Labour minister Bandaru Dattatreya may table the bill in Rajya Sabha today
Labour minister Bandaru
Dattatreya may table the much-awaited amendment to Maternity Benefit
Act, 1961bill in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday , paving way for 26 weeks of
maternity leave to working women. Move is also aimed at providing 12
weeks of maternity leave to commissioning mothers and introducing an
enabling provision of “work from home“ for nursing mothers. The changes
proposed by the labour ministry have been recently approved by the
Cabinet, a senior labour ministry official told ET.
Since these
changes proposed to the Act are women friendly the ministry is hopeful
that the amendment bill will sail through the Upper House. Following its
passage in Rajya Sabha the bill will be tabled in Lok Sabha where the
Modi government enjoys a majority.
“As per the proposed
amendments, maternity leave for women working in both private and public
sector will be enhanced to 26 weeks as against the existing 12 weeks,“
the official said, adding that the 26-week leave, however, will be not
be available to those women employees who have two or more children.
According to the official, the amended Act will also propose 12 weeks
of maternity leave to commissioning mothers who use surrogates to bear a
child as well as to working women adopting a baby below the age of
three months.“Additionally , the amended Act
will have an enabling provision that would allow nursing moms to work
from home even after 26 weeks of maternity leave, depending upon their
job profile,“ the official added.
But, work-from-home option will
be available where the nature of work assigned to the employee permits
her to do so.The woman employee and her employer have to mutually agree
on the duration of the `work from home' arrangement.
The
“women-friendly“ steps also include making it must for firms with 50
employees to have creches individually or a few firms can set up a
common facility within a prescribed distance.
The employer will have to allow four visits to the creche which will include the interval of rest allowed to women employees.
Labour minister Bandaru Dattatreya may table the bill in Rajya Sabha today
Labour minister Bandaru
Dattatreya may table the much-awaited amendment to Maternity Benefit
Act, 1961bill in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday , paving way for 26 weeks of
maternity leave to working women. Move is also aimed at providing 12
weeks of maternity leave to commissioning mothers and introducing an
enabling provision of “work from home“ for nursing mothers. The changes
proposed by the labour ministry have been recently approved by the
Cabinet, a senior labour ministry official told ET.
Since these changes proposed to the Act are women friendly the ministry is hopeful that the amendment bill will sail through the Upper House. Following its passage in Rajya Sabha the bill will be tabled in Lok Sabha where the Modi government enjoys a majority.
“As per the proposed amendments, maternity leave for women working in both private and public sector will be enhanced to 26 weeks as against the existing 12 weeks,“ the official said, adding that the 26-week leave, however, will be not be available to those women employees who have two or more children.
According to the official, the amended Act will also propose 12 weeks of maternity leave to commissioning mothers who use surrogates to bear a child as well as to working women adopting a baby below the age of three months.“Additionally , the amended Act will have an enabling provision that would allow nursing moms to work from home even after 26 weeks of maternity leave, depending upon their job profile,“ the official added.
But, work-from-home option will be available where the nature of work assigned to the employee permits her to do so.The woman employee and her employer have to mutually agree on the duration of the `work from home' arrangement.
The “women-friendly“ steps also include making it must for firms with 50 employees to have creches individually or a few firms can set up a common facility within a prescribed distance.
The employer will have to allow four visits to the creche which will include the interval of rest allowed to women employees.
Since these changes proposed to the Act are women friendly the ministry is hopeful that the amendment bill will sail through the Upper House. Following its passage in Rajya Sabha the bill will be tabled in Lok Sabha where the Modi government enjoys a majority.
“As per the proposed amendments, maternity leave for women working in both private and public sector will be enhanced to 26 weeks as against the existing 12 weeks,“ the official said, adding that the 26-week leave, however, will be not be available to those women employees who have two or more children.
According to the official, the amended Act will also propose 12 weeks of maternity leave to commissioning mothers who use surrogates to bear a child as well as to working women adopting a baby below the age of three months.“Additionally , the amended Act will have an enabling provision that would allow nursing moms to work from home even after 26 weeks of maternity leave, depending upon their job profile,“ the official added.
But, work-from-home option will be available where the nature of work assigned to the employee permits her to do so.The woman employee and her employer have to mutually agree on the duration of the `work from home' arrangement.
The “women-friendly“ steps also include making it must for firms with 50 employees to have creches individually or a few firms can set up a common facility within a prescribed distance.
The employer will have to allow four visits to the creche which will include the interval of rest allowed to women employees.
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