The Bombay High Court has held that even women working on temporary or daily-wage basis are entitled to maternity leave benefits. The Court ruled that denying maternity benefits due to short technical breaks in service is arbitrary and illegal.
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has ruled that a woman employee is entitled to maternity leave benefits even if she is working on a temporary basis or on daily wages. The Court made it clear that maternity benefits cannot be denied merely because a woman is not a permanent employee.
The ruling came while granting relief to a woman working as a temporary Assistant Professor in the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department at Rajarshree Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Government Medical College, Kolhapur.
The petitioner was appointed on a temporary basis but had been working continuously since 21st September 2018.
The High Court noted that in May 2021, the woman was 8½ months pregnant and therefore clearly entitled to maternity leave benefits.
On 7th May 2021, she submitted an application to the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology requesting maternity leave from 8th May 2021 to 16th September 2021, for a total period of 131 days.
According to the petitioner, the total maternity benefit payable to her came to Rs. 4,36,666/-. However, the Medical College did not pay this amount and instead treated the entire maternity leave period as “leave without pay”.
The Medical College defended its decision by stating that women professors working on a temporary basis for periods of 120 or 360 days, whose services are continued by giving technical breaks, are not granted maternity leave benefits.
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The petitioner’s service was extended by giving a technical break of one or two days after every 120 days of service.
Rejecting this stand, the Bombay High Court observed that such denial was unfair and arbitrary. The Bench of Justices Ajit B. Kadethankar and M.S. Karnik recorded that:
“Admittedly, the petitioner has been working continuously as an Assistant Professor from 21st June 2018 till date having been given a technical break of 1 day or 2 days after 120 days of service. To deny the benefits of the maternity leave on such a ground is completely arbitrary and unjust. The break in service is technical in nature and for all practical purpose, the petitioner has been discharging her duties as an Assistant Professor in the respondent No.3 – Government Medical College continuously since 21st September 2018 till date”
The Court further held that refusing maternity leave benefits only because of a technical break in service was not legally valid. It ruled that such reasoning defeats the purpose of the law.
Relying on Section 5 of the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, the Court stated:
“We thus find that in terms of sub-section (1), every woman shall be entitled to, and employer shall be liable for, the payment of maternity benefit at the rate of the average daily wage for the period of her actual absence, that is to say, the period immediately preceding the day of her delivery, the actual day of her delivery and any period immediately following that day. The other conditions as laid down in Section 5 of the said Act have been fulfilled by the petitioner. It is thus clear that even if a woman is working on temporary basis on daily wages, she is entitled to the benefits of the maternity leave and merely because the petitioner is granted the technical break in service is no ground to deprive her of the benefit. Such interpretation would be in the teeth of the benevolent object for which the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 has been enacted.”
The High Court emphasized that the Maternity Benefit Act is a welfare legislation meant to protect working women and their dignity. Any narrow or technical interpretation that deprives women of maternity benefits goes against the spirit of the law.
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Allowing the petition, the Court directed the authorities to pay the maternity benefit amount as demanded by the petitioner in her application dated 28th May 2021.
The Court also ordered that if the amount is not paid within four weeks, it will carry interest at the rate of 9% per annum until actual payment.
Case Title:
Dr. Vrushali Vasant Yadav vs. The State of Maharashtra.
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