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Time of India
14 hours ago
- General
- Time of India
Orissa High Court Affirms Maternity Leave Rights for Contractual Employees, ETHRWorld
Advt Advt Join the community of 2M+ industry professionals. Subscribe to Newsletter to get latest insights & analysis in your inbox. All about ETHRWorld industry right on your smartphone! Download the ETHRWorld App and get the Realtime updates and Save your favourite articles. Cuttack, Rejecting a writ appeal of the state government, a Division Bench of Orissa High Court here has recently upheld a three-year-old judgment passed by a single-judge Bench stating that maternity leave and associated benefits cannot be denied to a woman employed by the state on contractual a recent ruling, the Division Bench of Justices Dixit Krishna Shripad and Mruganka Sekhar Sahoo affirmed the August 2022 decision of a single-judge Bench, which had ruled in favour of a contractual employee of the Health and Family Welfare Department whose maternity leave application from August 17, 2016, to February 12, 2017 had been rejected by her the earlier decision, the state government had argued that the employee, being governed by the terms of a contract, was not entitled to maternity the Division Bench declined to accept this position and upheld the reasoning of the single-judge ruling."Maternity leave with pay or comparable social benefits are to be assured by the state through its policies and programmes, as India is a signatory to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)," the court Bench emphasised the social significance of maternity and the fundamental role of both parents in child-rearing."It is said that God could not be everywhere and therefore, he created mothers. The idea of maternity leave is structured on 'zero separation' between a lactating mother and a breastfeeding baby," the judgment court cited the views of child psychiatrists and obstetricians, noting that physical companionship between mother and child is mutually beneficial and promotes healthy bonding, which is essential for their wellbeing."A lactating mother has a fundamental right to breastfeed her baby during its formative years. Similarly, the baby has a fundamental right to be breastfed and brought up in a reasonably good condition. These two important rights form an amalgam from which the state's obligation to provide maternity benefits, such as paid leave, arises-within permissible resources," the court Bench also referenced previous judgments of the Supreme Court and other High Courts, which have affirmed that contractual employees are entitled to maternity leave under the Maternity Benefit Act, the state government's contention that only regular women civil servants qualify for maternity leave, the court observed: "Women employees for the purpose of availing such benefit do constitute one homogenous class and their artificial bifurcation founded on status of appointment falls foul of Article 14 of the Constitution."
The Hindu
a day ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Contractual employees are entitled to maternity leave, reiterates Orissa High Court
Rejecting a writ appeal of the State government, a Division Bench of Orissa High Court recently upheld a three-year-old judgment passed by a single judge Bench, which had ordered that maternity leave and associated benefits could not be denied to women employed by the State government on contractual basis. In August 2022, the Orissa High Court had ruled in favour of a contractual employee of the Department of Health and Family Welfare, whose maternity leave application from August 17, 2016, to February 12, 2017 had been rejected by the department. The State government appealed against the decision of the single-judge Bench. Since the employee was governed by the terms of her contract, she was not entitled to maternity benefit, the State government maintained Also Read | Maternity benefits: Differentiation not permissible between regular, contractual employees: Calcutta HC The Bench said that the Supreme Court and several other High Courts in the country had passed judgments saying contractual employees were entitled to maternity leave based on the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961. Rejecting the contention of the State government that only women civil servants were entitled to avail maternity leave, the Bench said 'women employees, for the purpose of availing such benefit, do constitute one homogenous class, and their artificial bifurcation founded on status of appointment falls foul of Article 14 of the Constitution'. Declining any further indulgence, the Division Bench of Justices Dixit Krishna Shripad and Mruganka Sekhar Sahoo broadly agreed with the reasoning of the single judge Bench that maternity leave with pay or comparable social benefits were to be assured by the state through policies and programmes as India is a signatory nation to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. 'These conventions highlight the social significance of 'maternity', and the role of both parents in the family structure and in the upbringing of children. It is said that God could not be everywhere and, therefore, he created mothers. The idea of maternity leave is structured on 'zero separation' between the lactating mother and the breast-feeding baby,' the High Court said, adding that child psychiatrists and obstetricians were of the considered opinion that the physical companionship of mother and baby is mutually advantageous, and promotes bonding between the two, which is essential for their well-being. 'A lactating mother has a fundamental right to breastfeed her baby during its formative years. Similarly, baby has a fundamental right to be breastfed and brought about in a reasonably good condition. These two important rights form an amalgam from which the State's obligation to provide maternity benefits, such as paid leave to the employees, within the permissible resources, would arise,' the Orissa High Court said.
Mint
2 days ago
- Politics
- Mint
Orissa High Court's BIG remark: Contractual employees entitled to maternity leave
Rejecting a writ appeal of the state government, a Division Bench of Orissa High Court recently upheld a three-year-old judgment passed by a single-judge Bench stating that maternity leave and associated benefits cannot be denied to a woman employed by the state on contractual basis. In a recent ruling, the Division Bench of Justices Dixit Krishna Shripad and Mruganka Sekhar Sahoo affirmed the August 2022 decision of a single-judge Bench, which had ruled in favour of a contractual employee of the Health and Family Welfare Department whose maternity leave application from August 17, 2016, to February 12, 2017 had been rejected by her department. The employee, being governed by the terms of a contract, was not entitled to maternity benefits, the state government had argued while challenging the earlier decision. However, the Division Bench declined to accept this position and upheld the reasoning of the single-judge ruling. "Maternity leave with pay or comparable social benefits are to be assured by the state through its policies and programmes, as India is a signatory to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)," the court observed. The Bench emphasised the social significance of maternity and the fundamental role of both parents in child-rearing. "It is said that God could not be everywhere and therefore, he created mothers. The idea of maternity leave is structured on 'zero separation' between a lactating mother and a breastfeeding baby," the judgment stated. Citing the views of child psychiatrists and obstetricians, the HC noted that physical companionship between mother and child is mutually beneficial and promotes healthy bonding, which is essential for their wellbeing. "A lactating mother has a fundamental right to breastfeed her baby during its formative years. Similarly, the baby has a fundamental right to be breastfed and brought up in a reasonably good condition. These two important rights form an amalgam from which the state's obligation to provide maternity benefits, such as paid leave, arises—within permissible resources," the court held. Previous judgments of the Supreme Court and other High Courts, which have affirmed that contractual employees are entitled to maternity leave under the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, were also referred to by the Bench. Rejecting the state government's contention that only regular women civil servants qualify for maternity leave, the court observed: "Women employees for the purpose of availing such benefit do constitute one homogenous class and their artificial bifurcation founded on status of appointment falls foul of Article 14 of the Constitution."
