The Maternity Benefit Act 1961: Leave, Eligibility, and a Worker's Rights in India (2026)

Explainer · Labour Law · Maternity Rights

Updated for 2026 · Claw Editorial

The Maternity Benefit Act 1961 gives eligible women in India paid maternity leave of 26 weeks for the first two children, as amended in 2017. It covers establishments with 10 or more employees, asks for 80 days of work in the 12 months before the expected delivery, and also provides nursing breaks and creche facilities. Many women are unsure whether they qualify, and many employers are unsure what they must pay. This guide explains the rules in plain words, notes that the Act has now been folded into the Code on Social Security 2020, and shows what to do when benefit is denied.

01Where the law stands in 2026

The Maternity Benefit Act 1961 is the law most people still search for, but its rules now live in a newer statute. The Code on Social Security 2020 came into force in stages, with most of it from 21 November 2025, and its Chapter VI carries the maternity benefit rules forward.

For a reader, this means two things. First, the core entitlements below (26 weeks, 80 days, 10 employees) are the same in the new Code. Second, a claim that arose before the change is still judged under the 1961 Act, so court judgments written under the 1961 Act remain the main source of case law.

The Act asks one simple thing of an employer: pay a working mother her wages for the leave period, and do not remove her for taking it.

02Who is eligible for maternity benefit

A woman is eligible for maternity benefit if she has actually worked for the employer for at least 80 days in the 12 months before her expected date of delivery.

What counts as work

Days of work include days on which she was paid or was on leave with wages, so the count is not limited to days physically present. The benefit is not tied to her being permanent. A woman on a contract can qualify if the establishment is covered and she meets the 80 day test.

Other cases that are covered

• Adopting mothers: a woman who legally adopts a child below three months old gets 12 weeks of leave from the date the child is handed over.
• Commissioning mothers: a woman who has a child through surrogacy gets 12 weeks from the date the child is handed over.
• Miscarriage or medical termination: leave of six weeks from the day of the event, with a medical certificate.
• Tubectomy: two weeks of leave from the day of the operation.
• Illness linked to pregnancy: up to one month of extra leave on medical proof.

03Duration of leave and how much you are paid

For the first two children, maternity leave is 26 weeks, and no more than eight of those weeks can be taken before the expected delivery date. This was set by the 2017 amendment, which raised the earlier limit of 12 weeks.

How the pay works

Pay for the leave is at the average daily wage for the days she actually worked in the three months before leave begins. She is paid for every day of the leave, including weekly holidays that fall within it.

A medical bonus is also payable if the employer does not provide free pre-natal and post-natal medical care. The amount has been Rs 3,500, and the government can change it.

Work from home and nursing breaks

After the leave ends, an employer may allow a woman to work from home if the nature of her work permits it, on terms both sides agree. A woman who returns to work is also entitled to two nursing breaks a day, in addition to normal rest intervals, until the child is 15 months old.

04Which employers and workplaces it covers

The Act applies to factories, mines, plantations, and shops and establishments that employ 10 or more people. The State governments can extend it to other establishments.

Employers with smaller teams may not be covered by this law. Even so, they may fall under a state rule, a service contract or a company policy that offers similar leave, so a woman in a small workplace should still ask.

One more point is worth knowing. If an establishment is covered by the Employees’ State Insurance scheme and the woman is eligible under it, her maternity benefit usually comes through that scheme, not directly from the employer.

Wage laws work in a similar way for covered employers. See our guides on the Minimum Wages Act and the Payment of Bonus Act for the other pay rights that sit beside maternity benefit.

05What employers must do

An employer covered by the Act has a short list of duties, and each one is a place where disputes begin.

• Pay the benefit: pay the maternity benefit in advance for the pre-delivery period on proof of pregnancy, and the balance within the time the law sets after proof of delivery.
• Creche: an establishment with 50 or more employees must provide a creche, within a prescribed distance, and allow the mother four visits a day, including her rest interval.
• Tell women about their rights: the employer must give written and electronic notice of the benefits to every woman at the time of appointment.
• Light work: on request, a woman in the late stage of pregnancy should not be given arduous work or work that involves long standing.
• Keep records: maintain the muster roll and registers that the rules require, and display an abstract of the Act at the workplace.

06Protection against dismissal during maternity leave

An employer cannot lawfully dismiss or discharge a woman because she is on maternity leave, or give notice that would end her job during that period. This is the strongest protection in the Act.

If she is dismissed for some other reason, the dismissal does not take away her right to maternity benefit. The law also says that a woman cannot lose her pre-delivery or post-delivery benefit just because she was removed, unless the removal is for gross misconduct and the employer follows the process the law lays down.

An employer also cannot change her terms of service, such as pay or role, to her disadvantage because of her pregnancy. A dismissal during leave, or a sudden change in her job after she gives notice of pregnancy, is where many labour-court cases start.

07When maternity benefit is denied: how disputes work

Denial of maternity benefit is a real legal dispute, and the law gives the woman a route to challenge it. If an employer refuses payment, delays it, or dismisses her during leave, she can complain to the Inspector appointed under the law.

The usual path

1. Written request: she first asks the employer in writing, with the medical proof, and keeps a copy.
2. Complaint to the Inspector: she files a complaint with the Inspector, who can order payment.
3. Appeal to the authority: a person unhappy with the Inspector’s order can appeal to the authority the government names, within the time limit in the law.
4. Labour court and High Court: related claims, such as unlawful dismissal, are decided in labour courts and industrial tribunals, and writ petitions reach the High Courts and the Supreme Court.

The employer can also be prosecuted. Failure to pay the benefit or dismissing a woman in breach of the law can lead to a fine and imprisonment under the penalty provisions.

Courts have also spoken on the point. The Supreme Court has held that maternity benefit extends to contract and daily-wage women, and that benefit cannot be refused on technical grounds.

08Where Claw fits

Claw is an all-in-one legaltech platform for Indian advocates, law firms, and corporate legal teams, combining AI-based case search, an AI legal assistant (Legal GPT), case management, and compliance automation across all Indian courts and tribunals.

This guide explains the rules, but a woman or an HR team facing a real dispute needs more than the rules. They need to see how the case is moving. Claw tracks cases across courts and tribunals, including labour courts, and lets you follow a case by an employer’s name, so you are alerted when a hearing is listed or an order is passed.

For a maternity-benefit or workplace dispute, create a free Claw account to track labour-court cases by employer name. Claw has a free plan for individual advocates, and paid plans for teams and enterprises. Claw does not use customer case documents to train AI models.

09Sources and further reading

Read the primary text and verify current figures here:

• Ministry of Labour and Employment: labour.gov.in
• India Code (official statute text): indiacode.nic.in
• Claw: clawlaw.in

For trademark and brand work, which is a different area of practice, see our guide to trademark search tools in India. This article is general information and not legal advice.

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