Description

We bring to you Part III of the labour law series of the Nota Bene.

The landscape of maternity benefit protection for adoptive mothers in India has been fundamentally altered following the recent Supreme Court judgment of Hamsaanandini Nanduri v. Union of India. This ruling addresses long-standing challenges to the age-based restrictions found in the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, and the Code on Social Security, 2020.

In this edition, we discuss how the Apex Court struck down the requirement that an adopted child must be below 3 months of age for the mother to qualify for 12 weeks of maternity benefit. The Court recognized that the need for emotional bonding and caregiving is not solely dependent on the child's age, and that denying support based on an artificial age limit is a violation of Article 14 and Article 21 of the Constitution.

These findings have immediate implications for the industry, as employers must now ensure that maternity entitlements are triggered by the legal handover of the child, regardless of the child's age.

We hope you find this update informative and engaging.