THE MATERNITY BENEFIT (AMENDMENT) ACT, 2017

 The principal act remains The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961.

 The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act 2017 had received Presidential assent on 27
March 2017 after being passed by the Parliament. The Act has successfully made
amendments to the earlier Maternity Benefits Act, 1961.The majority of the
provisions of the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act has come into force with effect
from 1st April of 2017.
 Objectives and aim of the act- The primary aim of the Act is to regulate the
employment of women during the period of child birth. It has amended the provisions
related to the duration and applicability of maternity leave, and other facilities. The
intent is at making the life and struggles of working mothers much easier with a
whole host of benefits and novel provisions. However, the provisions of this Act are
not applicable retrospectively. Therefore, women who are already on leave cannot
claim the benefits under the new law.
 The new Act provides with widened scope and enhanced dimension as it adds some
entirely new provisions at some places and also modifies the existing ones to a great
extent.
 Eligibility for maternity benefits- This section is almost unaltered when compared
against the principal act. It is as follows:

 It applies to every factory, mine and plantation. It also applies to any shop or
establishment having 10 or more employees.
 The woman should have worked for the present employer for at least 80 days during
the 12 months before the date of delivery.
 The Act gives equal status to women who are recruited directly and those who are
recruited through an agency.

PROVISIONS ADDED AND AMENDED

 Commissioning mothers and Adopting mothers and other changes-

 A woman having a baby through surrogacy will be known as the Commissioning

Mother. (Amendment of section 3 of the principal act)
 The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act 2017 has increased the duration of paid
maternity leave available for women employees to 26 weeks from 12 weeks.
However, for those women who are expecting after having 2 children, the duration of
the leave remains unaltered at 12 weeks. (Amendment of Section 5, Sub-Section 3)
Under the earlier Act, the maximum period of maternity benefit allowed before the
delivery was 6 weeks. The new Act raises it to 8 weeks. But, this time period will also
continue to be 6 weeks after the second child.

 Women who adopt a child below 3 months will be known as Adopting Mothers.
(Amendment of section 5, addition of Sub-Section 4)

 The earlier Act did not have any provision regarding allowing women to work from
home. The new Act provides for women to work from home. The only rider being
that the nature of work must allow her to do so. (Amendment of section 5, addition
of Sub-Section 5)

 Both Adopting as well as Commissioning Mothers will get 12 weeks of Maternity

Leave from the date of handing over of the child.

 The Addition of New section- 11 A: The amendment to the existing Maternity

Benefit Act also adds a new facility in the form of creches.
 Shops or establishments with more than 50 employees must set up or provide a
creche facility for children. It would allow working women to be near their children
and care for them providing a hassle-free environment for them.
 The amendment also allows four visits to the crèche per day. But it includes the
regular rest intervals within the time period for these visits. Moreover, it is also not
clear whether such facility would be chargeable or not.