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Pennsylvania Maternity Leave

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I’m the president of a large company in Pennsylvania, with a number of pregnant employees. To make scheduling easier, I’d like to institute a company policy that all pregnant women have to start maternity leave 1 month before their due date, and end it 2 months after their due date. Can you think of any reason why I shouldn’t do this?

The mother and her doctor determine the timing of the leave. It is not up to the employer. Your suggested policy, unfortunately, violates federal law.

There are two applicable pieces of legislation. One is the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1986, otherwise known as the FMLA. The other is the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA).

The FMLA also guarantees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave, job-protected, to the pregnant employee. It applies to any business with 50 or more workers, although many states have passed laws that include smaller companies in FMLA coverage.

The PDA is part of Title VII of the Civil Rights Bill of 1964, and applies to any business with 15 or more employees.

Wording in the PDA states, “an employer may not institute a rule that prohibits a woman from returning to work for a predetermined length of time after childbirth.” In short, a woman may return to work as soon after the birth of her child as she chooses and as soon as she is capable. As her employer, you have the right to require a doctor’s statement saying she is physically able to return. Without that statement, you may decline to allow her to return as soon as she chooses. Most doctors recommend 6 weeks off after a normal delivery and 8 weeks after a caesarean, but that is strictly a guideline.

With a doctor’s release, however, she may be allowed to work as much as she wishes before or after the birth.

Some women wish to save their leave for after the birth of their baby, to give them more time to nurture their newborn child. Others with pregnancy complications find it important to their health that they take a period of time off before the due date. Other mothers simply choose to take more or less time off before or after the birth for strictly personal reasons.

Just as you would not tell a worker who had suffered a heart attack when to return to work, neither should you make the same determination for a pregnant employee. JH