Human Resource Blog

Returning to work from maternity leave

We are a non-profit employer in New York. An employee has returned to work after 8 weeks on maternity leave. Prior to her notifying us that she was pregnant, we were going to lay her off. We have now had to wait through her pregnancy and leave as she was protected by disability laws. Now that she has returned, how long does and employer need to wait until we may legally lay of this employee?

Actually, you could have laid this employee off while she was pregnant. Under both federal and New York discrimination laws, an employer cannot lay an employee off because she is pregnant. However, the employer can take any action against a pregnant employee that would have been taken anyway, if the employee were not pregnant.

Nevertheless, if this is the only employee affected by the lay off, your decision to wait was wise. When a group of employees is laid off, it is easier to demonstrate that no discrimination took place.

You do not need to wait any particular period of time to lay off this employee. If you would like to wait 2 weeks or a month, that would be wise. But as long as you can demonstrate a business necessity for the layoff (and you are not simply hiring a replacement) this is a legitimate action to take.