Maternity Leave Salary: Becoming a mother is a different feeling for every woman. Radhika Goyal, who works in a big company in Noida, became a mother for the first time. With the joy of becoming a mother, many questions started coming to Radhika’s mind. Her first question was how many months of maternity leave will her company give her?
Maternity Leave Salary: Becoming a mother is a different feeling for every woman. Radhika Goyal, who works in a big company in Noida, became a mother for the first time. With the joy of becoming a mother, many questions started coming to Radhika’s mind. Her first question was how many months of maternity leave will her company give her? Second, how much salary will come in the bank account during maternity leave? Here we are telling you what benefits most companies give you during maternity leave and what they do not give?
What are the benefits of maternity leave?
If you do a job, then the first question that comes to mind is how many months of maternity leave will be available in India? Second, how much salary will be received during maternity leave? Many women are unaware of how much salary they will get? What is the maximum number of days of leave women will get? For how many children is this benefit available? Maternity leave is applicable from The Maternity Benefits Act 1961 and Maternity Benefits (Revised) Act 2016.
How many months of maternity leave is available?
In India, a full six months of maternity leave is available. These six months of leave are given with salary. But, do you know which part of the salary is available during maternity leave and which is not?
Does full salary get paid during maternity leave?
According to the Maternity Benefits Act, a woman going on maternity leave is entitled to full salary. Section 5 of the Act says that this payment is based on the average daily salary of the woman. Which is decided on the basis of the average salary of three months before the leave. This means that the woman will get full salary including all parts of the salary like basic, house rent allowance (HRA) and other allowances. However, many companies pay only basic pay.
When does a female employee get the benefits of maternity leave?
To get the benefit of maternity leave, it is mandatory for the woman to work for at least 80 days in her company in the 12 months before delivery. If the woman has joined a new job and does not complete the mandatory 80 days, then she will not be eligible for leave. However, if she starts the job before the second trimester of pregnancy, then there is a possibility of completing the eligibility of 80 days.
How much maternity leave is available in which pregnancy?
- For the first and second child, the woman gets 26 weeks (6 months) of paid leave.
- For the third child, this leave is reduced to 12 weeks (3 months).
- In case of any complication or problem of the baby, the woman can apply for extra leave with medical documents.
Leave in miscarriage or other cases
The Act also provides a mandatory leave of 6 weeks in cases of miscarriage or medical termination. Apart from this, there is a provision to extend the leave for health reasons, but it depends on mutual consent between the employer and the employee.
Leave in cases of adoption
If a woman adopts a child younger than three months or she is a commissioning mother (through surrogacy), then she will get 12 weeks of maternity leave from the date of handing over the child.
When can maternity leave start?
A woman can start maternity leave 8 weeks before her expected date of delivery. She can take the remaining leave after delivery. For women who have two or more children, this period starts 6 weeks earlier. Under the Maternity Act, it is mandatory for institutions with 50 or more employees to provide crèche facilities. This facility is for all women, whether they work in government or private sector.
