Grant Maternity Benefits to the Women Employees – Rajya Sabha Q&A
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-3594
ANSWERED ON-24.07.2019
Maternity benefits to the women employees
3594 . Shri D. Kupendra Reddy
(a)whether there is any plan to reimburse the employers the cost of 14 weeks maternity leave; and
(b)if so, the details thereof and the time by which the reimbursements will be made to the employers to encourage them to grant maternity benefits to the women employees in the country?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE (IC) FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
(SHRI SANTOSH KUMAR GANGWAR)
(a) to (b): 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.