The Kerala Maternity Benefit Act, 1957

THE KERALA MATERNITY BENEFIT ACT, 1957

1. (1) This Act may be called the Kerala Maternity Benefit Act, 1957.
2. (2) It extends to the whole of the State of Kerala.
3. (3) It shall come into force on such date as the Government may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.
4. (4) It shall apply, in the first instance to all factories and plantations.
5. (5) The Government may after giving one month's notice of their intention of so doing by notification in the Gazette extend the provisions of this Act to any other establishment or class of establishments, industrial, commercial or otherwise wherein fifty or more persons are employed or were employed on any day of the preceding twelve months.

In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context-

1. (a) "employer" includes the occupier and the manager of a plantation or a factory or an establishment;
2. (b) "establishment" means an establishment to which the provisions of this Act have been extended under section 1, sub-section (5);
3. (c) "Certifying Surgeon" means a qualified medical practitioner appointed as such for purposes of this Act;
4. (d) "factory" means a factory as defined in the Factories Act, 1948;
5. (e) "Inspector" means an Inspector appointed under section 14; Received the assent of the President on the 3rd November, 1957 and published in the Kerala Gazette Extraordinary No.117 dated 9th November, 1957.
6. (f) "worker" in relation to a factory has the same meaning assigned to it by the Factories Act, 1948, and in relation to a plantation or in relation to any other establishment means a person employed directly or through an agency whether for hire or not, to do any work, skilled or unskilled, manual or clerical or any person so employed under a contractor engaged in the execution of the whole or any part of any work which is ordinarily part of the trade or business of the employer, but does not include a person whose total emoluments exceed three hundred rupees per mensem or any member of the managerial staff, that is to say, the Manager, Assistant Manager, or other Agent of the employer;
7. (g) "plantation" means any estate which is maintained for the purpose of growing cinchona, rubber, coffee, tea or cardamom, and (i) which is fifty acres or more in extent; or
   • (ii) in which fifty or more persons are employed or were employed on any day of the preceding twelve months for that purpose;
8. (h) "maternity benefit" means the amount of money payable under the provisions of this Act to a woman employed in a plantation or a factory or an establishment;
   • (i) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act; and
9. (j) "woman" means a woman worker.

1. (1) After this Act comes into operation no employer shall employ a woman in any factory, plantation or other establishment after she has given notice under sub-section (1) of section 5 or knowingly employ any woman in any such factory, plantation or other establishment during the 8 weeks immediately following the day of her confinement.
2. (2) During the period of pregnancy a woman shall not be knowingly employed on work which is arduous or which requires long hours of standing at one place or which may in any way interfere with her pregnancy and is likely to cause miscarriage or adversely affect her health or interfere with the normal development of foetus.

1. (1) Subject to provisions of this Act, every woman in a factory, a plantation or an establishment shall be entitled to, and her employer shall be liable for, the payment of maternity benefit at the rate of five rupees and twentyfive naye paise a week or calculated at a rate of 7/12 of the average daily wage multiplied by seven for a week, whichever is higher, during the period of her actual absence immediately preceding and including the day of her confinement and for the eight weeks immediately following her confinement. Explanation.—For the purpose of this section and sections 6 and 7, “Average daily wage” means average of her total full-time earnings for the days on which she worked during the month immediately preceding the date on which she gives notice under sub-section (1) of section 5: Provided that a woman shall not be entitled to maternity benefit unless she has been employed in the factory or plantation or an establishment of the employer from whom she claims maternity benenft for at least one hundred and fifty days whether continuously or intermittantly during the period of twelve months or she has been on the rolls of the said factory, plantation establishment for a period of nine months immediately preceding the date on which she gives notice under sub-section (1) of section 5.
2. (2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), if at or before the commencement of this Act, an employer has been paying to women workers in any factory or plantation or any other establishment, maternity benefit at a rate higher than that payable under sub-section (1), then every woman worker in such factory or plantation or an establishment shall be entitled to and the employer shall be liable for the payment of maternity benefit at such higher rate.
3. (3) The maximum period for which any woman shall be entitled to the payment of maternity benefit shall be twelve weeks, that is to say, four weeks up to and including the day of her confinement and eight weeks immediately following that day.

1. (1) Any woman in a factory or plantation or in an establishment entitled to maternity benefit under the provisions of this Act may give notice in writing to her employer stating that her maternity benefit may be paid to her or to such other person as she may nominate in this behalf and that she will not work in any employment during the period for which she receives maternity benefit. If the woman has not been confined such notice shall state that she expects to be confined within four weeks from the date of the notice; if she has been confined, such notice shall be given within one week of her confinement.
2. (2) The employer shall on receipt of the notice permit such woman to absent herself from the factory, or plantation or establishment until the expiry of eight weeks after the date of her confinement.
3. (3) The amount of maternity benefit for two weeks shall be paid in advance to the woman and the balance amount for the period up to and including the day of confinement shall be paid by the employer to the woman within forty-eight hours of the production of such proof, as the Government may by rules prescribe, that the woman has been confined. The amount due for the subsequent period shall be paid punctually each week in arrear.

In case of miscarriage, a woman shall on production of a certificate signed by the Certifying Surgeon or any other qualified medical practitioner or on production of such other proof of miscarriage as may be prescribed be entitled to three weeks leave from the date of her miscarriage with wages at the rate of five rupees and twenty five naye paise a week or calculated at the rate of 7/12 of the average daily wage multiplied by seven for a week, whichever is higher, during the period of her absence.

