Maternity Benefit Act - Creche Facilities for Employees

Maternity Benefit Act - Creche Facilities for Employees

Ministry of Labour & Employment
Creche Facilities for Employees

11 FEB 2019

The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 is enforced and implemented by the respective State Governments in all sectors except in the Mines and Circus Industries. As per the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017, it has been made mandatory for the establishments employing 50 or more employees to provide creche facility, either separately or along with common facilities within a prescribed distance. Time to time, advisories are issued to State Governments for strict enforcement and compliance of the provisions of the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961. Government does not maintain data of defaulters centrally. Implementation of provisions relating to nursing breaks are also enforced by State Governments, except in case of mines and circus.

This information was given by Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar Union Minister of State (I/C) for Labour and Employment in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

PIB

Five Days Emergency Leave to GDS

Five Days Emergency Leave to GDS

GDS: Maximum 5 Days Emergency Leave for Gramin Dak Sevaks

  Department of Posts (Ministry of Communications) notified on 3rd January 2019 regarding the ‘Emergency Leave for a maximum of Five Days in a calendar year for all categories of Gramin Dak Sevkas (GDS).

Earlier, the Central Government approved and implemented the recommendations of Kamlesh Chandra Committee report to GDS Employees. Now, Central has decided to sanction the Emergency Leave to GDS Employees recommended by the Kamlesh Chandra Committee.
Consolidated instructions provided in the office memorandum and the benefit effective from 1.1.2019.
The Kamlesh Chandra Committee has recommended on Leave as follows…

• Provision of 26 weeks of Maternity Leave for women GDS has been recommended.
• The wages for the entire period of Maternity Leave is recommended to be paid from salary head from where wages of GDSs are paid.
• The Committee has also recommended one week of paternity leave.
• Leave accumulation and encashment facility up to 180 days has been introduced

Government to refund employers for seven weeks of maternity leave given to employees: WCD

Government to refund employers for seven weeks of maternity leave given to employees: WCD

CRE-23/1/2018 - Creche- Part(2)
Government of India
Ministry of Women and Child Development

Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi
Dated: 2nd November, 2018

Office Memorandum

Subject: National Minimum Guidelines for setting up and running creches under Maternity Benefit Act, 2017 - Forwarding of

The undersigned is directed to refer to the subject mentioned above & to say that the Ministry of Labour & Employment has notified the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 mandating that "every establishment having fifty or more employees shall have the facility of creche within such distance as may be prescribed, either separately or along with common facilities",

2. In this regard, to enable and facilitate the employer for establishing and managing the creche facility, the Ministry of Women & Child Development has formulated the National Minimum Guidelines for Setting Up and Running Creches under Maternity Benefit Act 2017 (copy enclosed).

3. It is requested to circulate the said guidelines to each and every employer/ institution covered under the Maternity Benefit Act thereby empowering them with the requisite know how to set up model cn3Ghe facilities with adequate provisions. A copy of the said guidelines can also be downloaded from the Ministry's website - www.wcd.nic.in.

Source: www.wcd.nic.in

Alternative Arrangement in Place of Employees on Child Care Leave

Alternative Arrangement in Place of Employees on Child Care Leave

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES AND PENSIONS
LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO: 3587
ANSWERED ON: 08.08.2018

Alternative Arrangement in Place of Employees on Child Care Leave

NAGARAJAN P.  Will the Minister of
PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES AND PENSIONS be pleased to state:-

(a) whether the Union Government is aware of the fact that the office work is being totally disrupted due to absence of women employees on account of the long paid maternity leave and child care leave;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the Government has calculated days and assessed working during maternity/child care leave for making provisions of staff to overcome the shortage or cope up with the work in the absence of women employees who are on maternity and child care leave;
(d) if so, the details thereof; and

(e) if not, the reasons therefor?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES AND PENSIONS AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE
(DR. JITENDRA SINGH)

(a) to (e) : Disruption in the office work due to absence of women employees on account of the long paid Maternity Leave and Child Care Leave has not come to the notice of the Government. Ministries/Departments are authorized to make suitable leave arrangements to cope up the loss of work hours when an employee proceeds on any kind of leave including Maternity and Child Care Leave. There is also provision for creation of leave reserve posts to cover the leave vacancies. No centralized data is maintained in this regard.

