The central government amended the Maternity Benefit Act four years ago, making it compulsory for companies with more than 50 employees to set up creche facilities.
India amended the Maternity Benefit Act in 2017 to help boost women's participation in the workforce without compromising on their role in ensuring adequate crucial early care to their children. The amendment-among other things-doubled maternity leave from 12 to 26 weeks, encouraged companies to allow women to work from home, and made it mandatory for companies with more than 50 employees to offer a creche on the premises, with costs to be borne by the employers.
You can either speak to the manager of your company and ask them to provide a daycare facility or write a letter or notice to the head regarding the same.
Speaking of the fact that your manager is forcing you to come to the office and work in a pandemic situation when examining the facets of the employer-employee relationship, courts have noted that an employer not only has the authority to determine what work needs to be done but also the manner in which the work ought to be performed. Therefore, depending on the requirements of the business, the employer may determine which mode of working needs to be adopted by the employee. That said, the answer to this question may not be straightforward, and in certain circumstances against the backdrop of COVID-19, a refusal on the part of the employee to come to the office may not be held against him/her and before considering any affirmative administrative action against an employee for refusal to work in person, any specific concerns of the employee may need to be looked into and addressed. He may reject your Work From Application if you have a job that just cannot be done at home or is not suitable for a home environment. If it is not, then he cannot force you to come or leave.
Meet with your boss to discover what the concerns are, but you would need to be careful to not put him/her on the defensive. You might ask how you can improve your messages to him/her so that you could streamline communications between you.
If you have a clean record and your manager is still forcing you to come or quit, you should fight for your job and not accept the harsh behavior till you are happy with the reason. The company targets weak-minded and emotional people and plays with their careers by forcing them to resign. But you should be convinced thoroughly and should ask for all the dues and settlements before arriving at a decision. You should buy time to think about it and then decide. Sometimes HR forces you to resign and after your signature, in the record book, it says “ Employee resigned voluntarily”, which is not the right scenario.
Regards,
Anaita Vas
