Human Resource Blog

Maternity leave?

I started temping for a company in Indiana last June. In January, I was hired by the company full-time. When I was hired, I was under the impression that my start date would retroact back to the June date that I started with the company to include insurance and benefits. Because I did not need their insurance, I did not find out until recently that my start date did not retroact, but is in January. In December I found out I was pregnant and due for a little boy in the middle of August. Because I will not have worked for the company for an entire year because of the mixup in the start dates and am ineligible for FMLA, what options do I have for taking a maternity leave? Thanks.

This will depend mostly upon company policy. Check with the HR dept. to see what their policy is.

Because you do not qualify for FMLA, it is entirely possible that you will lose your job when you take unpaid leave.

If the company has granted paid or unpaid leave for other workers with short-term disabilities, who did not qualify for FMLA, then under the PDA or Pregnancy Discrimination Act, you are entitled to the same benefits.

Some companies have the policy of rehiring workers under these circumstances, if they have a job open when you are ready to return to work.

If other employees who were hired after temping had retroactive hire dates to qualify for benefits, you may be the target of discrimination based on pregnancy, which is illegal under federal law.