SWAPAN CHOWHAN 31 January 2020
Siddhartha Kundoo 31 January 2020
Respected Sir,
Section 2(o) of the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 evidently eliminates the apprehension as it defines “women” as a woman employed, whether directly or through any agency, for wages in any establishment. Thus, the definition of a woman under the Act extends the benefit to all women employees including those employed through an agency or on a contract basis. In wake of the recent amendment to the Maternity Benefit Act i.e. Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2016 several doubts had been raised by stakeholders and one among them was whether the Amendment Act extending maternity leave of 26 weeks was applicable to contractual or consultant women employees? Subsequently, the Ministry of Labour & Employment issued a clarification dated April 12, 2017, wherein it was stated that as there was no amendment to Section 2(o) of the Act of 1961, the Act is applicable to all women who are employed in any capacity, directly or through any agency i.e. contractual or consultant employment.
So Speak to the concerned authorities regarding the same in the office or else send a legal notice.
Regards,
Siddhartha Kundoo
Joy Bose 31 January 2020
P. Venu (Advocate) 01 February 2020
Has she been in continuous employment for the past five years? Is her service governed by the prevailing service rules for the State employees?
Vinod Kumar 24 May 2021
Ritesh Maity (Labour Law Advocate) 25 May 2021
A female employee is entitled to maternity benefit of 26 weeks (8 weeks pre-natal and 16 weeks post-natal) if she has completed at least 80 days of service. It does not matter whether she was appointed directly or indirectly by the company. Even if she has failed to intimate about her pregnancy in time to her employer, yet she cannot be debarred from enjoying the maternity benefit solely on this ground.
P. Venu (Advocate) 25 May 2021
Mr. Vinod Kumar:
Please post your query in a fresh thread.