While this is still the case in the majority of households, increased economic strain is causing more women to enter labour to provide dual income to their families. Women have been an invisible force in the workforce in the past and from the beginning, but it is growing more popular currently. Despite joining the workforce, women are still perceived as having major duties for household chores and child care. This position becomes much more difficult during pregnancy or when they are responsible for children. Few employees are sensitive to this position and are unwilling to provide paid maternity leave. They are not flexible with daycare, flexible with hours so that they can care for the children, and they are not willing to provide paid maternity leave. Because many businesses and factories are insensitive to the special demands of pregnant women, there must be legislation in place to enforce specific ethics to assist women.
Need for maternity leave
The requirement for women to take maternity leave has been viewed as a handicap. This is because they must take time off before and after the birth of their child. Employees used to terminate women if they thought their need for maternity leave or the fact that they were pregnant was interfering with their ability to perform. As a result, they would take unpaid leave to avoid being dismissed. Women workers in labour-intensive or general work-intensive sectors were sometimes forced to compensate and overwork if they were pregnant or had taken maternity leave, which was extremely mentally and physically demanding and harmful to the mother's and child's health. As a result, rules like these were enacted to alleviate any kind of difficulty for women.
Applicability
This statute applies to all women who work in a company with ten or more employees, whether they are employed directly or through a consultant. A pregnant woman's dismissal is considered illegal. If a female employee is fired due to pregnancy and the employer is proven guilty, the employer will be penalised under section 12 of the Maternity Benefit Act, 2017.
Duration of Leave
This Act extends paid maternity leave to 26 weeks, up from 12 weeks previously, and applies to women who are expecting their first or second child. If a woman is expecting her third or subsequent child, she will be entitled to paid maternity leave for 12 weeks, divided into six weeks before delivery and six weeks following delivery.
This act now applies to adoptive moms as well, and each of them is entitled to 12 weeks of paid maternity leave.
To add to the benefits, this act has created a new alternative for new mothers: 'work from home' options. Women can choose to work from home if needed after the 26-week term has passed.
Before March 2017, the law guaranteed the rights listed below.
Female workers are entitled to a maximum of 12 weeks (84 days) of maternity leave under the Maternity Benefit Act. Six weeks of the 12 weeks are for post-natal leave. A worker is entitled to six weeks of paid maternity leave in the event of a miscarriage or medical termination of pregnancy. In the event of problems arising from pregnancy, childbirth, early birth, miscarriage, medical termination, or a tubectomy operation, employees are entitled to an additional month of paid leave (two weeks in this case).
While the Maternity Benefits Act of 1961 was amended in 2017 to provide certain important and major modifications to the Act, such as
extending the definition of "establishment" to include establishments under applicable legislations, factories, governmental establishments, mines, plantations and shops;
extending leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks as per WHO recommendations;
recognizing the right of maternity benefit of adoptive mothers and giving them a 12 weeks maternity leave for an adopted child under the age of three;
extending maternity leave to women who have undergone tubectomy for 2 weeks;
extending the maternity leave provisions for women who have suffered miscarriage providing them up to 6 weeks of such leave;
extending the option of working from home post-maternity leave;
crèche visits;
nursing breaks;
and casting a duty on the employer to inform women regarding the various maternity benefits they are entitled to.
Alternative laws that provide maternity benefits in India
Various laws in India offer maternity benefits in addition to the Maternity Benefit Act.
Employees' State Insurance (ESI), self-funding social security and health insurance scheme for workers, provides maternity benefits to low-wage workers. Employees earning less than Rs 15,000 (US$208) per month are eligible, with the company donating 4.75 per cent and the employee 1.75 per cent.
The ESI system, rather than the Maternity Benefits Act, may be used to receive maternity benefits for those who qualify.
Working Journalists (Conditions of Service) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1955, which provides for 12 weeks of maternity benefits; and the Factories Act, 1948, which provides for 12 weeks of maternity leave with full pay.
Covid-19
Given the current state of COVID-19, special attention should be paid to the Amendment Act of 2017, which includes an enabling provision for women to "Work from Home," which can be used after the 26-week leave term has expired. Women employees may be able to take advantage of this benefit on mutually agreed-upon terms depending on the nature of their work.
Why maternity leave in India needs to be extended?
There could be various advantages to extending maternity leave. To begin with, it will lessen the mother's stress, which is necessary for her to feed her baby freely because stress reduces maternal milk production. Breastfeeding has its own set of advantages, such as providing antibodies and vitamins to the infant, so if she has to go to the office during this period, the baby's benefits from the mother's milk may be hampered. Adds Dr Siddhartha, “Her physical health can be taken care of if she stays at home. She can eat well during the lactation period. Staying around the newborn will also help her grow emotionally and psychologically. I don't see any negative effects of giving a maternity leave for a year, it is always beneficial.”
The disadvantages, on the other hand, include a higher level of separation anxiety in babies under one year of age, as well as a reduced ability to adapt to different carers as they grow. Women's work lives may be jeopardised, as women are already subjected to workplace discrimination as a result of the extended time of non-productivity that follows childbirth. “This is in conflict with the short-term interest of many organisations who are focusing employees’ economic viability in cross-section. Therefore, a long-term perspective is needed. As far as the maternity leave is concerned, there should be flexibility from a period of six months to two years, so that when the child is ready for play school, the mother is ready to get back to work,” says Dr Kapoor.
Conclusion
In today's world, mothers must receive adequate maternity leave to ensure not just their own but also their children's health. Because of the inherent nature of maternity leave, it has become a pressing issue that the government has treated seriously. They raised the length of maternity leave from 12 to 26 weeks in a highly progressive approach. While this is a welcome move, there have been some complaints about the revision, and it appears that India still has many more concerns to address in the maternity leave debate.
References
https://www.india-briefing.com/news/maternity-leave-india-law-benefits-10294.html/
https://www.newsclick.in/large-number-women-do-not-have-access-maternity-benefits-survey
https://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-701-maternity-benefits-and-the-new-changes.html