- Maternity Benefit under the Code on Social Security, 2020
- March 7, 2021
What is Maternity Benefit?
The Benefit is an allowance paid by the central government or employer of the woman who is absent from work for some time due to maternity reasons.
Prohibition of employment of woman in certain cases
-
Prohibition on the employment of a woman is imposed by the central government for six weeks immediately following the day of her delivery, miscarriage, or medical termination of pregnancy by any employer under any circumstance.
-
A woman cannot be employed by the employer or work willingly in any establishment during six weeks immediately preceding the dayof her expected delivery.
-
Prohibition of work that is difficult and requires great exertion and physical strength. The woman shall refrain herself from doing the work of such kind that can cause complications in her pregnancy in any way.
-
Work that is difficult and requires great exertion and physical strength will be prohibited from the period of one month immediately preceding six weeksbefore the date of her expected delivery and any period in the six weeks for which the woman has not availed the leave of absence.
Eligibility of the woman to avail the maternity Benefit
-
The employer will have to pay the maternity benefit to the woman entitled to receive this benefit. The woman will receive this benefit for the period of her absence from the work on account of maternity. The employer will calculate the benefit based on the days of absence and the average daily wageof the woman. The average daily wage will be considered based on the three calendar months preceding the period of the absence after considering the minimum rate of wages fixed.
-
The woman can claim the maternity benefit only when she is working in the establishment for more than eighty daysin the last twelve calendar monthspreceding her expected delivery date. For the calculation of the required eighty days, the days on which the actual working is done and the days which were considered as leave with wages as per the law enforce at that time also taken into due consideration.
-
Any woman can avail of the benefit for the maximum period of twenty-six weeksin total that can be divided into two periods of before and after delivery, moreover, the period of absence before the expected delivery date shall not exceed eight weeks.
-
If the woman who is having two or more surviving children then the maximum period will be twelve weeksof which the period of absence before the expected delivery date shall not exceed eight weeks.
-
If the woman dies during such period, then benefit shall be payable for the period calculated till the day of her death.
-
If the child dies during such period, then benefit shall be payable for the period calculated till the day of death of the child.
-
-
The maximum period for any woman who has adopted a child of the age less than 3 months is twelve weeks from the date of actual handling of the child to the adopted mother.
-
When the nature of work is such that it can be handled from a distant place then the maternity benefit will be decided by the employer and woman mutually.
Notice of claim and payment of maternity benefit
-
Notice in writing need to be submitted by the woman, the notice contains that she wants to avail the maternity benefit as per the provision, nominate the person who can receive the amount as maternity benefit under some cases on her behalf, the continuation of benefit under certain cases. The notice is given to the employer in such a form as prescribed by the central government.
-
The notice shall contain the date from which she will be absent from the workplace will be mentioned. The date should not be more than eight weeks from the date of the expected delivery date.
-
The notice must be submitted by the woman as soon as possible after the delivery if she fails to submit it before the delivery date because of any reason.
-
When the notice is received by the employer, he can permit the woman to remain absent for a certain period and to avail the maternity benefit.
-
The employer has to pay the amount of benefit calculated from the date of the absence till the date of expected delivery in advance to the pregnant woman on the receipt of relevant proof as prescribed by the central government. The payment of the period of absence after the delivery has to pay by the employer within forty-eight hours of the submission of proof of delivery of the child.
-
The failure to submit the notice shall not disqualify the woman from availing of this benefit. If such benefit is not paid on not submission of notice then the inspector-cum-facilitator himself or on the application of woman can pass such order to the employer for payment of the required maternity benefit to the women.
Leave For Miscarriage
| In case of miscarriage, or medical termination of pregnancy | Leave with wages after production of proofs | For the period of six weeks immediately following the date of such incident |
| In case of tubectomy operation | Leave with wages after production of proofs | For the period of two weeks immediately following date of such operation |
| Illness arising out of pregnancy | Leave with wages after production of proofs | For the maximum period of one month |
Forfeiture of maternity benefit
The forfeiture of maternity benefit will be done if the woman continues to works for remuneration during the period in which she is permitted by the employee to be absent herself and avail maternity benefit later.
Duties of employer
All the rules and provisions of maternity benefits should be communicated explicitly to the women employed by placing an abstract in their local language at an easily accessible place.
Power of Inspector-cum-facilitator in regards to payments need to be made
- When a woman claims that the maternity benefit that she is entitled to as per provisions has been improperly withheld and her employer terminates her on account of her absence from work in the concerned period as per provisions then a complaint can be filed by her to claim her maternity benefit to the inspector-cum-facilitator.
- The inspector-cum- facilitator on receipt of the complaint will make an inquiry and if he found some discrepancies in the payment made, he can order in writing and direct the employer to make the payment as per the order. If the woman has been terminated in the concerned period on the account of absence from work the inspector can pass orders as per the circumstances and the employer has to act according to such orders.
- The person that may be employer or any other person who is affected by the order has a right to make an appeal against the order of the Inspector-cum-Facilitator to the authority prescribed by the appropriate government. Such appeal can make by the person within 30 days from the date of communication of the order to such person.
- The decision of the authority where the appeal is made against the orders of inspector-cum-facilitator is final. And in the case of no such appeal, the decision of inspector-cum-facilitator is considered final.
Post Comment