Maternity Benefit Eligibility and Leave Calculator — 2026
Reviewed by Finin2min Editorial Desk · Last reviewed 11 August 2026
Check the 80-day condition and determine common maternity, adoption, commissioning and miscarriage leave periods.
Check maternity benefit
Medical evidence and notice procedures remain required.
Leave period
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Indicative wage benefit
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How This Is Calculated
Under the Maternity Benefit Act, an employee must have worked at least 80 days in the 12 months before the expected delivery date to qualify. Leave duration varies by event: 26 weeks for childbirth (12 weeks if the woman already has 2 or more surviving children), 12 weeks for adoption or commissioning of a surrogate, 6 weeks for miscarriage, and 2 weeks for tubectomy.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the 80-day eligibility rule for maternity benefit?
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An employee must have actually worked at least 80 days in the 12 months immediately preceding the expected date of delivery to be eligible for maternity benefit under the Act.
Does maternity leave duration depend on the number of children I already have?
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Yes — the standard 26 weeks applies for the first and second child. For the third child onward, the leave duration reduces to 12 weeks.
Is maternity leave duration the same for adoption?
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No — adoption and commissioning (surrogacy) cases get 12 weeks, shorter than the standard 26-week childbirth leave, reflecting the different nature of the eligibility event.
Scope: Checks maternity benefit eligibility and entitlement under the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 (as amended, now aligned within the Code on Social Security, 2020 framework), based on establishment coverage and qualifying service.
Calculation logic
Eligibility: a woman employee is entitled to maternity benefit if she has worked for the employer for at least 80 days in the 12 months immediately preceding the expected delivery date, in an establishment covered under the Act.
Duration: 26 weeks of paid maternity leave for the first two children (up to 8 weeks pre-delivery), reducing to 12 weeks (up to 6 weeks pre-delivery) for the third child onward, per the currently prescribed differentiated entitlement.
Additional entitlements: adoption of a child below 3 months of age, or commissioning mother (surrogacy), is entitled to 12 weeks of maternity benefit from the date the child is handed over; a 'crèche facility' and 'work from home' option (where the nature of work permits, subject to mutual agreement) are also mandated for establishments meeting the applicable employee-count threshold.
Inputs and assumptions
80-day qualifying-service test and the 26-week/12-week duration tiers follow the current Maternity Benefit Act provisions as amended.
Establishment coverage (the Act applies to establishments meeting a specified employee-count threshold, factories, mines, plantations and other specifically covered categories) is a precondition for eligibility, which the checker applies based on the establishment type/size entered.
Exclusions and edge cases
Maternity benefit is payable at the rate of the employee's average daily wage for the period of actual absence — this checker computes eligibility and duration; the specific wage-rate computation follows the same 'average daily wage' convention used elsewhere under labour law (last-3-months average, per the Act's specific formula).
Medical bonus and specific additional leave for miscarriage/tubectomy/illness arising from pregnancy are separate, related entitlements under the same Act, addressed only at a high level by this eligibility-and-duration-focused checker.