Source : LokSabha

Maternity Leave for the female Gramin Dak Sevaks (Female GDS) in the Department of Posts

Maternity Leave for the female Gramin Dak Sevaks (Female GDS) in the Department of Posts

No. 17-31/2016-GDS

Government of India

Ministry of Communications

Department of Posts

Establishment Division

Dak Bhawan, Sansad Marg,

New Delhi - 110001.

Dated: the 27th June, 2018

Office Memorandum

Subject: Introduction of Maternity Leave for the female Gramin Dak Sevaks (Female GDS) in the Department of Posts.

The undersigned is directed to convey the approval of the Competent Authority for introduction of the Maternity Leave for the female Gramin Dak Sevaks (Female GDSs) in Department of Posts.

2. This OM will supersede all earlier orders in respect of Maternity Leave for female Gramin Dak Sevaks (Female GDS).

3. Introduction of Maternity Leave for female GDS.

i. Female Gramin Dak Sevaks (Female GDSs) with less than two surviving children may be granted maternity leave by an authority competent to grant leave for a period of 180 days from the date of its commencement.

ii. During such period, she shall be paid TRCA drawn plus Dearness Allowance immediately before proceeding on leave.

iii. Maternity leave not exceeding 45 days may also be granted to female Gramin Dak Sevaks (irrespective of the number of surviving children) during the entire service of that female GDSs in case of miscarriage including abortion on production of medical certificate issued by a Government Medical Practitioner.
iv. Maternity leave may be combined with paid leave. Maternity leave shall not be debited against the paid leave account.

4. This OM will take effect from 01.07.2018.

5. This issues in consultation with Department of Personnel and Training vide their ID No. 14029/1/2017-Estt (L) dated 01.01.2018.

Sd/-

(S. V. Rao)

Director (Estt.)

Maternity Benefit Amendment Act 2017

Maternity Benefit Amendment Act 2017

 

F.No-S-36012/03/2015-SS-I
Government of India
Ministry of Labour & Employment

Sharam Shakti Bhawan, New Delhi
28 August, 2017

To
The Secretary,
Labour Department,
All State Governments/UT Administrators

Subject: The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act,2017

Sir/Madam,
Kind reference is invited to Ministry of Labour & Employment’s earlier letter number S-36012/03/2015-ss-I dated 12.04.2017 (copy enclosed) highlighting the recent amendments made to Maternity Benefit Act, 1961. The Ministry had also clarified therin certain points of doubts to facilitate smooth implementation of the provisions of the said Act, specially in respect of coverage of contractual workers under the Act. This Ministry in the recent past have been receiving a number of complaints and grievances from working women stating non-implementation of the provisions of the M.B. Act including alleged dismissal of few women by the employers in violation of section 12 of the said Act, non coverage of contractual employees, etc. The honourable National Commission for women has also taken serious view of such denial of rights of working women. This Ministry would, therefore, urge all the State/UT Labour Commissioners (which is the implementing authority under the M.B. Act) to effectively enforce the provisions of M.B. Act, and take strict punitive action against defaulting employers and ensure that the provisions of the statute are implemented in true spirit and letter to protect the rights of working women enshrined in the Act.

Yours faithfully
sd/-
(Manish Kumar Gupta)
Joint Secretary, Govt of India

Source: Confederation

Grant of maternity leave - Clarification

Grant of maternity leave for female government servant - Clarification

IMPORTANT CIRCULAR

CGDA, Ulan Batar Road, Palam, Delhi Cantt - 110 010

AN/XIV/19404/Leave Matters/Vol-III

Dated: 19-04-2017

To

All PCsDA/CsDA/PCA (Fys)

Subject: Grant of maternity leave - Clarification

A reference was made to DoP&T regarding quantum of maternity leave admissible to a female government servant consequent upon death of the child(s) after birth.

2. In reply, DoP&T has clarified that - " in case of death of child shortly after birth, the woman employees may be granted Maternity Leave of two months for recovery after delivery of the child".

3. Similar cases/requests may be regulated accordingly.

(Kavita Garg)
Sr.Dy.CGDA (AN)

Signed Copy

Women to get 26 weeks maternity leave, President nod to new law

Women to get 26 weeks maternity leave, President nod to new law

New Delhi: Women employees will now be able to get paid maternity leave of 26 weeks, up from 12 weeks, as per a new law.

President Pranab Mukherjee has given assent to the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 that has made changes in some of the provisions of over 55-year-old law entitling certain benefit to women employees.

The new law makes it mandatory for every establishment with fifty or more employees to have the facility of creche within a prescribed distance.

The employer is also bound to allow four visits a day to the creche by a woman.

