Bombay HC Rules Contractual Employees Cannot Claim Maternity Benefits After Contract Ends

The Bombay High Court in Mumbai has ruled that maternity benefits cannot be claimed by an employee after the expiration of a contractual employment agreement if the employer-employee relationship has already ended.

The ruling was officially delivered on Monday, July 13, 2026, by a division bench comprising Justice Girish Kulkarni and Justice Aarti Sathe. With this decision, the high court set aside a previous directive issued by a labour authority. That labour authority had originally ordered a suburban college to pay maternity benefits to a woman who had been employed there as an assistant professor.

According to the court's observations, the assistant professor had approached the authorities to seek maternity leave and associated benefits from the suburban college. However, the timeline of the case revealed that the woman delivered her child in June 2024. This delivery date fell after her contractual appointment with the educational institution had already come to an end.

In the judgment, Justices Kulkarni and Sathe observed that the entitlement to maternity benefits must be examined within the framework of the law. The bench emphasized that such benefits must also be evaluated in accordance with the specific terms that govern the employment of the woman who is seeking the relief.

The high court ultimately held that since the contractual appointment had expired and the employer-employee relationship was no longer in existence, the claim could not be sustained. The ruling clarifies that the legal entitlement to maternity benefits is limited to the actual duration of an active employment contract.

As a result of the high court's decision, the previous order by the labour authority directing the college to pay the maternity benefits has been set aside, thereby denying relief to the assistant professor.