Maternity Leave
What is maternity leave?
Maternity leave is a period of paid or unpaid leave granted to an employee before and after childbirth, giving her time to recover physically, bond with the new child, and adjust to the first weeks of parenthood. Its length, pay level, and eligibility rules vary enormously between countries, which is why a company hiring across borders cannot treat its home-country policy as a template. What feels generous in one market can fall below the legal minimum in another, and the reverse is just as common.
For companies building a team in India, maternity leave deserves particular attention because the statutory entitlement there is among the more generous in the world. A company that assumes twelve weeks is a competitive offer, a figure that would pass in plenty of markets, would actually be offering less than Indian law requires.
What the law requires in India
India's Maternity Benefit Act, as amended in 2017, entitles eligible women to 26 weeks of paid maternity leave for their first two children, with 12 weeks for a third child onward. Up to eight of those weeks can be taken before the expected delivery date. To qualify, an employee generally needs to have worked for the employer for at least 80 days in the twelve months before the expected delivery. The Act applies to establishments with ten or more employees, and its provisions are being consolidated into India's broader labour code reforms, whose implementation continues to vary by state, so companies should confirm the current position for the specific state where an employee works.
The law reaches beyond biological mothers. Adoptive mothers and commissioning mothers are entitled to 12 weeks of leave when the child is under three months old. There are also separate entitlements for related situations: six weeks of leave following a miscarriage or medical termination of pregnancy, and two weeks following a tubectomy. A policy that mentions only childbirth can quietly leave out protections the law already guarantees.
Job protection and what employers cannot do
The Act is explicit that an employer cannot dismiss or discharge a woman because of her pregnancy or her absence on maternity leave, and cannot change her conditions of service to her disadvantage during that period. This matters more than the number of weeks. An employee who returns from 26 weeks of leave to find her role hollowed out has been failed in a way the headline entitlement doesn't capture, and the company has created legal exposure for itself.
Companies unfamiliar with Indian law sometimes carry over assumptions from at-will employment, where ending someone's employment can feel administratively simple. In India, a termination that overlaps with or follows closely behind a maternity leave will draw scrutiny, and the company should be able to demonstrate that the decision was unrelated to the leave. Documenting legitimate performance or business reasons well before any leave begins is far safer than trying to reconstruct them afterward.
Practical provisions employers often miss
Employers with 50 or more employees are expected to provide creche facilities within a prescribed distance and to allow the mother a set number of visits to the creche during the working day. For a distributed team working remotely, this provision rarely maps neatly onto reality, but the underlying principle, supporting a mother's return to work, still shapes what candidates expect.
The Act also allows for a work-from-home arrangement after the leave ends, where the nature of the work permits and the employer and employee agree on terms. For the kind of knowledge work companies typically hire for in India, this is often easy to accommodate, and offering it proactively, rather than waiting to be asked, signals a company that understands both the law and what employees actually need. Employees covered under the Employees' State Insurance scheme may receive maternity benefit through that scheme rather than directly from the employer, so it's worth confirming which route applies to each person.
Going beyond the statutory minimum
Because the statutory floor is already high, the ways a company can stand out are less about adding weeks and more about how the leave is handled. A phased return, with reduced hours for the first few weeks back, is valued by many employees and costs relatively little. Clear communication about how work will be covered during the absence, and a genuine commitment not to quietly reassign the employee's best projects, builds trust that a policy document alone cannot.
Pairing maternity leave with a thoughtful paternity or parental leave offering also matters. India's statutory framework for fathers is far thinner than for mothers, so a company that offers a meaningful voluntary paternity benefit presents a more balanced, modern picture of what it expects from parents on its team.
Budgeting and planning for maternity leave
Companies hiring through an Employer of Record should plan for maternity leave as a known cost of employing women of working age, not an unexpected burden. Twenty-six weeks of paid leave is a significant period, and the practical question is how work gets covered. Some teams bring in a temporary employee or contractor, others redistribute work across the team, and others hire ahead of the leave to create overlap. Deciding this early prevents the scramble that leads to resentment on both sides.
It also helps to be clear internally that planning for leave is not the same as treating pregnancy as a hiring risk. Candidates and employees notice quickly when a company's attitude toward maternity leave is grudging, and in India's competitive talent market, word about how a company treats new mothers travels through professional networks faster than most employers expect.
How kaam.work supports maternity leave compliance in India
kaam.work structures the employment terms for India-based hires so that maternity leave entitlements are reflected correctly from the first day, and helps client companies understand which provisions apply to a given employee based on her state, the size of the establishment, and whether she is covered under the ESI scheme. When a leave actually begins, kaam.work manages the payroll and documentation side so the employee's pay and benefits continue as the law requires.
Frequently asked questions
- How many weeks of maternity leave does India require?
- Eligible women are entitled to 26 weeks of paid maternity leave for their first two children and 12 weeks for a third child onward, with up to eight weeks available before the expected delivery date.
- Does maternity leave apply to adoptive mothers in India?
- Yes, adoptive and commissioning mothers are entitled to 12 weeks of leave when the child is under three months old.
- Can an employer terminate someone during maternity leave in India?
- No, the Maternity Benefit Act prohibits dismissal because of pregnancy or absence on maternity leave, and conditions of service cannot be changed to the employee's disadvantage during that time.
- Is there leave for miscarriage under Indian law?
- Yes, the Act provides six weeks of leave following a miscarriage or medical termination of pregnancy, and two weeks following a tubectomy.
- How does an Employer of Record handle maternity leave?
- The EOR structures the employment terms to reflect statutory entitlements and manages the payroll and documentation when leave begins, while the client company plans how the work is covered.
