Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act 2017 (Clarifications)

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Extension of maternity benefit period to 26 weeks (from 12 weeks )
Extending the maternity benefit provision towards adopting as well as commissioning mothers.
Maternity leave for children beyond the first two will remain 12 weeks….

Allowing pregnant women to work from home (Pre and post maternity benefit period. This facility needs to be decided by employee as well as employer unanimously)
Providing creche services near the office place where in an organization there are 50 and more employees employed any day of the year.

Women who are already on maternity leave at the time of enforcement of this new provision (i.e. 1st April 2017), may request for the extension of maternity benefit leave up to 26 weeks. Note: Whether the extension is to be given or not must be mutually decided by the employer and employee.
Women who have already availed the maternity leave benefit at the time of enforcement of this new provision (i.e. on 1st April 2017), will not be eligible for claiming any extension of the maternity benefit period.
The Act had been approved by the President on 27 March 2017 and entered into force on 1 April 2017. However, the provisions relating to the authorization required to work from home (Article 3 (5) of the Act) Force of July 1, 2017…
The amendments protect the employment of women during pregnancy and you are entitled to a “maternity benefit”, namely the absence of unpaid work to care for their child. They are applicable to all establishments employing 10 or more persons….
The Act also requires an employer to report a worker’s rights under the Act at the time of his or her appointment. The information must be given in writing and in electronic form (e-mail).
Female staff is entitled to maternity leave for a period of 180 days for the first two live births.

Maternity leave is granted with full pay at the end of at least 80 days in an establishment during the 12 months prior to the expected date of confinement. Maternity benefits are granted at the average daily wage rate for the period of actual absence of a worker. In addition to 12 weeks of salary, a worker is entitled to a medical premium of 3500 Indian rupees.
Under the National Food Security Act of 2013, pregnant and nursing mothers are entitled to maternity benefits of at least Rs.6000. The law also requires that subject to the regimes that may be formulated By the central government, all pregnant and nursing mothers are entitled to free meals during pregnancy and six months after the birth of the child, through the local Anganwadi, nutritional needs.

- The pregnant employee is entitled to a maternity allowance (as a medical premium) for lakhs if the employer does not provide prenatal care or free postnatal care. It may be increased to a maximum of twenty thousand rupees. The central government is authorized to increase the basic amount every three years. In August 2008, the amount of the medical premium was 2500 Indian rupees which increased again in 2011-3500 Indian rupees.

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