Maternity Benefit Is A Matter Of Right
By A Special Correspondent
First publised on 2023-08-25 06:37:13
About the Author
Is an employer entitled to stop paid maternity relief for a woman given the nature of her employment by considering it as a benefit she is not entitled to? Or is it is matter of right for a woman to get maternity relief regardless of the nature of her employment?
A single judge bench of the Delhi High Court has observed that maternity relief is not a benefit and is a matter of right for women. It ordered the Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA) to take action in three months to grant 26 weeks' maternity relief, including releasing medical, monetary and other benefits, to the petitioner.
The instant case was about an empanelled lawyer in DSLSA who had applied for such relief on conceiving. DSLSA denied the relief by claiming that she was not entitled to the same as she was only an empanelled advocate. The court observed that the social welfare legislation "certainly does not discriminate on the basis of the nature of employment of the beneficiaries".
It is a matter of anguish that even government bodies seek to deny pregnant employees the benefits which are theirs as a matter of right. Unless any Act or court order expressly prohibits or restricts maternity benefits to a certain class of employees (for instance, for having a third child), maternity relief is the right of every woman employee.
As the court rightly observed, the relief was granted to woman employees as social welfare legislation. It said that in this day and age, society should not fail to provide women with the means to thrive personally and professionally by asking them to choose between their familial life and career progression.
The court also highlighted the fact that although the petitioner was employed to protect the interests and welfare of juvenile children (she was appointed with the Juvenile Justice Board) suffering at the hands of the criminal justice system, she was being made to fight to "secure the benefits necessary for the best interest and welfare of her own child".
