Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016 passed in the Parliament. The Lok Sabha has passed the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016 today. The Bill had already been passed by the Rajya Sabha during the Winter Session. With this, the Bill stands passed in the Parliament. The Bill seeks to amend the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 to provide for the following:- (i) Maternity leave available to the working women to be increased from 12 weeks to 26 weeks for the first two children.
(ii) Maternity leave for children beyond the first two will continue to be 12 weeks. (iii) Maternity leave of 12 weeks to be available to mothers adopting a child below the age of three months as well as to the “commissioning mothers”. The commissioning mother has been defined as the biological mother who uses her egg to create an embryo planted in any other woman. (iv) Every establishment with more than 50…
