Human Resource Blog

Maternity Leave and Time Off

Can an employer determine when an employee may begin or end a maternity leave in Nevada?

The Nevada labor laws regarding pregnant employees are the same as the federal labor laws with regard to your pregnant employees. According to the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, it is unlawful for an employer to determine the appropriate time for a pregnant woman to begin and end her maternity leave. Therefore, an employer may not pre-establish either time.

In many cases, pregnant women will opt to take their maternity leaves during the third trimester, usually at the beginning of the trimester. However, the employer has no right to force a pregnant employee to take the maternity leave at any time. The employer may take action if there is a condition in which the pregnant employee is prevented from doing her job, such as in the case where the pregnant woman is forced to stay in bed. In such a case, then the employer may recognize that the employee is no longer able to work and the maternity leave or disability compensation option will begin.

The employer may not mandate when the employee returns to work after taking maternity leave in Nevada or any other state. Many new mothers prefer to stay home with their newborns for at least four weeks after giving birth. However, the woman must be allowed to return when she can perform her job functions.

The situation follows the same rules and laws as the return of employees who have been out of the office due to a disability and should be consistent across the company. As such, if a company requires that an employee that has been out on unemployment produce a doctor’s statement, then the company must also require new mothers to have a doctor submit a statement. New mothers, in this sense, are treated in the same manner as employees that have been out of work on disability.