What is maternity leave in India?

Maternity leave in India is the paid time off that a woman employee is entitled to before and after childbirth under the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, as amended in 2017. The law applies to every establishment with ten or more employees and covers female employees who have worked for the establishment for at least eighty days in the twelve months immediately preceding the expected date of delivery. Maternity leave is paid by the employer at the rate of the average daily wage and cannot be denied for any reason once the eligibility conditions are met.

How much maternity leave are women entitled to?

The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017, increased paid maternity leave from twelve to twenty-six weeks for the first two surviving children and kept it at twelve weeks for further births. Additional categories of leave were also introduced.

• First two children: twenty-six weeks of paid leave, of which up to eight weeks may be taken before the expected date of delivery.
• Third child onwards: twelve weeks of paid leave, of which up to six weeks may be taken before the expected date of delivery.
• Adoption leave: twelve weeks of paid leave for a mother who legally adopts a child below the age of three months, counted from the date the child is handed over.
• Commissioning mother leave: twelve weeks of paid leave for a commissioning mother in a surrogacy arrangement, from the date the child is handed over.
• Miscarriage or medical termination: six weeks of paid leave from the date of the miscarriage or medical termination of pregnancy.
• Tubectomy leave: two weeks of paid leave immediately following a tubectomy operation.

Beyond paid leave, what does the law require?

• Work from home post-leave: if the nature of the work permits, the employer may allow work from home after the twenty-six weeks of leave, on terms mutually agreed between the employer and the employee.
• Creche facility: establishments with fifty or more employees must provide a creche, and the mother is allowed four visits to the creche each day, including her interval for rest.
• Written intimation of rights: employers must inform every female employee of her benefits under the Act in writing at the time of joining.
• Protection from dismissal: an employer cannot dismiss or discharge a woman during her maternity leave, and any notice of dismissal served within that window is void.
• Medical bonus: a medical bonus is payable if the employer does not provide free pre-natal and post-natal care, currently INR 3,500 per the latest notification.

India vs other markets

India's twenty-six week mandate is one of the longest paid maternity entitlements in the world. For comparison:

Common compliance pitfalls

• Counting eligibility incorrectly: the eighty-day rule looks at the twelve months immediately preceding the expected date of delivery, not the calendar year.
• Treating maternity leave as unpaid: the law requires full pay at the average daily wage; employers cannot reduce or withhold salary during this period.
• Forced resignation or non-renewal: asking an employee to resign before or during maternity leave, or letting a fixed-term contract lapse to avoid paying maternity benefit, has been struck down by Indian courts.
• Skipping the creche obligation: establishments above the fifty-employee threshold often miss the requirement to provide a creche, either directly or in a tie-up arrangement.

Maternity benefit is a statutory entitlement, not a discretionary benefit. For employers hiring in India through their own entity or through an Employer of Record, the rules apply identically once the establishment and eligibility thresholds are met.