ill family members. Often, the minimum benefits and eligibility requirements are stipulated by law.
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Sick leave is paid time off from work that workers can use to stay home to address their health needs without losing pay. It differs from paid vacation time or time off work to deal with personal matters, because sick leave is intended for health-related purposes. Sick leave can include a mental health day and taking time away from work to go to a scheduled doctor's appointment. Some policies also allow paid sick time to be used to care for sick family members, or to address health and safety needs related to domestic violence or sexual assault. Menstrual leave is another type of time off work for a health-related reason, but it is not always paid.
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Social security in India includes a variety of statutory insurances and social grant schemes bundled into a formerly complex and fragmented system run by the Indian government at the federal and the state level. The Directive Principles of State Policy, enshrined in Part IV of the Indian Constitution reflects that India is a welfare state. Food security to all Indians are guaranteed under the National Food Security Act, 2013 where the government provides highly subsidised food grains or a food security allowance to economically vulnerable people. The system has since been universalised with the passing of The Code on Social Security, 2020. These cover most of the Indian population with social protection in various situations in their lives.
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