Maternity Benefits to the Women Employees – PIB

Maternity Benefits to the Women Employees – PIB

Ministry of Labour & Employment
Maternity Benefits to the Women Employees

24 JUL 2019

Government is working on an incentive Scheme of reimbursement of 07 weeks wages for entities that provide 26 weeks maternity benefits to their woman employees as provided for in the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017. To enable an entity to avail of the incentive, the women employees working in their entity should be a wage earner of less than Rs.15,000/- per month and a member of Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) for at least one year and not covered by Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC). The scheme is proposed to be administered through Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation and shall be implemented after obtaining the approval of the competent authority.

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

PIB

Scheme to partially reimburse employers for Maternity Benefits

Ministry of Labour & Employment
Scheme to partially reimburse employers for Maternity Benefits

02 JAN 2019

Government is working on an Incentive Scheme wherein seven weeks wages shall be reimbursed to employers who employ women workers and provide the maternity benefit of 26 weeks paid leave, as provided for in the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017.

To enable an entity to avail of the incentive, the women employees working in their entity should be a wage earner of less than Rs.15,000/- per month and a member of Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) for at least one year and not covered by Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC).

A meeting of Stakeholders' Consultation with representatives of concerned Central Ministries, State Governments, Employers', Employees' etc. was held on 14.11.2018 to discuss the matter. The Scheme was supported by and large with the majority of stakeholders.

The scheme is proposed to be administered after obtaining the approval of the competent authorities. The Incentive is proposed to be funded from the budgetary allocations. Government has not made any allocation for the scheme during the current financial year.

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

PIB

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