The Government is working on a proposal to provide maternity leave benefit to surrogate mothers as well as those adopting a child.
Moreover, the proposal will look to amend the Maternity Benefit Act to double the leave benefit to 24 weeks from the existing 12 weeks, sources said.
"The labour Ministry has called for a tripartite meeting tomorrow of employers, employees and Government officials for discussing the draft amendment bill for extending maternity leave benefit to surrogate mothers, women adopting child and
for doubling the leave," a source said.
As per Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, a working woman, at present, is entitled for 12 weeks of maternity leave
out of which six weeks are before the expected date of delivery.
The meet will also take up the issue of amendments to the Employees Compensation Act.
"One of issues to be discussed is the maximum amount of compensation that can be referred to the High Courts," sources said.
The Government has proposed the maximum amount at `3,000 while the unions say that authorities should have the power to deal with cases where the amount of compensation is up to `10,000, they added.
The Act provides for the payment by certain classes of employers to their employees compensation for injury by accident.