Employer must be considerate towards Pregnant Working Women, Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court has recently observed that an employer must be considerate and sympathetic towards working women who are pregnant or looking after the child after birth..Observing that “to become a mother is the most natural phenomena in the life of a woman”, the Court stated,.“Whatever is needed to facilitate the birth of child to a woman who is in service, the employer has to be considerate and sympathetic towards her and must realise the physical difficulties which a working woman would face in performing her duties at the work place while carrying a baby in the womb or while looking after the child after birth.”.The Court also noted that women, who constitute almost half of our society, have to be honoured and treated with dignity at places where they work to earn their livelihood..The observations form part of a judgment delivered by a Single Judge Bench of Justice Suresh Kait in a petition by a woman who was refused her “joining letter” from the Office of Deputy Directorate of Education, Delhi Government after she delivered a child through the cesarean process..In October 2017, the Petitioner was selected as Guest Teacher in the panel of Delhi Government Schools for the Academic Year 2017-18. Subsequently, in January 2018, she gave birth to a child..The Petitioner claimed that when she was directed to appear at the Office of Deputy Directorate of Education in February for further verification of documents, the authorities “behaved differently and even harassed her by not marking her attendance”..The Petitioner then wrote a letter to the authorities at the Office the very next day, requesting them to mark her attendance and issue the joining letter..Being aggrieved by their inaction, the Petitioner moved the High Court. The High Court disposed of the plea by directing the Authorities “to positively respond to petitioner’s letter”..Subsequently, the Office of Deputy Directorate of Education passed an order stating that the candidature of the Petitioner “may be considered for the post of Guest Teacher PGT (Hindi) in future, subject to availability of the vacancy and subject to the production of Medical Fitness Certificate from the competent medical authority.”.The Court records that although the eligibility of the Petitioner for the panel for Guest Teachers is not disputed, the Office of Deputy Directorate of Education has not selected her due to some communication gap..The Court, therefore, directed the Office of Deputy Directorate of Education “to give place” to the Petitioner in the panel maintained by it and utilize her service as and when required by any school, “obviously subject to her medical fitness”..The Petitioner was represented by Advocate Shikha Sapra..The Respondent was represented by Advocate Mini Pushkarna..Read the Judgement: