saswatabanerjee
2395

What is the purpose of you suggestion on asking for resignation and rejoining ?
Under maternity benefit act, you are not allowed to terminate someone who is on maternity leave.
What are you trying to save ? Gratuity ? Cause nothing more is payable when she is on leave without pay.
When she is in a position to rejoin, will u guarantee her a job ?
These are things you need to clarify internally and communicate to her.
That said, given her medical history so far, it is unlikely she will be able to rejoin immediately after birth. You are probably looking for her being absent from work till the next year. You need to arrange substitute or replacement accordingly

From India, Mumbai
srinivas.2500
17

Hi,
As per your query, how you can consider maternity leave from September 2012. As per Maternity Act you can consider Maternity leave as per Expected date of Delivery before six weeks & after 6 weeks only. If doctor was suggest to the employee for rest due to ill health u can't ask resignation to her. That period you can consider as a sick leave and make the LOP if not available of Sick Leave.
Srini

From India, Hyderabad
barathnikhil
4

In my earlier posts i had mentioned that the employee has already exhausted her entire ML of 6 months.My understanding is that when employee is within the ML period(6 months here),employee cannot be terminated according to maternity benefits act.Correct me if i am wrong.So why can't we ask her to rejoin when she is fit ? Ours is a SMB in a tier 2 city.We have great difficulty finding the right fit resource.Said employee has a good track record.Due to these reasons,I can can assure her a position when she she is fit to join.
Since we haven't faced such cases before we may need to relook at our maternity policy.It was for this purpose i enquired about the gratuity . i am not trying to save anything and i very well know that without making the policy transparent,it is not fare to cut the gratuity of the employee.

From India, Cochin
varghesemathew
912

If she has a good track record and you have difficulty in finding replacement ,allow her join duty after delivery and rest.Why do you want her to be terminated and rejoin as a fresh employee? That is bad HR practice,
VARGHESE MATHEW

From India, Thiruvananthapuram
barathnikhil
4

I understand from the act that employee is entitled to paid leave due to illness arising out of pregnancy for 1 month if she can provide doctors certificate. However,she has exceeded this limit.As you told we haven't followed '6 weeks before and after rule' strictly for the conveniance of the employee.How ever we pay 3 months paid leave and employee can avail it when she wants based on her conveniance.This practice is followed in many similar companies in our locality.
The said person has exhausted all her ML and she don't have any other leaves pending.So isn't it the discretion of the company whether to permit the employee to continue in LOP or not ?Ofcourse i understand that on humanitarian grounds she may be allowed to go on LOP.But i am just asking if asked to resign now,will it be against statute ?

From India, Cochin
barathnikhil
4

I understand that it is a bad HR Practice.But is it against statute is what i am asking .If she is on rolls don’t we need to pay PF and Gratuity ?
From India, Cochin
varghesemathew
912

No you need not pay PF if she is not paid salary.The period of LOP will be non-contributory .If in any year if she is not working for at least 240 days including maternity leave not exceeding 12 weeks,she is not eligible for gratuity for that year as it is not continuous service.So why do you worry?
Varghese Mathew

From India, Thiruvananthapuram
Hiten Parekh
29

Hi Bharatnikhil....

1 Have you spoken to the employee?

2 Is she updated with status of work?

3 Have you checked with her when she is likely to resume?

I suggest speak to her. If possible one of her lady colleague can visit her. That will give message to that organisation cares for her.

Also while talking to her, you / her colleague will come to know her condition (health) and plan for resuming office.

If she committs for a certain date, discuss with her supervisor and if that date suits the organisation, ask the employee to submit a written application for extension of maternity leave. A written note from her end will keep her looking for ways and help her determination to honor her committment. A written document will serve as good reference for future discussion on the matter and serve as record.

If the organisation is not ok with time limit she is asking for, then take a decision.

I think it is mendatory to give 6 weeks rest (meternity leave) after giving birth to a child (6 months prior to brith of child will not suffice). Please check with legal expert. Logically a mother needs rest after giving bitth for sure and law would have specified something for this.

So my suggestion is to get as much details as possible, speak to the employee and then decide course of action. Please dont presume things and do not take any decisions before speaking to the employee.

Hope my views and suggestions are practical and clear.

Regards,

Hiten Parekh

From India, New Delhi
saswatabanerjee
2395

I now understand your dilemma
I understand from the act, that the person who is on maternity leave (which includes unpaid leave in account of medical complications arising from the pregnancy) can not be terminated. It would be against the law,
Since she is good and you wish to retain her, I think you need to send her a letter offering her unpaid leave till 6 weeks after child birth, assuring her that her job is safe and her seniority in the firm will remain intact, but this will be considered a service break for gratuity purpose as she will not have worked for 240 days in the year. You do not have to pay her gratuity now. It's just that she will not get gratuity fir the period she is on unpaid leave.
As someone suggested, go,over to her house, meet her and her husband - to enquiry about her health and offer whatever assistance you can. Find out what her plans are. Does she plan to return to work ? What has the doctor suggested ? Etc

From India, Mumbai
barathnikhil
4

Thank you all for your valuable suggestions which were really useful.I had a discussion with employee as well as management and has convinced the management to allow the employee to go on LOP without asking for her resignation.
From India, Cochin
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