topic Re: Questions regarding maternity leave in Community Chat

Questions regarding maternity leave

pggoody — Wed, 14 Jun 2017 22:13:36 GMT

My daughter is in her late 20's and I know the laws on maternity leave have changed since I had her. In addition, I imagine that they vary state to state. That being said, I have a friend that was asking my opinion about whether I thought it was a good idea if her daughter accepted a new job offer knowing she is in her early stages of pregnancy. ( 4 weeks) She applied not knowing she was pregnant. Her current work situation is not good at her current job, but now being pregnant she realizes she may need to stay. And of course she does not want to share her news to this possible new employer. We live in California.

I read somewhere ( and maybe it applied just to Ca) that to qualify for maternity leave a woman had to have worked 1250 hours or 1 year with a company prior to going out on maternity leave.

So my questions to anyone that might have faced a similar situation .......

* is there a required length of employment prior to applying?

* when do you let HR know you are pregnant?

If anyone faced anything similar, or has any information to offer..... Please share.

Thank you.

Re: Questions regarding maternity leave

StephfromIdaho — Wed, 14 Jun 2017 22:24:33 GMT

Please check with an attorney. I believe that most offer a short consultation at either a reduced rate or at no charge. It's money well spent.

Re: Questions regarding maternity leave

Caffeina — Wed, 14 Jun 2017 22:27:57 GMT

It's a federal law that covers that, The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA).

https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/benefits-leave/fmla

Re: Questions regarding maternity leave

spud188 — Wed, 14 Jun 2017 22:29:51 GMT

Call and ask the Employment office in your town what the CA rules are.

Re: Questions regarding maternity leave

jaxs mom — Wed, 14 Jun 2017 22:36:01 GMT

If depends on what specific issue you're concerned with? FMLA is unpaid. CA has state disability that covers pregnancy and birth. The coverage used to be 4 weeks before your due date through 6 weeks postpartum for a normal vaginal birth, it's longer for a c-section or if their were complications.

In CA it's illegal to fire someone because they're pregnant but good luck proving that was the reason in court.

Re: Questions regarding maternity leave

GardeniaGal — Wed, 14 Jun 2017 22:49:45 GMT

From my understanding, maternity leave is covered by FMLA...up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave, if the company has 50 or more employees, but only after you have been employed for one year. You would then be guaranteed a job on your return. Employment of less than one year, and she would be at the mercy of her employer as to whether or not she had a job to come back to. Whether or not she stays with a job with an uncertain future, or hope her new employer will hold her job for her is going to be a hard decision for her to make.

Re: Questions regarding maternity leave

ROMARY — Wed, 14 Jun 2017 23:11:23 GMT

Knowing myself, I'd probably stay with my present job, especially if there is paid leave available at that job. Regardless, if the new employer doesn't guarantee that the job will be there when the mom returns to work, it's almost better to stay with the present job, if even for a few months past the maternity leave..........if that makes any sense. I'll have to think about it and post later. 'All in all', I'd try my best to find out all of the options in my state before I would make any employment moves. The best of luck to all concerned.

Re: Questions regarding maternity leave

pggoody — Wed, 14 Jun 2017 23:15:17 GMT

@jaxs mom @GardeniaGal. In my own situation, I was " laid" off and my job eliminated during my maternity leave. I was given a small severance, vacation time paid, and then was able to collect unemployment when my maternity leave ran out. It worked out for me, as I only intended to return back to work for maybe a few months. My parents would have been watching their granddaughter. I ended up being able to collect unemployment which I otherwise never would have qualified for quitting to stay home with my daughter.

Being pregnant and hating your job and dealing with job related stress is not a comfortable situation. I did suggest as someone else suggested that calling the state employment office to check on qualifications for state disability pay for pregnancy was a good idea.

Re: Questions regarding maternity leave

stevieb — Thu, 15 Jun 2017 01:38:30 GMT

@pggoody Rather than turn down the job and stay where she is (and doesn't like), I'd ask the prospective employer how this would unfold if she goes with them. If she's considering turning the job down anyway, she'd clearly be losing nothing by asking and might find they offer a reasonable option.

Re: Questions regarding maternity leave

VaBelle35 — Wed, 14 Jun 2017 23:27:12 GMT

She has 2 different things in California.

California Paid Famiy Leave is something she pays into through mandatory payroll deductions. It is not tied to an employer and you can move to a different job and still collect. The qualifications for pay have to do with whether you can work or not, not how long you have worked for said employer. This has no job protection.

Federal Family Medical Leave is job protection but it is based on how long you have worked for your employer. Typically 12 months as a full time employee.

