ANALYSIS ON THE

EFFECTIVENESS OF THE
IMPLEMENTATION OF
MATERNITY BENEFITS ACT
1961
SUBMITTED BY:- JAGRUTI PATNAIK
B.B.A.LLB(H) SECTION-B
REGISTRATION NO:-1841801086
 INTRODUCTION
 Maternity Benefit Act of 1961
 The Maternity Benefit Act (MBA) is a law passed in India December 1961. It regulates the
employment of women in certain establishments for certain period before and after child- birth,
and provides for maternity benefits.
 The MBA extends to the whole of India and covers female employees in any shop or establishment
employing 10 or more persons. The definition of establishment includes factories, mines,
plantations and establishments where people are employed for the exhibition of equestrian,
acrobatic and other performances. Further, casual and daily wage workers are covered by the Act. A
woman is eligible for maternity benefits if she has been employed 80 days or more in the 12 months
preceding delivery.
 According to the MBA, a female employee is entitled to 12 weeks of maternity leave. Not more than
six of these weeks shall precede the date of delivery. In case of miscarriage or medical termination
of pregnancy, the MBA entitles an employee to leave for six weeks following the miscarriage, and in
case of tubectomy operation, the employee is entitled to leave for two weeks after the operation. In
addition, a female employee suffering from illness arising out of pregnancy is entitled to a
maximum one month of additional leave.
 Concerning payment, the MBA states that a female employee shall be paid at the rate of her average
daily wage by her employer when she is on maternity leave. The average daily wage shall also be
paid in cases of leave following miscarriage, tubectomy operation or illness arising out of
pregnancy.
 A woman has the right to 2500 rupees in medical bonus and two nursing breaks per
working day until her child attains the age of 15 months.
 It is according to the Act unlawful for an employer to discharge or dismiss an employee
during or on account of maternity leave. It is also unlawful for an employer to give notice
of discharge or dismissal on such day that the notice will expire during an employee’s
maternity leave.
 If a woman is deprived of maternity benefit or medical bonus, or discharged or dismissed
during or on account of maternity leave, she can appeal against the decision within sixty
days. For doing this, she can approach an Inspector appointed under the Act. If she is not
satisfied with the orders of the Inspector, she can appeal against the orders to the
prescribed authority within thirty days. She can also file her case in court within one year
if she is unsatisfied with the orders passed by the Inspector, or if a larger question of law
is involved.
 The MBA makes clear that an employer shall not employ a woman during the six months
immediately following her delivery. An employer shall also not make a woman do arduous
work, or work that interferes with her pregnancy, during the month before her expected
delivery. Further, an employer has the obligation to display the Act in every part of the
establishment in which women are employed. In addition, every employer shall prepare
and maintain attendance records and submit annual returns.
 LEGISLATIVE PROVISIONS
According to the Act, it is against the law for an employer to fire or dismiss a pregnant woman while she is away or on
account of her pregnancy, or to give notice of a termination on a day when the notice will expire while she is away, or
to change any of the terms of her employment to their detriment. According to the law, light work allotted to
pregnant women and breaks for child feeding are not grounds for wage deductions.

The statute is applicable to all businesses, including those that belonged to the government and those that employed
people to do equestrian, acrobatic, and other acts for display in factories, mines, and plantations. Additionally, it
applied to any store or business with ten or more employees. The inclusion of provisions for industrial, agricultural,
and commercial establishments marked the act as a significant improvement over the rudimentary one from 1928.
The Act covers all maternity benefits in the following sections:

