Maternity leave, benefits and the law: India

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This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content.

Surrogacy

Surrogacy not a hurdle for maternity leave: HC

Mahir Haneef The Times of India Jan 07 2015

The Kerala high court ruled that women who seek the help of surrogate mothers are eligible for maternity benefits and cannot be discriminated against. Justice Dama Seshadri Naidu was considering the plea of a woman whose employer had denied her maternity leave for taking care of her newborn baby since she was not the biological mother.

In the judgment delivered on the petition filed by P Geetha, deputy general manager at Kerala Livestock Development Board (KLDB), the court said: “This court declares that there ought not be any discrimination of a woman as far as the maternity benefits are con cerned only on the ground that she had obtained the baby through surrogacy.” The court, however, said women who opt for surrogacy cannot be granted convalescence leave that is available for biological mothers. “It is further made clear that as a matter of legal fiction, the petitioner is entitled to all the benefits an employee could have post-delivery, sans the leave involving the health of the mother after the delivery,” it said. “In other words, the child-specific statutory benefits, if any, can be extended to the petitioner.” Referring to Maternity Benefit Act of 1961, the court said the scheme laid out in the law not only includes leave for convalescing from labour but also nursing breaks.