Challenge In Auditing The BRSR Core Principle 3 , On Maternity Benefit.

 BRSR Audit Challenge - Principle 3 - Research by HR Lab   

* Birendra K Jha                                                                                                                                                                              Certified Social Auditor; Practitioner Social Impact Assessment Audit; Practitioner BRSR (SEBI ) Audit- ESG Audit. EMail: birendrajha03@yahoo.com

Companies mostly adopt illegal practice in regulating the Maternity Benefit. The Assurance Auditor of BRSR Core Principle -3 should be very careful in auditing this part. 

The Assurance Auditor of the BRSR Core should be extremely careful while auditing the Principle 3 of the BRSR Core. The KPI  includes the 5 indicators i.e., health insurance, accident insurance, maternity benefits, paternity benefits, day care facilities  and  health & safety measures. I shall focus here on the Maternity Benefit. 

By and large most of the private companies  adopt unfair  practices on the regulation of  "Maternity Benefits." The auditor should be extra careful where women employees on company or contract roll are seen. 

My experience is that most of  the internal HR generated documents are bogus. The document shows 100% compliance on the maternity benefit. The auditor should invoke specific skill and conduct well defined interviews with the women employees. When auditor interact with the women employees then they start revealing their pain. This is never reported in the HR documents. This is the duty of the BRSR Assurance Auditor  to record this instance in the BRSR Audit Report of Principle 3.  

Companies adopt mostly illegal tactics in case of employees in contract role. Law gives equal right to the regular and contractual employees on the question of a woman's right to childbirth and maternity leave. 

Without revealing the company name a case is given here on the illegal  practice adopted by this  company on the maternity benefit. 

An employee women employed on  contractual basis applied for maternity leave in the stated company. The application in hand said doctor  advised  to take bed rest and that her expected due date for delivery was sometime an approaching date. Company informed that she was not entitled to maternity leave as per the terms of the contract and that her absence would be treated as leave without compensation. This was failure of the company to grant and extend the maternity leave cover. 

Law Violation Points: 

1. The denial of maternity benefits to the women employees  is violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India.

2. The grant of maternity leave to the women employee in contract employment  constitutes a discriminatory act and is an offence within the meaning of the Maternity Benefits Act, 1961. Where Clause 5(1) of the Act says every woman would be entitled to, and her employer would be liable for, the payment of maternity benefits.

The Auditor should must record the following statements in Audit Report:  

"If the company  is permitted to deny women employee  the basic right of the maternity benefit and only leave is extended without compensation, it would be tantamount to compel an employee to work during her advanced pregnancy, notwithstanding the same may ultimately endanger both her and her coming baby".

The Auditor, shall have to drive the sustainability. The Independent Directors should read such Assurance Audit report and act accordingly. But before that skill of the auditor is important.