Parliament has passed the Maternity Benefits (Amendment) Bill

• The Bill seeks to amend the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 which protects the employment of women during the time of her maternity and entitles her of a ‘maternity benefit’
• Maternity leave: Increased to 26 weeks for the working women for the first two children. Woman with two or more children will be entitled to 12 weeks of maternity leave.
• Woman who adopts a child below the age of three months and also commissioning mothers are entitled to 12 weeks of maternity leave.
• In this case, commissioning mother is defined as biological mother who uses her egg to create an embryo planted in any other woman.
• Crèche facilities: Every establishment with more than 50 employees must provide for crèche facilities for working mothers.
• Such mothers will be permitted to make four visits during working hours to look after and feed the child in the crèche.
• Work from home: Employer may permit a woman to work from home, if the nature of work assigned permits her to do so. This must be mutually agreed upon by the woman and employer.
• Information about benefits: Establishment must inform a working woman of all benefits available under this law at the time of her appointment. Such information must be given in electronically or writing.
• Applicability: The provisions of this law will apply to every establishment employing ten or more persons and include mines and factories. No employer can remove any woman employee on ground of pregnancy.