Karnataka Government notifies rules governing Creche facility under the Maternity Benefit Act
Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 (“Act”), effective from July 1, 2017, added Section 11A in the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 (“Principal Act”), to provide for creche facilities. The provision states that every establishment having fifty or more employees shall have a creche facility for children of the employees.
Karnataka Government (“State Government”) came up with the draft Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Rules, 2018 in July 2018 and invited objections and suggestions from all the stakeholders likely to be affected. Upon considering all the objections and suggestions the State Government finally notified the Karnataka Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Rules, 2019 (“Rules”) on July 15, 2019.
The Rules introduce Rule 6A which deals with creches as provided under the Section 11A of the Act. The Rules introduces the following guidelines:
- With respect to location of the creche, the Rules provide that either the creche will be within the premises of the establishment or within five hundred meters from the entrance gate of the establishment.
- For every 30 children who are below the age of six years, there shall be 1 creche.
- The creche facility will be provided to children of all employees irrespective of the nature of their employment.
- The Rules also specify that in case where obnoxious fumes, dust, odours are given off or there is noise pollution in the establishment then the creche shall not be in the close proximity of such establishment. The employers can avail expert advice from the State or National support agencies for making the decision on location of the creche. The Rules also provide that the creche building shall be constructed with heat, rain and water resisting materials, and other such detailed requirement of the building materials to be used for the creche.
- A female teacher-cum-warden who has government approved/recognised qualification and training in Early Childhood Care and Education (“ECCE”) or Teachers Course Higher (“TCH”) shall work at the creche and shall be assisted by a woman with midwifery qualification, appointed as a creche attendant. In addition to these two posts, female ayahs will also be employed in the creche at the rate of one ayah, (i) per ten children below the age of three and (ii) per fifteen children above the age of three.
- The working hours of the creche shall correspond to the working hours of the mother/parents of the children admitted in the creche. The creche shall also maintain proper medical records of the children admitted in the creche.
- The Rules also specify that the creche shall be supplied with milk and other refreshments for the children and clean clothes for children as well as creche staffs.
Quick View
The Act addressed one of important issues faced by working mother/parents by providing for the creche facilities. The Rules notified by the State Government deals with the entire structural mechanism for the creches. From providing benchmark for the building material to supply of milk and wholesome refreshment for children, the Rules cover all the aspects of the creche facility. The Rules allow the creche to be used by all employees irrespective of the nature of their employment which is a welcome move as most of the employees who are contractual or daily workers may not have been in the position to avail the creches, which they will now. It will be interesting to see whether other states follow Karnataka in coming up with guidelines for management of the creches by employers.
Disclaimer: This post has been prepared for informational purposes only. The information/or observations contained in this post does not constitute legal advice and should not be acted upon in any specific situation without seeking proper legal advice from a practicing attorney.