by Divyanshi Shukla and Jay Sharma
Introduction
According to a recent ruling by the Jharkhand High Court, a woman employee cannot be discriminated against because of her job status. This decision further established the equality of maternity benefits for contractual and non-contractual workers alike. However, the court didn’t have to examine a lot of facts because the issue had been discussed in the previous case of Priyanka Kumari v. State of Jharkhand. As part of the decision-making process, the court took into consideration the Maternity Benefit Act of 1961. In this snippet, we have tried to analyze the judgement and explain what implications the Maternity Benefit Act of 1961 has on it.
Facts of Case and Judgement
The case arises from a petition filed by Sarita Kumari, who was appointed as Protection Officer Institutional Care (POIC) on contractual basis in 2013 and is working till date. In the petition, it was stated that she had applied for maternity leave and the same was received by the Deputy Commissioner and District Social Welfare Office.
Notwithstanding, she was getting an honorarium for the current month, but she had not been paid the honorarium for the period of her maternity leave. Furthermore, the petitioner also submitted that she had made representation before the respondents but to no avail. The petitioner sought entitlement to maternity benefits, holding that there could not be any distinction between a regular employee, a contractual employee and a casual employee so far as the grant of maternity benefit is concerned, as the maternity leave was duly sanctioned to her and prior information was given to the authorities before leaving the state.
The court determined that discrimination against a woman employee based on her mode of employment is unlawful. Additionally, it concluded that a contractual employee is entitled to maternity benefits on an equal footing and hence the court directed the respondent to take an appropriate decision and issue orders for payment of the arrears of honorarium.The court based its decision on Section 3(O), which defines “woman,” and Section 5, which establishes the entitlement to receive maternity benefits, of the Maternity Benefit Act of 1961.
Maternity Law
During maternity leave, a woman is permitted to take time off from work in the weeks leading up to and after childbirth. Adequate maternity leaves and appropriate implementation of benefits may contribute to a healthier workforce and a greater female labour force participation rate, making maternity laws very significant.
The Maternity Benefits Act of 1961, as amended in 2017, governs maternity legislation in India. Under the law, claiming maternity benefits is a right for every eligible woman. Those with less than two children may take 26 weeks of paid leave, while those with more than two children can take 12 weeks of paid leave. The law also includes provisions regarding payment calculation, medical bonuses, and employer standards, among other things.
A remarkable facet of the legislation is that it includes clauses addressing issues such as leave for miscarriage, payment in cases of the death of the woman, and leave for adoptive mothers.Many new ways of conception have been developed as a result of technological advancements, and law has been drafted to reflect this, including regulations for commissioning mothers and tubectomy, both of which must be kept up to date to reflect new developments in the field.The inclusion of all of these clauses demonstrates that these laws were enacted after careful study of several factors, difficulties, and circumstances that may arise in various situations.
Despite this, we still lag behind in terms of adequate implementation and monitoring of employers to see whether they are adhering to maternity benefits legislation. This was also evident from the present situation, where the employee was not given the maternity benefits despite being eligible. Also, we do not have enough awareness amongst the working class, regarding the legislation and it is a major cause of exploitation of workers who are eligible to most of these benefits but can’t avail them just because of lack of awareness.
Conclusion
This judgement by the Jharkhand High Court emphasised on the fact that women can not be discriminated on the basis of their mode of recruitment, the judgement also encapsulated the realm of maternity benefits and stated that each and every woman, who is an employee of any establishment, is entitled to get the maternity benefit, whatever be the mode of her appointment. Such judgements can be envisioned as a positive step towards ending discrimination of women in work domain.
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