# Sindh Maternity Benefits Act, 2018 > Unofficial digital reference edition. Consult the official sources or Gazette when legal accuracy is material. - **Jurisdiction:** Sindh - **Subject:** Labour, employment and social protection - **Instrument type:** Act - **Citation:** Sindh Act No. XXXIX of 2018 - **Enacted:** 2018-05-29 - **Catalogue verified:** 2026-09-08 - **Canonical HTML:** [View the formatted edition](https://law.legumlawfirm.co/Sindh-Maternity-Benefits-Act/) - **Latest amendment:** No subsequent amending enactment identified through 8 September 2026. ## Content ### Sections - 1. Short title, commencement and extent. - 2. Definitions. - 3. Mandatory maternal leave. - 4. Additional maternity leave. - 5. Eligibility for maternal benefits. - 6. Notice of maternal benefits. - 7. Right to payment of maternal benefit. - 8. Payment of maternal benefit in case of a death of a woman. - 9. Nursing breaks. - 10. Day Care Facility. - 11. Penalties. - 12. Cognizance of offences. - 13. Power to make rules. - 14. Overriding effect. AN ACT to provide safeguards to working women’s maternity benefits, proper child nursing and job security in public and private organisations. WHEREAS it is expedient to provide safeguards to working women’s maternity benefits, proper nursing of new born to maintain job security and matters ancillary thereto; It is hereby enacted as follows:- ### 1. Short title, commencement and extent. (1) This Act may be called the Sindh Maternity Benefits Act, 2018. (2) It shall come into force at once. (3) It shall extend to the whole of the Province of Sindh. ### 2. Definitions. (a) “Day Care facility” means a place designated for supervised day time of pre-school children’s care within the premises where a woman works providing care and recreation facilities to the child; (b) “Delivery” means the birth of a child; (c) “Employer” means a person or business that employs one or more people for wages or salaries and includes: (a) The Government Organisation; (b) Private Organisation; (c) Semi-Government Organisation; (d) “Government” means the Government of Sindh; (e) “Maternity” means state relating to, or for the period in which a woman is pregnant or has just given birth to a child; (f) “Maternity benefits” means the payment, mandatory leave and other benefits prescribed in this Act; (g) “Maternity Leave” means leave of absence for an expectant or new mother for the birth and care of the baby; (h) “Neonate” means a new-born baby; (i) “Wages” means all remunerations paid or payable in cash to a woman, as per the contract of employment, written or verbal; ### 3. Mandatory maternal leave. An employer must grant a mandatory maternity leave to a working women during pregnancy in the following order: (1) Four weeks before the expected date of delivery. (2) Twelve-weeks after the delivery. ### 4. Additional maternity leave. (1) Miscarriage: In case of miscarriage, there shall be a 1-week of paid leave. (2) Still-born: In case of still-born, there shall be paid leave of 4-weeks. (3) Premature delivery: There shall be a paid leave of 16-weeks in case of a premature delivery, leave shall commence since the day of the birth of premature neonate. Explanation: 4-weeks of pre-natal and 12-weeks of post-natal leave shall be combined and a mother shall be granted a combined 16-weeks of paid leave after the occurrence of a premature delivery. (4) Any other medical complication: In case of any other medical complication, in which case the life of a mother or her unborn may be at risk, shall be paid leave for 4-weeks. Such a request for additional maternity leave shall be supported by medical documents and the organisation may countercheck, if needed. ### 5. Eligibility for maternal benefits. The benefits are available to all the female employees who have worked for a continuous period of one year preceding the date of her expected delivery. ### 6. Notice of maternal benefits. A woman shall inform the employer through a written application 12-weeks before the expected date of delivery. ### 7. Right to payment of maternal benefit. Employer has to pay a woman the same amount of salary during the period of maternity leave. ### 8. Payment of maternal benefit in case of a death of a woman. If a woman entitled to maternity benefits under this act dies during or before child labour, the employer shall pay 10% of her monthly salary for the number of years she has worked for the organisation to the legal heirs of the employee along with all the other benefits for which she was entitled to receive from the respective organisation at the time of commencement of her employment. ### 9. Nursing breaks. Women employee shall be permitted to visit the day care facility 4 times during the day to nurse, wean and feed the child. ### 10. Day Care Facility. It is mandatory for every organisation employing 10% or more employees to establish a day care facility within the premises and the installation of CCTV for monitoring the child’s wellbeing. ### 11. Penalties. If any employer fails to pay any amount of maternity benefit to a woman entitled under this Act, or discharges or dismisses such a woman during or on account of her absence from work in accordance with the provisions of this Act. ### 12. Cognizance of offences. Any aggrieved woman may file a complaint regarding the commission of an offence under this Act in the court of competent jurisdiction. ### 13. Power to make rules. The rules shall be made for carrying out the purpose of this Act once it becomes law. ### 14. Overriding effect. The provisions of this Act shall be in addition to and not in derogation of any other law. In case of contradiction, this law prevails. ## Accuracy notice This digital version of the Sindh Maternity Benefits Act, 2018 is provided as-is. Although reasonable efforts have been made to ensure accuracy and avoid error, no warranty is made as to its accuracy or completeness. Consult the official sources or Gazette when legal accuracy is material.