TN Amends Maternity Leave Rules for Improved Flexibility

By: WE Staff | Friday, 20 March 2026

• The government of Tamil Nadu has made some amendments to its maternity leave policy for women employees
• Now, women government employees can take maternity leave of 365 days for one more delivery
• This is applicable even if they are already having two surviving children born as twins

The Tamil Nadu government has made amendments in its maternity leave policy, which will now give more flexibility to women employees in the state. The leave policy has now allowed women employees in Tamil Nadu more leave in certain cases.

According to this new policy, women employees in Tamil Nadu will now be eligible for 365 days of maternity leave for one more delivery if they have two children born as twins in their first delivery.

Earlier, in such cases, women employees in Tamil Nadu were allowed only two weeks of leave, and a maximum of six weeks of leave was allowed before the expected date of delivery.

This change in the leave policy was made through a government order issued on March 13. According to The Hindu, this change in the leave policy was inspired by judgments of the Supreme Court of India in May 2025 and the Madras High Court in January 2026.

The judicial observations had pointed out that the previous practice of treating twin births as equivalent to having had multiple deliveries had inadvertently placed women employees at a disadvantage.

Under the previous rules, women who had twin births were considered to have used up their entitlement for two children and were not entitled to maternity leave for subsequent births.

The new rules attempt to correct this anomaly by allowing a full cycle of maternity leave for an additional childbirth. This policy change appears to be an attempt at bringing service rules in line with changing interpretations of employee welfare.

The ruling appears to fit within the larger pattern of state governments seeking to revise their workforce policies with a view towards greater fairness and inclusivity.

Judicial interventions continue to play a role in shaping workforce policy, and the move by the Tamil Nadu government may provide a precedent for other states considering similar changes to maternity benefit rules.