MATERNITY PROTECTION AND THE PURSUIT OF WORKPLACE EQUALITY: Bearing Life, Bearing Rights

The Code on Social Security, 2020 represents a progressive consolidation of India's labour welfare regime with respect to maternity protection. Despite its forward-looking mandate, significant structural and practical obstacles continue to prevent the legislation from delivering substantive equality to working women. Women of childbearing age face discrimination in hiring, obstruction of career advancement, the persistent societal expectation that they must choose between professional ambition and motherhood, and a critical absence of institutional support infrastructure. This paper examines India's maternity protection laws and judicial precedents, with particular attention to deficiencies in practical implementation. It critically analyses the absence of gender-neutral parental leave, persistent workplace stigma, statutory non-recognition of assisted reproductive technologies (ART), and the wholesale exclusion of informal sector workers from protections under the Code. Drawing on primary research—a structured survey of 155 respondents in Maharashtra, analysed using chi-square, McNemar, ANOVA, and correlation tests—and secondary doctrinal and comparative analysis, the paper benchmarks India's framework against international models, particularly Sweden's gender-neutral parental leave system. The paper advances specific legislative recommendations grounded in the constitutional mandate of Articles 14, 15, and 42 of the Constitution of India.