The Union government has advised states to allow women to work from home after completing their 26-week maternity leave for at least six months, arguing that this will help improve the country's low labour force participation rate while also providing health benefits.
The labour ministry has written to states, advising them to develop rules in collaboration with employers, because exposing nursing mothers to the outside environment can infect them with coronavirus, causing problems for their toddlers.
“Apart from covid, giving the flexibility to work from home wherever nature of work allows to do so, shall enable nursing mothers to continue to remain in employment, thus implementation of this provision shall act as an enabling tool in enhancement of participation of women in labour force, " the ministry wrote.
Even before the covid-19 outbreak, women's labor-force participation in India was dismal.
According to the ministry of statistics, 19.7 percent of rural females and 16.1 percent of urban females were in the labour force in 2018-19. In contrast, 55.1 percent of rural males and 56.7 percent of urban males were in the labour force.
“It has been conveyed that employers may be advised to allow work from home, wherever nature of work so allows , for nursing mothers at least for a period of one year from the date of birth of the child, " according to the ministry's advisory.
The Centre has advised states to take steps to raise awareness of the proposal among female workers and employers. The ministry has also advised states to write to employers urging them to allow more and more nursing mothers to work from home in accordance with Section 5 of the Maternity Benefit Act, where the nature of the work permits.
The statement said that under Section 5 of the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017, counselling has been issued under the provision of allowing lactating mothers to work from home.
According to the provision, if the nature of the work assigned to lactating mothers allows them to "work from home," the employer may allow them to work on mutual consent even after maternity leave. The Ministry of Labour and Employment has issued an advisory to all states and union territories in light of the threat posed to lactating women and their children during the global epidemic.
Touching upon the covid-19 threat to young mothers, the ministry said, “Nursing mothers are a highly vulnerable lot and need protection from getting infected by the coronavirus. Allowing nursing mothers to work from home can contribute to protecting them and their babies from getting infected. It is in this scenario that the enabling provision for allowing work from home assumes significance."
