What was a landmark reform is turning into a malfunctioning one. The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act that allowed women a 26-week paid leave after childbirth received the President's nod in 2017 and was lauded as a very progressive move. Indeed it was. Progressive companies were already offering it; moreover, considering India's dwindling women employment, it aimed to bring back women to the workforce and give a boost to the economy. However, the impact of this reform has not been desirable for many companies due to the cost implications. Paying women for 26 weeks of leave is hardly conducive to these companies' businesses and huge price must be paid for inclusivity, employers feel.
A study by TeamLease shows that the view is also rather grim when it comes to hiring women in the short term. Women's participation is likely to get a boost in the long run. However, the study estimates that there would be a net job loss of 11-18 lakh women in fiscal year 2018-19, as mentioned in a report in Times of India as an effect. This number does not include the annual attrition rate of women employees.
The study was conducted across 10 key sectors including aviation, education, real estate, IT, and e-commerce. TeamLease Services Executive VP, Rituparna Chakraborty, however, told the daily that if all the sectors were taken into consideration then India is looking at an estimated 1-1.2 crore job loss. She further added that historical data shows that India was losing women workers at the rate of 28 lakh per year for 7 years from 2004-05 to 2011-12.
In FY 2017, 60 lakh net jobs were created for women, but there was a job loss of 50 lakh in FY 2018. It must be mentioned here that out of that, 24 lakh women exited the workforce between January-April 2017. This is an exception and can be attributed to demonetisation, the report said. This does misbalance the job creation and job loss data for 2017-18 and 2018-19.
While a lot of employers see post-maternity retention as a positive reform in the long run, not everyone agrees with it. However, employers in the study have indicated that post maternity attrition which was at 56% would come down to 33%.
One way the impending job loss could be curbed is if the government offers benefits and schemes to employers to improve women's participation in the workforce. Other experts believe that if these benefits come in the form of tax benefits then it could urge employers to retain women post maternity.