Creche must for offices with 50 or more staffers

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 15

In a decision which will benefit women, the UT Administration has made it mandatory for all establishments having 50 or more employees to provide the creche facility.

The UT has issued a draft notification in this regard and sought objections from the public before issuing the final notification.

According to the new rules, called the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Rules, 2019, “Every establishment having 50 or more employees shall have the creche facility within such distance as may be prescribed, either separately or along with common facilities, provided that the employer shall allow four visits a day to the creche by a woman, which shall also include the interval for rest allowed to her.”

Every establishment will have to intimate in writing and electronically every woman at the time of her appointment regarding every benefit available under the Act. The Administration proposes to make an amendment in exercise of powers conferred under Section 28 of the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961.

The amendment has been made on the directions of UT Adviser Manoj Parida, who received a representation to start the facility.

Ajay Jagga, an advocate and social activist, in a recent representation, raised the issue that the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, was amended by the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017, and a new provision — Section 11-A — was introduced which required establishments having 50 or more employees to have the creche facility. He welcomed the decision saying that it was the need of the hour as a large number of women were working in the city, but had been denied the creche facility.

What the rules say

According to the new rules, called the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Rules, 2019, “Every establishment having 50 or more employees shall have the creche facility within such distance as may be prescribed, either separately or along with common facilities, provided that the employer shall allow four visits a day to the creche by a woman, which shall also include the interval for rest allowed to her.”