Lok Sabha has amended the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 on 9thMarch, 2017, which inter alia includes increasing the maternity benefits. The
amendment provide for the following:
(i) Maternity leave available to the working women to be
increased from 12 weeks to 26 weeks for the first two children.
(ii) Maternity leave for children beyond the first two will
continue to be 12 weeks.
(iii) Maternity leave of 12 weeks to be available to mothers
adopting a child below the age of three months 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.
(iv) Every
establishment with more than 50 employees to provide for crèche facilities for
working mothers either individually or as a shared common facility within such
distance as may be prescribed by rules, and such mothers will be permitted to
make four visits during working hours to look after and feed the child in the
crèche including the interval for rest allowed to her.
(v) The
employer may permit a woman to work from home if it is possible to do
so, with mutual consent of the employee and the employer.
(vi) Every
establishment to intimate in writing and electronically to every woman at the
time of her initial appointment about the benefits available under the Act.
These
changes will have a major impact on the health, well-being and growth of the
future generation in the Country. It will have positive impact on women’s
participation in labour force and will improve the work-life balance of the
women workers. The Maternity Benefits
(Amendment) Act, 2016 will come into the force only after the President’s
assent.
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