Work-life balance for women is critical. Aren’t we always thinking about how to balance
work at one end and life at another? How can work-life be made easy for women both
as employees and employer?
Here the question of maternity benefits comes right on top for working women. Frankly,
today when people are searching for a job, they are actually quite interested in the
benefits that employers can offer. Even people who are already employed are equally
interested and concerned about this, and fortunately this has reared its head after the
pandemic set in.
So, as an employer, if you are looking at hiring top female talent, it’s important to offer
working mothers benefits and incentives that they would actually require and want.
Working women are an integral part of today’s workforce. The number of female
entrepreneurs is also picking up every year. For both mompreneurs (who own their own
businesses) and mothers who work for companies, finding a work-life balance is very
important.
In fact, for a working mom, juggling work responsibilities and many other additional
obligations that are included in raising a family is never easy. That’s why working
women today are very choosy; and, finally they make that decision depending on the
number of work/life balance-friendly benefits that companies are offering, rather than on
the salaries that are offered. If your business is looking to attract and retain top female
talent, here are benefits that you must track for it will help you attract working mothers to
your organization. And women entrepreneurs can trail this line to manage work and
build productive teams.
Maternity Benefits Act
Tracing back, in 2017 the Maternity Benefits (Amendment) Act, in India increased
maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks; however, it also unfortunately led to
employers differentiating and setting pregnant women apart. In order to rectify the
situation, the government committed to reimburse to the employer the cost of 7 weeks out of the extended 14 weeks (for women earning up to Rs 15,000 ). Besides,
provisions relating to work from home and crèche facility have been introduced in the
Amendment Act.Technically, at present, woman employees have to work in an
establishment for at least 80 days in the previous 12 months, in order to be eligible for
maternity benefits, which is paid based on the average daily wage for the period of
actual absence. On a positive note, the government is reportedly considering reducing
this to half so that more and more women come into the fold.
So, the Maternity Benefit Act protects the employment of women during their maternity
leave; and it also entitles them to benefits, including full pay during the period of
absence.
Today, a glaring fact is that more mothers, and women who may become mothers, exist
in the workforce. That means more women are trying to balance their families and
careers, and, they do need benefits to prop up their lives.
Offering paid maternity leave helps the economy
What does that mean? A study carried out recently, implicated that if paid maternity
leave is offered, the taxpayers will have more money filled in their pockets!! It also
means working mothers would be less worried about their financial situation during the
long leave.
It’s a reality that – working mothers deserve to have ample time to care for their newborn
children, without having to worry about the negative impact it could have on their
financial condition and their careers too.
Incidentally, in US, by having a nationwide paid maternity leave policy, they would help
nearly half of its workforce achieve a better work-life balance and also, create a solid
foundation for healthy families to thrive. Other countries have picked up too, on the
importance of this benefit.
If you’re a working mom searching for a career change, or a new mom looking to get hired, or a woman entrepreneur trying to organise her work environment, please keep
these points in mind. And, of course, you will get one step closer to achieve worklife
success.
Avtar Madan
Himanshu
Shree Lahiri
