The KERALA MATERNITY BENEFIT ACT, 1957

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  ACT 19 OF 1957
THE KERALA MATERNITY BENEFIT ACT, 1957
CONTENTS
Preamble.
Sections:
1. Short title, extent and commencement.
2. Definitions.
3. Prohibition of employment of women in certain period.
4. Right to maternity benefit of women in factories, plantations and other 
establishments.
5. Notice of claim of maternity benefit and payment thereof.
6. Leave for miscarriage.
7. Leave for illness arising out of pregnancy or confinement.
8. Payment of medical bonus.
9. Payment of maternity benefit in case of claimant's death.
10. Dismissal during pregnancy or absence.
11. Power of  Inspector to direct payments to be made.
12. Forfeiture of maternity benefit.
13. Nursing Breaks.
14. Appointment of Inspectors.
15. Powers and duties of Inspectors.
16. Inspectors to be Public Servants.
17. Penalty for contravention of Act by Employer.
18. Jurisdiction of Courts.
19. Period of limitation for prosecution under Act.
20. Rules.
21. A copy of Act and Rules to be exhibited in Factories, Plantations and other 
establishments employing women.
22. Repeal.
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ACT 19 OF 1957
THE KERALA MATERNITY BENEFIT ACT, 1957 *
[Repealed by Act 8 of 1970]
An  Act  to  prevent  the  employment  of  women  in  factories,  plantations  and  other
establishments for some time before and some time after confinement and to provide
for payment of maternity benefit and medical benefit to them.
Preamble.—WHEREAS it  is  expedient  to  prevent  the  employment  of  women  in
factories, plantations  or  other  establishments  for  some  time  before  and  some  time  after
confinement and to provide for the payment of maternity benefit and medical benefit to them;
BE it enacted in the Eighth Year of the Republic of India as follows:—
1.  Short  title,  extent  and commencement.—(1) This Act  may  be  called  the  Kerala
Maternity Benefit Act, 1957.
(2) It extends to the whole of the State of Kerala.
(3) It shall come into force on such date as the Government may, by notification in
the Gazette, appoint.
(4) It shall apply, in the first instance to all factories and plantations.
(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.
2. Definitions.—In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context-
(a) "employer" includes the occupier and the manager of a plantation or a factory or
an establishment;
(b) "establishment" means an establishment to which the provisions of this Act have
been extended under section 1,  sub-section (5);
(c) "Certifying Surgeon" means a qualified medical  practitioner appointed as such
for purposes of this Act;
(d) "factory" means a factory as defined in the Factories Act, 1948;
(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.
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(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;
(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;
(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
(j) "woman" means a woman worker.
3. Prohibition of employment of women in certain period. — (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) 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. 
4.  Right  to  maternity  benefit  of  women  in  factories,  plantations  and  other
establishments.— (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:
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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)  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) 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.
5.  Notice of claim of maternity benefit and payment thereof .— (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) 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) 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.
6.  Leave for miscarriage .— 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.
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7.  Leave for illness arising out of pregnancy or confinement. — (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.
8.  Payment  of  medical  bonus.—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.
9.  Payment of maternity benefit in case of claimant's death. —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.
10.  Dismissal during pregnancy or absence.— (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)  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)  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.
11.  Power of  Inspector to direct payments to be made .—(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) 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) 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.
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(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.
12.  Forfeiture of maternity benefit.—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.
13. Nursing Breaks.—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.
14.  Appointment of Inspector s.—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.
15.  Powers and duties of Inspectors. —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.
16.  Inspectors to be Public Servants. —Every Inspector shall be deemed to be a public
servant within the meaning of section 21 of the Indian Penal Code.
17. Penalty for contravention of Act by Employer.—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.
18. Jurisdiction of Courts. —(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) 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.
19.  Period of limitation for prosecution under Act.—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.
20. Rules.—(1) The Government may make rules for the purpose of carrying into effect
the provisions of this Act. 
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(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) Any such rule may provide that a contravention thereof shall be punishable with
fine which may extend to fifty rupees.
(4) The making of rules under this section shall be subject to the condition of
previous publication.
21.  A copy  of  Act  and  Rules  to  be  exhibited  in  Factories,  Plantations  and  other
establishments  employing  women.—  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.
22.  Repeal.—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.

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