•Section 4: Employment of, or work of, women prohibited during certain periods.
•Section 5: Right to payment of maternity benefits.
•Section 7: Payment of Maternity Benefits in case of death of a woman.
•Section 8: Payment of Medical Bonus.
•Section 9: Leave for miscarriage, etc.
•Section 10: Leave for illness arising out of pregnancy, delivery, premature birth of a child, miscarriage, medical
termination of pregnancy or tubectomy operation.
•Section 11: Nursing Breaks.
•Section 12: Dismissal during absence of pregnancy.
•Section 13: No deduction of wages in certain cases.
•Section 18: Forfeiture of maternity benefits
Benefits Provided:-
Monetary Benefits: Under the ambit of Section 5 (1), every woman is entitled to receive
maternity benefits calculated at the rate of average daily wage for the period of her actual
absence i.e., for the whole of the maternity leave (including the period preceding the delivery,
the actual delivery date, and the period post-delivery)
Nursing Breaks: As per Section 11 of the Act, every woman is entitled to 2 nursing breaks of the
prescribed duration for nursing the child until the child turns 15 months old, apart from the
rest interval allowed, through her daily course of work.
Creche Facility: As per Section 11(A) of the Act (added via 2017 amendment) every
establishment with more than 50 employees is prescribed to have a creche facility for the baby
and the mother should be allowed 4 visits to the creche in a day which shall include the
nursing breaks and the rest intervals allowed to her.
Work From Home: As per Section 5 (5) of the Act (as inserted by the 2017 amendment) if the
job profile of the women facilitates, the employer may allow the provision of work from home
to such women after the completion of the maternity break. The period and conditions of such
work can be mutually decided between the employer and the employee.
Medical Bonus: The woman is entitled to receive an amount of Rs. 1000 from the employer in
case the pre-natal and post-natal care is not provided by the employer at zero cost as
mentioned in Section 8(1) of the Act.
Prevention from dismissal: The Act under the provision of Section 12 makes it unlawful for the
employer to dismiss or deprive an employee of claiming maternity benefits as prescribed by the
Act. Except in the cases of gross misconduct by the woman employee.
The women employee on being dismissed or deprived of such benefits may, within 60 days
from the date of the order being received, file an appeal to the prescribed authority
The Maternity Benefits (Amendment) Bill, 2017
•Duration of leave: The amendment offers 26 weeks of maternity leave,
not to exceed 8 weeks prior to the anticipated due date unless they have
two or more living children. The overall period of maternity leave is
shown to have increased by 117% since the previous Act.
 •Job protection: The original Act’s discharge and dismissal clause
remain unchanged.
 •Financial benefits: No immediate financial benefits have been put into
practice. However, the amendment stipulates that a woman has the right
to work from home provided both her employer and she mutually agrees
to this. Every business with 50 or more employees should include a
crèche facility, either independently or as part of the common areas. This
is another benefit. The employer will permit the woman four visits to the
childcare provider
 JUDICIAL ANALYSIS
B. Shah vs. Presiding Officer, Labour Court, Coimbatore and others.
The Supreme Court was asked whether Sundays, which are wage-less
holidays, could be excluded while calculating maternity benefits for the
period covered by Section 5. The Apex Court in holding that Sundays must
also be included, applied the beneficial rule of construction in favour of
the woman worker and observed that the benefit conferred by the Act read
in the light of the Article 42 of the Constitution was intended to enable the
woman worker not only to subsist but also to make up her dissipated
energy, nurse her child, preserve her efficiency as a worker and maintain
the level of her previous efficiency and output. She is unable to work
during this time and requires additional funds to cover her medical
expenditures. The law provides for maternity benefits to enable the
woman worker to survive and maintain her health throughout this time,
enabling her to perform her productive and reproductive tasks effectively.
 CONCLUSION
During her pregnancy, every working woman should have considered
whether she should continue working or leave. The problem is that
she must pick between her professional and personal lives. As a result,
maternity schemes were created to assist mothers and their children
during their pregnancy, reducing stress and negative thoughts in the
mother and improving her health. An extended maternity leave of
twelve weeks to twenty-six weeks has pushed India into the top ten
countries in the world. India has become one of the best countries for
women to work because of its flexible maternity leave system, which
allows people to work from home, has a crèche, and is therefore more
easily accessible to unorganised sectors. Therefore, it can be
concluded that the Maternity Benefit Act has been a boon for the
working women and this amendment Act brought a huge positive
environment, protection, security to all the women in the country.