Maternity Benefits And Employment Security: An Analysis Of Labour Law Protections In India

The involvement of women in the labour force has been on the rise over time and thus maternity protection has become a necessary feature of the labour law and social justice. Pregnancy and birth are natural life events that women should not be exposed to job insecurity and discrimination at work place. The paper evaluates the constitutional mandate of gender equality and social welfare, in comparison to Articles 14, 15(3), 21 and 42 of the Constitution of India, and the statutory authorization provided by the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, as revised in 2017, and the Code on Social Security, 2020. The importance of international labour standards such as maternity protection framework of an International Labour Organization and Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in the framework of shaping the national labour policies are also included in the study.

It is mainly a doctrinal and analytical study. The paper critically assesses the validity of current legal safeguards of women in their workplaces throughout pregnancy and even after delivery. It lists several ongoing issues such as access to maternity benefits being unequal between the various types of employment, poor execution of the statutory requirements, unfairness in recruitment and promotion and the lack of access to childcare assistance at work places. The paper proposes that providing more robust enforcement measures and encouraging shared parenting roles would help create a fairer labour market. This study illustrates that a broader framework is necessary to underpin both maternity and work.