Explanation.—For the purpose of this section any premature delivery or abortion within a period of six months of pregnancy shall be alone deemed to be miscarriage.

1. (1) A woman shall be entitled to leave with wages for a maximum period not exceeding thirty days in cases of illness arising out of pregnancy or confinement in addition to the maternity leave to which she is entitled to under section 4 at the rate of five rupees and twenty five naye paise a week or calculated at the rate of 7/12 of the average daily wage multiplied by seven for a week, whichever is higher on production of such proof as may be prescribed.

Every woman entitled to maternity benefit under

section 4 shall also be entitled to receive from her employer a medical bonus of ten rupees if no prenatal confinement or postnatal care is provided for by the employer free of charge, on production of such proof as may be prescribed.

If a woman entitled to

maternity benefit under the provisions of this Act dies during the period for which she is entitled to maternity benefit the employer shall pay the amount of maternity benefit due to the person who undertakes the care of the child, if the child is living, and if the child is not living, to the nominee mentioned in the notice given under sub-section (1) of section 5, and if there is no such nominee, to the heirs of the deceased woman.

1. (1) When a woman absents herself from work in accordance with the provisions of this Act, it shall be unlawful for her employer to dismiss her during or on account of such absence, or to give notice of dismissal on such a day that the notice will expire during such absence.
2. (2) The dismissal of a woman at any time during her pregnancy if the woman but for such dismissal would have been entitled to maternity benefit under this Act shall not have the effect of depriving her of that maternity benefit.
3. (3) If the confinement involves illness in capacitating a woman for work the employer shall not be entitled to dismiss her if she fails to return to duty on the expiry of eight weeks after her confinment, in addition to the leave provided for in section 7, without getting the approval of a Certifying Surgeon who may increase the period of absence if he considers fit.

1. (1) Any woman claiming that maternity benefit to which she is entitled under this Act and any person claiming that a payment due under section 9 is improperly withheld may make a complaint to the Inspector.
2. (2) On receipt of such complaint or on his own motion without any such complaint being made, the Inspector may make inquiry or cause an inquiry to be made, and if satisfied that a payment has been wrongfully withheld may direct the payment to be made in accordance with his orders.
3. (3) Any person aggrieved by the order of the Inspector under sub-section (2) may appeal to the Labour Commissioner or such other officer as may be empowered by the Government in this behalf within such time and in such manner as may be prescribed.
4. (4) Any amount payable under this section shall be recoverable as arrears of land revenue under the Revenue Recovery Act for the time being in force.

If a woman works in any factory or plantation or

establishment after she has been permitted by her employer to absent herself under the provisions of section 5, she shall forfeit her claim to the payment of the maternity benefit to which she is entitled.

Every woman in a factory or plantation or in an establishment

who returns to duty after confinement shall be allowed in the course of her daily work two intervals of sufficient time to feed the child till the child attains the age of two.

The Government may by notification in the Gazette

appoint such officers of the Government as they think fit to be Inspectors for the purposes of this Act and may assign to them such local limits as they think fit.

Subject to any rules made in this behalf, an

Inspector may, within the local limits for which he is appointed, enter any place which is used or which he has reason to believe is used, as a factory or a plantation or an establishment with such assistants as he thinks fit and inspect the premises and such registers, records and notices as may be prescribed.

Every Inspector shall be deemed to be a public

servant within the meaning of section 21 of the Indian Penal Code.

If any employer contravenes any of

the provisions of this Act, he shall be punishable with fine which may extend to two hundred and fifty rupees and where the contravention is of the provision relating to the payment of maternity benefit, and where the amount has not been already recovered the court shall recover the amount due on account of maternity benefit as if it were a fine and pay such amount to the person entitled thereto.

1. (1) No Court inferior to that of a Magistrate of the First Class shall try any offence against this Act or any rules thereunder.
2. (2) No prosecution for any offence against this Act or any rules thereunder shall be instituted except by or with the previous sanction of the Inspector.

No Court shall take cognisance of,

or convict a person for, any offence against this Act or any rule thereunder unless complaint thereof has been made within six months of the date on which the offence was committed. In computing the period of six months aforesaid, the time, if any, taken for the purpose of obtaining the previous sanction of the Inspector under sub-section (2) of section 18 shall be excluded.

1. (1) The Government may make rules for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of this Act.
2. (2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for—
   • (a) the preparation and maintenance of a muster roll and the particulars to be entered in such roll,
   • (b) the inspection of factories, plantations and other establishments for the purposes of this Act by Inspectors,
   • (c) the exercise of powers and the performance of duties by Inspectors for the purposes of this Act,
   • (d) the method of payment of maternity benefit and other benefits under this Act in so far as provision has not been made therefore in this Act,
   • (e) the nature of proof under sub-section (3) of section 5 and sections 7 and 8, and
   • (f) all matters which are to be or may be prescribed.
3. (3) Any such rule may provide that a contravention thereof shall be punishable with fine which may extend to fifty rupees.
4. (4) The making of rules under this section shall be subject to the condition of previous publication.

A copy of the provisions of this Act and Rules thereunder in the local language shall be exhibited in a conspicuous place by the employer in every factory, plantation and establishment in which women are employed.

The Travancore-Cochin Maternity Benefit Act, 1952 (Act XX of 1952)

and the Madras Maternity Benefit Act, 1934 (Act VI of 1935) in its application to the Malabar District referred to under sub-section (2) of section 5 of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956 are hereby repealed.