Maternity benefit law: 2017 amendment and Code on Social Security, 2020
Why in news: An IZA working paper of August 2026, reported on 21 October 2026, finds covered manufacturing firms employed fewer women after the 2017 amendment.
The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 raised paid maternity leave from 12 to 26 weeks, gave adopting and commissioning mothers 12 weeks and required creches at establishments with 50 or more employees; employers pay. Chapter VI of the Code on Social Security, 2020 now carries these rules. A new working paper links that change to fewer women in factory jobs.
Syllabus: GS3 · Indian Economy & Growth; Prelims · Economy & Social Development; GS1 · Women, Population & Urbanisation
Why this matters for UPSC
GS1 (role of women) and GS2 (laws for vulnerable sections) ask about maternity protection. Prelims can ask the leave periods, the creche threshold and ESIC's role under the Code on Social Security, 2020; GS3 Mains, about employer-funded mandates and women's employment.
In short
Maternity benefit is paid leave around childbirth, set by the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 and now Chapter VI of the Code on Social Security, 2020; employers largely pay for it.
Twenty-six weeks protects mothers only if firms keep hiring women; pooling its cost through social insurance would keep the right without the hiring penalty.
Why it matters
A woman in a factory or office job can take half a year off with pay when her first or second child is born, and her employer cannot sack her for that absence. That time lets her recover and breastfeed, and a creche near work makes the return easier. The catch is who pays. When one employer carries the whole wage bill for the leave, a young woman looks costlier to hire than a man, and some firms may quietly choose men. Early evidence suggests that happens. The larger question is whether motherhood should be paid for by a single employer or shared through insurance, so that a right meant to keep women at work does not keep them out of it.
Prelims pointers
- Eligibility under section 60: at least 80 days' actual work for the employer in the 12 months before the expected delivery.
- Adoption benefit: only a woman adopting a child below three months qualifies; 12 weeks run from the day the child is handed over.
- Section 67 creche rule: four visits a day, counted within rest intervals; establishments may share a common creche run by government, a municipality or pooled employers.
- Other Chapter VI leave: six weeks after a miscarriage or medical termination of pregnancy, two weeks after tubectomy; two nursing breaks daily until the child turns 15 months.
- First Schedule: Chapter VI covers every factory, mine and plantation, government ones included, and shops or establishments with ten or more employees.
- Section 41: a woman eligible for ESIC maternity benefit cannot also claim it from her employer under Chapter VI; ESIC is funded by employer and employee contributions.
- ILO Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 (No. 183): at least 14 weeks' leave, paid at no less than two-thirds of earnings through social insurance or public funds.
- Section 64 medical bonus: Rs 3,500 when the employer does not provide free pre-natal and post-natal care.
Practise a UPSC-style question
With reference to maternity benefit under the Code on Social Security, 2020, consider the following statements:
1. A woman with two or more surviving children is entitled to a maximum of 12 weeks of maternity benefit.
2. Of the 26 weeks of maternity benefit, not more than twelve weeks may precede the expected date of delivery.
3. A woman must have actually worked for the employer for at least 160 days in the preceding 12 months to qualify.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 2 only
- (c) 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Show the answer
Answer: (a) 1 only
Answer: (a) 1 only. Only the reduced period for a third child is stated correctly.
Statement 1: correct. Section 60(3) of the Code caps the benefit at 12 weeks, six at most before delivery, for a woman with two or more surviving children.
Statement 2: incorrect. Not more than eight weeks of the 26 may precede the expected delivery, as the 2017 amendment set and section 60 keeps.
Statement 3: incorrect. The qualifying period under section 60(2) is 80 days of actual work in the 12 months before the expected delivery.
Eliminate: statement 2 is the surest error, since the pre-delivery cap is eight weeks. Out: (b), (d).
Eliminate: statement 3 is wrong too, the threshold being 80 days. Out: (c).
Trap: Near-miss figure. Twelve weeks is the old total and 160 days doubles the real 80, so both read as plausible numbers from the same law.
Remember: 26 weeks (8 before delivery); 12 weeks from the third child; 80 days' work to qualify.
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