Statutory fully paid time off granted to pregnant female employees before and after childbirth to ensure maternal health and child bonding.
- Category
- Attendance & Leave
- Legal status
- Governed by Indian law
- Relevant to
- HR, managers & employees
- Reading time
- 3 min
What is Maternity Leave?
Maternity Leave is a statutory right in India entitling eligible women employees to 26 weeks (182 days) of fully paid leave for their first two surviving children. The employer pays 100% of average daily wages, cannot discharge or issue termination notices during this interval, and must provide creche facilities if employing 50+ staff.
Key takeaways
- 1Maternity Leave is a statutory right in India entitling eligible women employees to 26 weeks (182 days) of fully paid leave for their first two surviving children.
- 2The employer pays 100% of average daily wages, cannot discharge or issue termination notices during this interval, and must provide creche facilities if employing 50+ staff.
Why Maternity Leave matters
Essential for female workforce retention, gender diversity, and upholding fundamental human rights in the workplace.
How Maternity Leave works in practice
- 1
Set the policy
Define how Maternity Leave works: eligibility, accrual or limits, approval flow and carry-forward rules.
- 2
Capture data
Record Maternity Leave through biometric, mobile or web check-ins and leave requests rather than paper registers.
- 3
Approve & regularise
Managers review exceptions, missed punches and requests related to Maternity Leave within a fixed window.
- 4
Feed payroll
Lock the cycle so Maternity Leave flows into salary, loss-of-pay and encashment calculations.
Real-world example
A female software engineer takes 8 weeks of paid leave prior to delivery and the remaining 18 weeks post-birth, with full salary paid on schedule.
Indian statutory reference
Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 (mandates 26 weeks paid leave, work-from-home options where feasible, and mandatory creche facilities).
Rates, limits and state rules change often. Confirm against the latest notification or with your compliance advisor.
Best practices and common mistakes
Best practices
- Publish a clear policy for Maternity Leave and keep it in the employee handbook.
- Use one source of truth for attendance, leave and shift data.
- Set approval timelines so requests do not pile up before payroll.
- Audit overtime and loss-of-pay entries each cycle.
- Align policies with the applicable Shops & Establishments rules.
Common mistakes
- Applying Maternity Leave differently across teams, which causes disputes.
- Letting attendance corrections happen after payroll is processed.
- Not tracking leave balances in real time.
- Ignoring state-wise holiday and weekly-off rules.
Managing Maternity Leave in SleetHR
SleetHR manages Maternity Leave with configurable policies, self-service requests and approvals, and sends the final numbers to payroll automatically.