Guidelines for creches at workplaces and Maternity benefit Act

Background

The Centre has prepared guidelines for setting up of crèches at workplaces. The guidelines prescribe trained personnel to man the facility as well as infrastructure requirements and safety norms.The guidelines are not mandatory but are a yardstick for NGOs and organisations for setting up of crèches.

Maternity Benefit Amendment Act, 2017

  • 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.
  • The paid maternity leave can be availed 8 weeks before the expected date of delivery. Before the amendment, it was 6 weeks.
  • The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act 2017 has extended the benefits applicable to the adoptive and commissioning mothers and provides that woman who adopts a child will be given 12 weeks of maternity leave from the date of adoption.
  • The Act has introduced an enabling provision relating to “work from home” that can be exercised after the expiry of 26 weeks’ leave period. Depending upon the nature of work, a woman can avail of this provision on such terms that are mutually agreed with the employer.
  • The amended Act has mandated crèche facility for every establishment employing 50 or more employees. The women employees should be permitted to visit the facility 4 times during the day.
  • The amended act makes it compulsory for the employers to educate women about the maternity benefits available to them at the time of their appointment.
Location: Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India

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