UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Maternity leave can’t lead to loss of role or career prospects, says Delhi HC
Q1. At the Union level, the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 and the maternity benefit provisions that succeed it in the Code on Social Security, 2020 are administered by which one of the following?
- A. The Ministry of Women and Child Development
- B. The Ministry of Labour and Employment
- C. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
- D. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
Q2. Consider the following statements regarding the protection available to a woman under the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961:
1. It is unlawful for an employer to vary to her disadvantage any of the conditions of her service while she is absent in accordance with the Act.
2. Discharge of a woman at any time during her pregnancy does not have the effect of depriving her of the maternity benefit or medical bonus to which she would otherwise have been entitled.
3. Where a woman is dismissed for prescribed gross misconduct, the employer may deprive her of maternity benefit or medical bonus only by an order in writing communicated to her.
4. An employer who dismisses a woman on account of such absence is liable only to a monetary fine, imprisonment not being a punishment prescribed by the Act.
Which of the above is/are NOT correct?
- It is unlawful for an employer to vary to her disadvantage any of the conditions of her service while she is absent in accordance with the Act.
- Discharge of a woman at any time during her pregnancy does not have the effect of depriving her of the maternity benefit or medical bonus to which she would otherwise have been entitled.
- Where a woman is dismissed for prescribed gross misconduct, the employer may deprive her of maternity benefit or medical bonus only by an order in writing communicated to her.
- An employer who dismisses a woman on account of such absence is liable only to a monetary fine, imprisonment not being a punishment prescribed by the Act.
- A. 1 and 3
- B. 2 only
- C. 1, 2 and 4
- D. 4 only
Q3. Consider the following statements about the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017:
1. It raised maximum paid maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks for a woman with less than two surviving children, of which not more than six weeks may precede the expected date of delivery.
2. It made a crèche facility mandatory for every establishment having fifty or more employees, with the woman permitted four visits a day to the crèche.
3. It introduced an option of work from home, for such period and on such conditions as the employer and the woman may mutually agree, depending on the nature of work assigned.
4. The 26-week entitlement was in fact introduced by the Code on Social Security, 2020, the 2017 amendment having added only the crèche and work-from-home provisions.
Which of the above is/are NOT correct?
- It raised maximum paid maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks for a woman with less than two surviving children, of which not more than six weeks may precede the expected date of delivery.
- It made a crèche facility mandatory for every establishment having fifty or more employees, with the woman permitted four visits a day to the crèche.
- It introduced an option of work from home, for such period and on such conditions as the employer and the woman may mutually agree, depending on the nature of work assigned.
- The 26-week entitlement was in fact introduced by the Code on Social Security, 2020, the 2017 amendment having added only the crèche and work-from-home provisions.
- A. 1 and 4
- B. 2 only
- C. 3 and 4
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q4. Among the following classes of women employees, which one is entitled to the longest period of maternity benefit under the law as it stands after the 2017 amendment?
- A. A woman who legally adopts a child below three months of age, reckoned from the date the child is handed over
- B. A commissioning mother who obtains a child through surrogacy, reckoned from the date of handing over
- C. A woman with less than two surviving children expecting the birth of a child
- D. A woman with two or more surviving children expecting the birth of a further child
Q5. In its judgment of August 2026 on the position of a woman returning from maternity leave, the Delhi High Court identified certain attributes of her employment as falling within statutory protection. Consider the following:
1. Her reporting hierarchy and supervisory responsibilities.
2. Her prospects of appraisal and promotion.
3. The pay, grade and status of the alternative post, where the original post is genuinely unavailable for demonstrable organisational reasons.
4. An enhancement of grade corresponding to the period of leave, the leave being treated as service qualifying for accelerated promotion.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- Her reporting hierarchy and supervisory responsibilities.
- Her prospects of appraisal and promotion.
- The pay, grade and status of the alternative post, where the original post is genuinely unavailable for demonstrable organisational reasons.
- An enhancement of grade corresponding to the period of leave, the leave being treated as service qualifying for accelerated promotion.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 2, 3 and 4
- C. 1, 2 and 3
- D. 1 and 4
Q6. Consider the following statements comparing the Delhi High Court's 2026 reading of maternity protection with the narrower reading it displaced:
1. The Court proceeded on the footing that the petitioner was enforcing the statutory protection contained in Section 12 of the Maternity Benefit Act rather than a term of her employment contract.
2. The protection was held to run beyond continuity of employment and payment of wages, reaching duties, functional status and managerial authority.
3. The Court confined the protection to public employment, holding that a private company's internal deployment decisions fall outside the reach of Section 12.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- The Court proceeded on the footing that the petitioner was enforcing the statutory protection contained in Section 12 of the Maternity Benefit Act rather than a term of her employment contract.
- The protection was held to run beyond continuity of employment and payment of wages, reaching duties, functional status and managerial authority.
- The Court confined the protection to public employment, holding that a private company's internal deployment decisions fall outside the reach of Section 12.
- A. 1 only
- B. 1 and 2 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q7. Under the Code on Social Security, 2020, which one of the following is the social security organisation charged with administering the scheme under which insured women workers draw maternity benefit as an insurance benefit?
- A. The Central Board of Trustees, which administers the provident fund, pension and deposit-linked insurance schemes
- B. The National Social Security Board constituted for the welfare of unorganised workers
- C. The Employees' State Insurance Corporation constituted under the Code
- D. The Building and Other Construction Workers' Welfare Board funded by the labour cess
Q8. Consider the following statements in respect of the Code on Social Security, 2020:
1. It received assent in 2020 and consolidates nine central enactments relating to social security into a single framework.
2. Its provisions, along with those of the other three labour codes, were brought into effect on 21 November 2025.
3. Eligibility for maternity benefit requires that the woman has worked in the establishment for at least eighty days in the twelve months immediately preceding the date of her expected delivery.
4. Its maternity benefit chapter was brought into force separately with effect from 1 April 2017, ahead of the remaining chapters of the Code.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- It received assent in 2020 and consolidates nine central enactments relating to social security into a single framework.
- Its provisions, along with those of the other three labour codes, were brought into effect on 21 November 2025.
- Eligibility for maternity benefit requires that the woman has worked in the establishment for at least eighty days in the twelve months immediately preceding the date of her expected delivery.
- Its maternity benefit chapter was brought into force separately with effect from 1 April 2017, ahead of the remaining chapters of the Code.
- A. 1 and 3 only
- B. 2 and 4
- C. 1, 2 and 4
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q9. The directive in Article 42 of the Constitution is carried to women outside the organised workforce through a centrally sponsored conditional cash transfer to pregnant and lactating mothers under the 'Samarthya' sub-scheme of Mission Shakti. That transfer is implemented by which one of the following?
- A. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
- B. The Ministry of Labour and Employment
- C. The Ministry of Women and Child Development
- D. The Ministry of Rural Development
Q10. The ILO Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 (No. 183) stipulates a compulsory period of post-natal leave during which the mother must not be allowed to work. How long is that compulsory period?
- A. Six weeks
- B. Eight weeks
- C. Fourteen weeks
- D. Eighteen weeks
Q11. In the Periodic Labour Force Survey, the indicator termed 'Worker Population Ratio' is defined as which one of the following?
- A. The percentage of employed persons in the population
- B. The percentage of persons in the labour force in the population
- C. The percentage of employed persons among the persons in the labour force
- D. The percentage of persons seeking or available for work in the population