KOCHI: An employer has to be considerate and sympathetic to the cause of women employees. No action should be taken to lower their dignity in the workplace. The Kerala High Court made the observations on Tuesday while directing the state government and the Kerala University of Health Sciences (KUHS) to disburse maternity benefits to three staffers who were appointed to the varsity on contract. They were ordered to calculate the maternity benefits that the petitioners – B Naziya, M S Dhanya and Jincy P Francis who are programmers at KUHS – are entitled to and disburse it within two months.
“Employers should take every possible step to ensure they are sympathetic to the cause of a woman officer so that she can achieve her potential in the workplace. The time she spent to deliver and raise a child shall not be detrimental to her career,” a division bench said on the petition filed by the trio against the varsity’s decision to deny them maternity benefits, despite granting them maternity leave.
The trio said the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, was enacted to regulate the employment of women for certain periods before and after childbirth and to provide them maternity and certain other benefits. As per their petition, Naziya and Jincy had been working at KUHS for nine years and Dhanya for five years. The petitioners said there was no justification in denying them maturity benefits. The bench said as held by the Supreme Court, women should be honoured and treated with dignity at their workplaces.