Maternity Act 1972

Increased Paid Maternity Leave: The MB Amendment Act has increased the
duration of paid maternity leave available for women employees from the
existing 12 weeks to 26 weeks. Under the MB Amendment Act, this benefit
could be availed by women for a period extending up to 8 weeks before the
expected delivery date and remaining 18 weeks can be availed post childbirth.
For women who are expecting after having 2 children, the duration of paid
maternity leave shall be 12 weeks (i.e., 6 weeks pre and 6 weeks post
expected date of delivery).

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 Maternity Benefit is payable to an Insured Woman in the following cases subject to
contributory conditions:-
 Confinement-payable for a period of 12 weeks (84 days) on production of Form 21 and
23.
Miscarriage or Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP)-payable for 6 weeks (42 days)
from the date following miscarriage-on the basis of Form 20 and 23.
Sickness arising out of Pregnancy, Confinement, Premature birth-payable for a period
not exceeding one month-on the basis of Forms 8, 10 and 9.
In the event of the death of the Insured Woman during confinement leaving behind a
child, Maternity Benefit is payable to her nominee on production of Form 24 (B).
Maternity benefit rate is 100% of average daily wages.
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 Claim procedure:An Insured woman claiming Maternity Benefit during the
employment is to submit following documents either personally or by post-

a) Notice of pregnancy to be submitted by the Insured Woman to the Branch Office

(Form 19).
b) A certificate of pregnancy (Form 20) issued by the designated IMO/IMP.
c) A certificate of expected confinement (Form-21) issued by an authorized doctor.
d) A benefit claim in Form-22 duly completed.
e) In addition to above, she has also to submit a certificate of confinement in Form-
23 within 30 days of date of confinement.

In case of claiming payment after confinement insured women has to submit a

certificate in Form-23 alongwith the claim form in Form-22.

In case of miscarriage she has to submit a certificate of miscarriage along with claim
in Form 22. Certificate of miscarriage has to be submitted within 30 days. Insured
Woman can draw Maternity Benefit on weekly basis. At the time of final payment she
should submit Form-28A duly completed by her employer which will be issued by the
Branch Office Manager.
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  Who would be eligible for the increased maternity leave: Currently, it is
not clear whether women who are in the midst of their 12 week maternity
leave (under the un-amended law), will be entitled to extend their leave to 26
weeks. In the absence of any clarity on this aspect, one may look at the
clarifications issued by the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) for
guidance since the ESI Act was also recently amended from 20 January 2017
to provide benefits similar to the Amendment. The ESIC clarification specifies
that the increased maternity leave can only be availed if the actual or
expected date of delivery was on or after 20 January 2017. Since the subject
matter of the benefit is the same under both the acts, it is possible that a
similar approach could be adopted in connection with the Amendment to the
MB Act as well. We will however need to wait and watch if the government
takes a more beneficial view and extends the Amendment's benefit to women
who are in the midst of their statutory maternity leave, even if childbirth is prior
to the notified date.

An insured woman shall be qualified to claim maternity benefits for a

confinement occurring or expected to occur in a benefit period, if
the contributions in respect of her were payable for not less than seventy
days in the immediately preceding two consecutive contributions periods.

1. What are ‘contribution periods’and ‘benefit periods’?

2. A financial year is divided into two six months span, i.e., April to September and October to
March. Each of the six monthly period is called a ‘contribution period’. Similarly, a calendar
year is divided into two six monthly span, i.e., January to June and July to December, with
each of the six monthly period being called a ‘benefit period’. For the contribution paid in
the contribution period from April to September, an IP would be eligible for benefit in the
period from January to June. Similarly, for the contribution paid in the period from July to
December, the IP becomes entitled to benefits in the benefit period from July to December.
Thus, the entitlement to benefits of an IP during a benefit period is decided based upon the
number of days for which contribution is being paid in the contribution p

Contribution period Corresponding benefit period

1st January to 30th June of the year
1st April to 30 September
following
1st October to 31st March of the year 1st July to 31st December of the calendar
following year
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