Maternity and Paternity Leave in India: Rules and a Free Template

01How Much Maternity Leave Is Allowed in India

Maternity leave in India is governed by the Maternity Benefit Act 1961, significantly expanded by the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act 2017. The headline number is the one most people know: 26 weeks of paid maternity leave. But the detail matters, because the entitlement changes with the number of children.

• First and second child: 26 weeks of paid leave. Of these, up to 8 weeks may be taken before the expected date of delivery, and the remainder after.
• Third child onwards: 12 weeks of paid leave, of which up to 6 weeks may be taken before delivery.
• Miscarriage or medical termination: 6 weeks of paid leave from the date of the event, on production of proof.
• Tubectomy operation: 2 weeks of paid leave from the date of the operation.
• Illness arising from pregnancy or delivery: an additional 1 month of leave, on medical proof, over and above the above entitlements.

The benefit is paid at the average daily wage for the period of actual absence, calculated on the wages earned in the three months before the leave. For an employer not covered by ESI, this is paid in full by the employer.

02Eligibility and Who Is Covered

Two tests decide whether a woman is entitled to maternity benefit: the establishment must be covered, and she must have the minimum service.

The establishment. The Act applies to every factory, mine, plantation, shop and establishment (and any other establishment notified by the government) employing 10 or more persons. Once you cross 10 employees, you are in scope, regardless of sector.

The employee. A woman qualifies if she has actually worked for the employer for at least 80 days in the 12 months immediately preceding her expected date of delivery. The 80 days include days she was laid off or on holiday with wages.

03Adoption, Surrogacy and Other Cases

The 2017 amendment extended maternity benefit beyond biological delivery, which is the part employers most often miss in their policies.

• Adoptive mother: a woman who legally adopts a child below three months of age is entitled to 12 weeks of maternity leave from the date the child is handed over to her.
• Commissioning mother (surrogacy): a biological mother who uses her egg to create an embryo carried by another woman is entitled to 12 weeks from the date the child is handed over.
• More than one child at a time: twins or more do not increase the entitlement; the leave is per pregnancy, not per child.

Your written policy should name each of these cases explicitly. If the policy only refers to “delivery,” an adoptive or commissioning mother is left guessing, and that is exactly where disputes start.

04Creche, Nursing Breaks and Work From Home

Three further obligations sit alongside the leave itself, and the creche rule in particular catches growing companies by surprise.

• Creche facility (50+ employees): every establishment with 50 or more employees must provide a creche, on its own or jointly with others, within a prescribed distance. The mother is allowed four visits a day to the creche, which include her nursing breaks.
• Nursing breaks: until the child is 15 months old, the mother is entitled to two nursing breaks a day in addition to her normal rest interval.
• Work from home: where the nature of the work allows, the employer may permit a woman to work from home after her maternity leave, on terms mutually agreed. This is enabling, not mandatory, but it is worth writing into the policy.

05Paternity Leave: A Company Benefit, Not a Law

This is the single biggest misconception we see. There is no statutory paternity leave for private-sector employees in India as of 2026. The Maternity Benefit Act covers women only. Central Government employees get 15 days of paternity leave under service rules, but private companies are under no legal obligation to match it.

That does not mean you should skip it. Paternity leave has become a near-standard benefit at modern Indian employers, and a clear policy signals a serious approach to parental support. Common practice:

• Duration: typically 1 to 4 weeks of paid leave, around the birth or adoption of a child.
• Eligibility: usually confirmed employees, often capped at the first two children, mirroring the maternity structure.
• Timing: to be taken within a window (for example, three to six months) of the birth or placement.

Because paternity leave is entirely a company benefit, the wording is yours to set. The template below leaves the duration and conditions as clearly marked placeholders so you can match it to your own culture and budget.

06Employer Obligations and Penalties

Beyond paying the benefit, the Act places specific duties on the employer. Getting these wrong is not just bad practice; it is an offence.

• No dismissal during leave. An employer cannot dismiss or discharge a woman during her maternity leave, nor serve a notice that expires during it, nor vary her conditions of service to her disadvantage.
• No deduction of wages. The maternity benefit cannot be reduced because she is on leave or absent due to pregnancy.
• Inform every woman of her rights. At the time of appointment, employers must communicate the maternity benefit available, in writing and electronically.
• Display and record-keeping. Maintain the prescribed registers and exhibit an abstract of the Act at the workplace.

07How to Write the Maternity and Paternity Leave Policy

A good policy turns the law into something an employee and a manager can act on without a lawyer. Use the free template as your base and work through these steps.

Spell out the 26 weeks (and 12 weeks for the third child), the adoption and commissioning-mother cases, miscarriage and tubectomy leave. Name the numbers so nobody has to interpret them.

Set out how much notice you expect, what documents (medical certificate, adoption order) are needed, and to whom the request goes. Keep it reasonable: the law does not let you make the benefit conditional on impossible paperwork.

Fill in your chosen paternity leave duration, the nursing-break and creche arrangements, and any work-from-home or phased return. This is where your policy goes beyond the minimum and becomes a benefit people remember.

08Frequently Asked Questions