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Arizona FMLA

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An employee works in Arizona but lives in New Mexico. I believe that Arizona has a state law guaranteeing 16 weeks of paid maternity leave, while New Mexico only grants 12 weeks under the federal FMLA. Are they covered under the labor laws of Arizona or New Mexico? Can this be appealed?

In a sense, unfortunately, the question is irrelevant under these circumstances.

That’s because Arizona has no such law giving employees 16 weeks of paid maternity leave. Maybe the situation is confused by the fact that a Arizona business has its own policy giving 16 weeks of leave. Or perhaps a union contract mandates it.

In any case, Arizona has no state law applying to this. But neither does New Mexico. In fact, both are covered, as many states are, by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, the “FMLA” mentioned in the question. The FMLA guarantees 12 weeks of unpaid leave to employees, whether men or women, after the birth of a child.

True, this leave is unpaid. But it is “job-protected.” That means the worker has the right to return to the same job, or one with similar pay, benefits, or working conditions.

Incidentally, FMLA may be granted also to care for a newly adopted child or a new foster child under 18. It may be used if the employee has a serious illness or must care for a member of the immediate family who is gravely ill.

The FMLA applies to all companies with 50 or more workers who are within 75 miles of the workplace. Employees must have worked 1,250 hours within the past 12 months in order to qualify.

When a state labor law does exist, it applies to all employers within the state, and the residence of the employees is irrelevant.

Regarding the second question, can a worker claim to be covered by the more generous labor laws of her or his home state? The answer is no. If “Bill,” for example, lives in California and works in Arizona, he may prefer the more generous state-mandated break time guaranteed under California labor law, but not guaranteed in Arizona. But California’s law doesn’t apply to him. A state labor law governs the businesses operating within its borders, and consequently the employees are under its jurisdiction at work. JH