How many nursing breaks does the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 prescribe for a woman who returns to work after her delivery ?

Correct — A, (a) Two breaks in addition to the interval for rest allowed to her. The provision is section 11 of the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, headed 'Nursing breaks', and it settles both axes of the item in one sentence.

Section 11: 'Every woman delivered of a child who returns to duty after such delivery shall, IN ADDITION TO THE INTERVAL FOR REST allowed to her, be allowed in the course of her daily work TWO BREAKS of the prescribed duration for nursing the child until the child attains the age of fifteen months.'

So the count is two, and the breaks are additional to the rest interval rather than carved out of it. That second point is the substance of the section. Every worker is already entitled to a rest interval under the law governing her establishment — section 55 of the Factories Act, 1948, for instance, requires an interval of at least half an hour after five hours of work. If the nursing breaks came out of that interval the section would give a nursing mother nothing she did not already have; making them additional is what turns the provision into a benefit.

Three further details complete the section. The duration of each break is not fixed in the Act but is 'of the prescribed duration', that is, prescribed by rules made under the Act. The entitlement runs until the child attains the age of fifteen months, which is the same age used elsewhere in the maternity scheme. And section 11 is complemented by section 11A, inserted by the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017, which requires every establishment with fifty or more employees to have a crèche facility, permits the woman four visits a day to the crèche including the rest intervals allowed to her, and requires the employer to inform every woman in writing and electronically at the time of her initial appointment of the benefits available under the Act.

Why the others are wrong

• (b)Two breaks within the interval for rest allowed to her — The count is right and the relationship is wrong, and the relationship is the more important half. Section 11 says the two breaks are allowed 'in addition to the interval for rest allowed to her', not within it. A break taken within the existing rest interval would add nothing at all to what the woman already gets — the Factories Act, 1948 requires a rest interval of at least half an hour in any case under section 55 — so reading the section this way would empty it of content. The point of the section is that the nursing mother's working day contains two more pauses than her colleagues', for as long as the child is under fifteen months.
• (c)Three breaks in addition to the interval for rest allowed to her — Both halves are wrong in different degrees. The 'in addition to' part is right and matches the section; the count is not — section 11 allows TWO breaks, not three. There is no provision anywhere in the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 for a third nursing break. The number that does have a four in it belongs to a different provision: section 11A(2), inserted in 2017, allows a woman four visits a day to the crèche, and those four visits expressly include the intervals for rest allowed to her. Mixing the two is the likeliest route to this option, and the fix is to keep the two sections apart — two nursing breaks under section 11, four crèche visits under section 11A.
• (d)One break within the interval for rest allowed to her — This is wrong on both axes at once — one break instead of two, and within the rest interval instead of in addition to it. It is the least generous of the four readings and would leave a nursing mother with no more time than any other worker, which is the opposite of what the section is for. The singular 'break' in this option is also a small textual signal that it has departed from the statute, which uses the plural throughout. Section 11's entitlement is a plural one, additional, and it lasts until the child is fifteen months old.

The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 protects a woman across three phases, and its sections divide neatly along them. Before and around delivery: section 4 forbids employing a woman during the six weeks following delivery, miscarriage or medical termination and forbids arduous work in the ten weeks before the expected delivery; section 5 fixes the entitlement at twenty-six weeks, twelve for a woman with two or more surviving children and twelve for an adopting or commissioning mother, subject to the qualifying condition of eighty days' work in the twelve months preceding the expected date of delivery; section 6 governs the notice and claim; section 8 provides a medical bonus where no pre-natal confinement and post-natal care is provided free of charge. In the exceptional cases: section 9 gives six weeks' leave for miscarriage or medical termination, section 9A two weeks after a tubectomy, and section 10 up to one month's additional leave for illness arising out of any of these. After the return to work: section 11 gives two nursing breaks a day in addition to the rest interval until the child is fifteen months old, and section 11A requires a crèche in establishments with fifty or more employees, four visits a day, and written and electronic intimation of the Act's benefits at the time of appointment. Around all of this sit the protective provisions — section 12, which bars dismissal or discharge during a woman's absence on maternity benefit and forbids notice expiring during that absence, and section 13, which forbids deduction of wages on account of the lighter work required under section 4(3) or the nursing breaks under section 11.

Key facts

• Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, section 11 — every woman delivered of a child who returns to duty shall, in addition to the interval for rest allowed to her, be allowed in the course of her daily work two breaks of the prescribed duration for nursing the child.
• The nursing breaks continue until the child attains the age of fifteen months.
• The duration of each break is prescribed by rules, not fixed in the Act.
• Section 13 — no deduction may be made from a woman's wages on account of the nursing breaks under section 11 or the lighter work required by section 4(3).
• Section 11A, inserted by the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 — every establishment with fifty or more employees shall have a crèche facility.
• Section 11A(2) — the woman is allowed four visits a day to the crèche, which include the intervals for rest allowed to her.
• Section 11A(3) — the employer must inform every woman in writing and electronically, at the time of her initial appointment, of the benefits available under the Act.
• Section 4 — no employer shall knowingly employ a woman during the six weeks following delivery, miscarriage or medical termination of pregnancy.
• Section 12 — a woman absent on maternity benefit may not be dismissed or discharged on that account, and a notice of dismissal may not expire during her absence.

Common traps

• Reading the breaks as coming out of the rest interval. Section 11 makes them additional.
• Importing the four crèche visits of section 11A into section 11's count of nursing breaks.
• Assuming the duration of each break is fixed by the Act. It is 'of the prescribed duration'.
• Forgetting the fifteen-month limit, which is the usual second half of a question on this section.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Under the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, the nursing breaks allowed under section 11 continue until the child attains the age of :

  • (a)Six months
  • (b)Twelve months
  • (c)Fifteen months
  • (d)Eighteen months

  Answer(c) Fifteen months

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Under section 11A of the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, a crèche facility is required in every establishment having :

  • (a)Twenty or more employees
  • (b)Thirty or more employees
  • (c)Fifty or more employees
  • (d)One hundred or more employees

  Answer(c) Fifty or more employees