Maternity Leave Rights According to the FMLA

by Jasna Cameron

While I have the fondest memories of my high school years, I strongly feel that the textbooks we suffered through did not prepare us for the practical side of adult life. I mean, are your days filled with Pythagorean identity and working out the trigonometric values of special angles? As a mother of two pre-schoolers working in Human Resources, I’m going to have to say no.

Some of the adult stress and anxiety would have been diminished had high school exams prepped me for the practicalities of the most intense period of my life - motherhood.  Not only did I have to read every book under the sun to figure out how to breastfeed in the right position, burp my baby, and keep her healthy, but I also speed search guidelines on my FMLA rights during maternity leave.   This article will outline the guidelines on your rights during maternity leave.

What are my rights while on FMLA?

The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a federal law that allows entitled employees to take up to 12 weeks of leave for medical reasons, including pregnancy problems and caring for a newborn. When I was pregnant, my biggest concern was that I was not entitled to maternity leave, considering I had been with my company for less than a year. I was worried I would be fired on the spot if I requested any pregnancy or maternity leave. I started working for the company at the beginning of April 2014 and fell pregnant with my first child only a few months later.

Can I get fired for missing work due to pregnancy?

According to law, you cannot be fired for being pregnant. The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) strictly regulate U.S. employers, preventing them from laying off employees because of pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions. If you are lucky and qualify for FMLA maternity leave in States such as New York, California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island, you will receive paid family and medical leave. However, to qualify for FMLA leave, employees must have worked for the company for a full year and must have accumulated at least 1,250 working hours that year.  If the employee has been with the company for less than a year, any leave is considered non-FMLA leave and is fully dependant on the company's policies and practices.

Can an employer refuse an employee FMLA leave?

The final decision rests with the employer, who determines if the leave you request falls under the FMLA criteria. However, in the same respect, the employer's decision is also bound by FMLA's criteria to establish your eligibility. If your employer doesn't grant you leave for health issues during pregnancy or after childbirth, or refuses to reinstate you when you come back to work, you are legally entitled to sue the company.

When can you take maternity leave?

I put in a request for FMLA maternity leave from March 2015. By law, if I had been at my company for a year or more, I would have been entitled to full FMLA leave. If I had any health problems due to a difficult pregnancy, I needn't have worried as  I could have taken time off at any time. The same would have applied after childbirth (within 12 months of my baby's birth) if I had any complications during or post-childbirth.

Can I take maternity leave without FMLA?

At the time, even though I had worked more than 1,250 hours, I had not yet reached a full 12 months, so I was only eligible for six weeks of non-FMLA maternity leave due to pregnant employees. After I found out that I was pregnant, I immediately approached my employer. Fortunately, my company was flexible enough to make special arrangements that included working from home should I not feel well enough to come to work (due to my high-risk pregnancy). Your company may also have similar benefits or other internal parental leave programs. There may also be an option to borrow time off.

Can you get fired on FMLA?

Your employer can certainly make it difficult and deny your leave before or after childbirth. Some new moms had no jobs to go back to after their FMLA because the employer made other plans in their absence and filled their roles. However, it is against the law to fire an employee for taking FMLA leave. Some devious bosses have found other ways to get back at employees for being absent under FMLA leave.

  Signs that you are working for a boss that deviates from the FMLA guidelines:

1. Your boss doesn't think your leave request falls under the FMLA criteria.

2. Your boss gives you an impossible timeframe to put in your notice - instead of the expected 30 days, they may ask you for an unreasonable 60 days notice. Or, in the case of an emergency, may deny the request because of no notice given.

3. Your boss does not approve your leave request because you are needed at work.

4. Your boss demands that you work on your leave. Your deadlines and workload are the same - you have just swapped your work office for your home office.

5. Your boss punishes you for taking FMLA leave. Some moms reported being bullied and suffering massive verbal or emotional abuse when they came back from maternity or FMLA leave. These employers don't seem to think that the maternity leave or FMLA women take to care for a newborn is reason enough to stay away from work. Some may even deny you that promotion you have worked so hard to achieve.

6. Your boss makes your life impossible if you apply for intermittent leave or keep-in-touch days during maternity leave. For example, I was worried that should I choose to keep in touch with my office during maternity leave, I would be saddled with tons of work to take care of from home while breastfeeding and changing nappies and fail my boss’s expectations miserably. Luckily it turned out that it was completely up to me how much I chose to take on because my boss could not demand that I be available by phone or email. My performance could also not be judged by the same standards as if I was back at the office. I certainly could not be expected to double up on my workload at such a critical time!

7. Your boss does not give you your old job back and even demotes you as a form of punishment for being away.

How do I extend my FMLA Leave?

The FMLA was designed to help families balance work and home responsibilities. Maternity disability or medical leave allows you to recover after normal delivery or an uncomplicated cesarean. Family leave gives you some time to bond with your newborn after your recovery.

The problem is that the FMLA grants all parents the same 12 weeks. If you begin your leave 12 weeks before you give birth, but then you'll have less time with your baby afterward. If you need more time off, for any reason, like, for example, the bed rest your doctor ordered, this will kick-start your leave even before your baby is born.  You will then have to rely on the good graces and great family policies of your employer. Your employer can make allowances for more than the legally-required 12 weeks of annual unpaid leave should the need arise. Keep the employer informed of any potential complications to plan any additional time off, should it be necessary.

You can also use your paid time off (PTO), which can add up to two weeks to your leave, allowing you to spend more time at home with your new baby.

Does the FMLA pay you for Maternity Leave?

It took a lot of research to understand the finer details of FMLA. Added to all the information above, did you know that FMLA doesn’t pay for maternity leave? However, I learned that I could use my paid leave - such as sick time or accumulated over-time to get paid for at least some of my maternity leave. For example, if you are dealing with certain pre-or postnatal conditions, you may qualify for short-term disability.  However, not all states offer short-term disability for pregnancy or pregnancy-related conditions.

Conclusion

The sobering fact is that approximately 27% of American mothers quit their jobs to take care of family, and about 1 in 4 women return to work only two weeks after giving birth. I was one of the lucky ones, with an understanding employer, working in a company with accommodating policies in place. I want to suggest a new useful subject for high school students - one that can help prepare them for the most important turn in their adult lives. A subject that addresses the health issues, financial aspects, and legalities of family planning, childbirth, and child-rearing, which could prove much more useful than proving math theorems.