Human Resource Blog

Maternity for Small Businesses

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	Benefits
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My company does not have a short or long term disability plan,. When I asked about 1 year ago about maternity they said that they would give me 6 weeks maternity leave. They never mentioned paid or unpaid. Now that I am 5 months pregnant they are trying to tell me that I can only have 6 weeks unpaid time off and only use my vacation and sick days to compensate me. But that if I take more than 6 weeks they will not hold my job for me. Is this how it really works??????

Paid maternity leave is unusual in the U.S.

Most U.S. workers are entitled to up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave under FMLA, the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993.  FMLA is a federal law that guarantees workers will be able to return to their job, after the leave is over. If it is impossible for the worker to return to the same job, he or she is entitled to another job with the same compensation, benefits and working conditions.

Employees can take FMLA for a serious health condition, including complications of pregnancy and childbirth. Both male and female employees can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave after the birth of a child, the adoption of a child, or the placement of a foster child under the age of 18.

Employees can also take FMLA due to their own serious health condition, or to care for a son, daughter, spouse or parent with a serious health condition.

However, the federal FMLA only applies to employers with 50 or more employees within 75 miles. The leave is limited to 12 weeks per year, and the employee must have worked 1,250 hours in the past 12 months.

Several states have expanded FMLA coverage to smaller employers, or have their own maternity or family leave laws at the state level, including California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.

Of these, only California requires that employers pay workers on parental leave, often called maternity leave.

Some other states have additional laws that specifically address maternity or the rights of pregnant women.

The federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) prohibits employers from discriminating against pregnant women in hiring, promotions, training and other employment decisions. The PDA doesn’t provide any maternity leave, but it does require that employers treat pregnancy and childbirth just as they would any other temporary disability. If a company has permitted an employee with a heart attack to take up to 10 weeks of unpaid leave, then the company must permit an employee who is disabled by childbirth to take the same leave. The period of disability for a normal delivery is usually 4 to 8 weeks, but it can vary.

The PDA applies to employers with 15 or more employees.