Commissioning Mothers and Laws on Maternity Benefits.

Abstract

The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 protects the employment of women during the time of her maternity and entitles her of a ‘maternity benefit’. The Act is applicable to all establishments employing 10 or more employees. The Maternity Benefit Act protects the employment of women during the time of her maternity and entitles her full paid absence from work, to take care of her child. After many years of discrimination against those women workers who had children through a surrogate; the government has finally allowed maternity leave to such women employees.

This paper attempts to explain the concept of surrogacy and also the unequal status of commissioning mothers under the new amended maternity benefit Act, 2017.