Every establishment shall intimate in writing and electronically to every woman at the time of her initial appointment regarding every benefit available under the new law, the statute says.

An employer can also permit a woman to work from home after she has availed maternity leave.
"In case where the nature of work assigned to a woman is of such nature that she may work from home, the employer may allow her to do so after availing of the maternity benefit for such period and on such conditions as the employer and the woman may mutually agree," it says.

The law also allows maternity leave of 12 weeks for a woman who adopts a child below the age of three months, and for commissioning mother (a biological mother who uses her egg to create an embryo implanted in any other woman).

The entitlement of 26 weeks paid leave under the law is only for first two children. A woman with two or more children will be entitled to 12 weeks of maternity leave, says the law which will apply to all establishments employing 10 or more people.

The statute that will help approximate 1.8 million women workforce in organised sector, has amended Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 that regulates grant of maternity benefit to women employees in certain establishments.

The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill was passed by Lok Sabha on March 9 and Rajya Sabha on March 20.

India is at third position globally in terms of the number of weeks of maternity leave after Canada (50 weeks) and Norway (44 weeks).

The president gave his assent on Monday.

PTI

Maternity Leave in Private Sector

Maternity Leave in Private Sector

Maternity benefits to workers in the private sector are regulated under Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) Act, 1948 and Maternity Benefit (MB) Act, 1961. The Government has already enhanced paid maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks for up to two surviving children under the ESI Act,1948 vide notification dated 20.01.2017. So far as enhanced benefits under MB Act, 1961 are concerned, the Government introduced Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016 before Rajya Sabha. The said Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha on 11.08.2016 and Lok Sabha has also passed the Bill with some amendments on 09.03.2017.

Both the Acts provide for protection of rights of working women through robust and proper mechanism including inspections by the field officers. The Acts provide for stringent penalties, including imprisonment, for violations of its provisions to ensure proper implementation.

This information was given by Shri Bandaru Dattatreya, the Minister of State (IC) for Labour and Employment,in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

PIB

Proposals on Child Care Leave (CCL) and Maternity Leave

No. 13018/1/2014-Estt(L)
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
Department of Personnel & Training
****

Old JNU Campus, New Delhi 110 067
Dated: 01.04.2016

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject:- Proposals on Child Care Leave (CCL) and Maternity Leave — Reg.

This is regarding proposals on the subject of Maternity Leave and CCL that are under consideration in this Department. In this connection, a workshop was held in DoPT on 28.01.2016 with the stakeholder Departments on the following issues and the consensus emerged as follows:

(a) Maternity/CCL in case of surrogacy: There is no provision at present for any kind of Leave for surrogate/commissioning mothers. It is proposed that 180 days maternity leave may be granted to the surrogate as well as commissioning mothers, in case either/both of them are Government servants. The commissioning mother also requires time for bonding with her child and to take care of him/her and hence would also become eligible for Child Care Leave. Paternity Leave may also be granted in case of surrogacy.

(b) Age Limit for CCL in case of disabled children: It is proposed that the age limit for CCL in case of disabled children needs to be done away with since the requirement of parental care may be more/stronger when the disabled child grows older. It may therefore be allowed to provide for CCL in the case of disabled children — the ‘disability’ being clearly defined by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment – without any age limit provided the maximum CCL that can be availed remains within the ceiling of 730 days.

(c) Leaving HQ/availing LTC while on CCL: At present leaving headquarters or availing LTC are not permissible during CCL. The underlying intent of CCL is to allow care of up to two children whether for rearing or to look after any of their needs like examination, sickness etc. Thus, it is not restricted to exam and sickness alone. Taking care may also include ensuring their rest and recreation and towards that objective leaving headquarters or availing LTC can be allowed. It is thus proposed that the employees may be permitted to leave headquarters/avail LTC while they are on CCL, provided clearances from appropriate competent authorities are taken while proceeding on foreign travel.

(d) CCL minimum for at least five days: Vide this Department O.M. No.13018/6/2013-Estt.(L) dated  5th June, 2014 the stipulation of the requirement of minimum period of 15 days’ CCL has been removed. It is now proposed to introduce a minimum period of five days of CCL i.e., CCL henceforth may not be granted for less than 5 days.

2. Comments on the above proposals are solicited please.

(Mukul Ratra)
Director

To:
1. All Ministries/Departments of Government of India
2. NIC, DOPT for uploading on the Ministry’s website.

DoPT Circular