Re: Questions regarding maternity leave

NYC Susan — Wed, 14 Jun 2017 23:28:13 GMT

@jaxs mom wrote:
If depends on what specific issue you're concerned with? FMLA is unpaid. CA has state disability that covers pregnancy and birth. The coverage used to be 4 weeks before your due date through 6 weeks postpartum for a normal vaginal birth, it's longer for a c-section or if their were complications.

In CA it's illegal to fire someone because they're pregnant but good luck proving that was the reason in court.

I was fired many years ago because I was pregnant. And you're right - It's hard to prove. Of course my employer had another "reason", but they also tried to deny me Unemployment benefits and their reason was proven to be invalid. It was clear to me and my co-workers that my pregnancy was the real reason.

All the attorneys in my family urged me to fight it, but I was young, pregnant with my first child, and didn't feel the added stress would be good for myself or the baby. I knew it would be an uphill and unpleasant battle.

If this happened now, for sure I would be determined to fight it and I would follow through vigorously. I'm not only older, but also nowhere near as passive as I used to be.

Re: Questions regarding maternity leave

Lapdog — Wed, 14 Jun 2017 23:29:55 GMT

@stevieb exactly what I thought..

Re: Questions regarding maternity leave

Sooner — Wed, 14 Jun 2017 23:37:52 GMT

Another consideration: Aside from the law and what is legal, how would your new employer and fellow workers feel about it? It might make for not-so-great a work atmosphere afterward if people were resentful of your taking the job and then them having to take up the slack.

Re: Questions regarding maternity leave

pggoody — Thu, 15 Jun 2017 00:04:10 GMT

@Sooner good point. I was thinking about my own daughter's last job. She mentioned this very thing. The woman was at the company maybe 3 months when she announced her pregnancy. She did return to work but about 6 or 8 months later was laid off. Perhaps the company did not want any legal issues so did not do so immediately.

Re: Questions regarding maternity leave

jaxs mom — Thu, 15 Jun 2017 00:10:39 GMT

@Sooner wrote:
Another consideration: Aside from the law and what is legal, how would your new employer and fellow workers feel about it? It might make for not-so-great a work atmosphere afterward if people were resentful of your taking the job and then them having to take up the slack.

We are past the point of that being any of their business, It's not.

Re: Questions regarding maternity leave

itiswhatitis — Thu, 15 Jun 2017 01:45:36 GMT

@Sooner wrote:
Another consideration: Aside from the law and what is legal, how would your new employer and fellow workers feel about it? It might make for not-so-great a work atmosphere afterward if people were resentful of your taking the job and then them having to take up the slack.

This is irrelevant to her rights. People would be mad at other co-workers for myriad reasons. Having a baby is no different.

Re: Questions regarding maternity leave

itiswhatitis — Thu, 15 Jun 2017 01:48:51 GMT

@ROMARY wrote:
Knowing myself, I'd probably stay with my present job, especially if there is paid leave available at that job. Regardless, if the new employer doesn't guarantee that the job will be there when the mom returns to work, it's almost better to stay with the present job, if even for a few months past the maternity leave..........if that makes any sense. I'll have to think about it and post later. 'All in all', I'd try my best to find out all of the options in my state before I would make any employment moves. The best of luck to all concerned.

Where does the paid leave come from? She didn't say anything about paid maternity leave.

Re: Questions regarding maternity leave

missy1 — Thu, 15 Jun 2017 02:02:30 GMT

http://www.employees-lawyer.com/maternity-leave-california/

good info

Re: Questions regarding maternity leave

Sooner — Thu, 15 Jun 2017 02:17:17 GMT

@itiswhatitis wrote:
@Sooner wrote:
Another consideration: Aside from the law and what is legal, how would your new employer and fellow workers feel about it? It might make for not-so-great a work atmosphere afterward if people were resentful of your taking the job and then them having to take up the slack.
This is irrelevant to her rights. People would be mad at other co-workers for myriad reasons. Having a baby is no different.

Right or wrong, legal or illegal, how people feel about you in the workplace is a factor. Whether or not you have to take up the slack for them is a factor. You have the "right" to do a lot of things, but that doesn't necessarity change the outcome or the consequences.

Re: Questions regarding maternity leave

itiswhatitis — Thu, 15 Jun 2017 02:39:54 GMT

@Sooner wrote:
@itiswhatitis wrote:
@Sooner wrote:
Another consideration: Aside from the law and what is legal, how would your new employer and fellow workers feel about it? It might make for not-so-great a work atmosphere afterward if people were resentful of your taking the job and then them having to take up the slack.
This is irrelevant to her rights. People would be mad at other co-workers for myriad reasons. Having a baby is no different.
Right or wrong, legal or illegal, how people feel about you in the workplace is a factor. Whether or not you have to take up the slack for them is a factor. You have the "right" to do a lot of things, but that doesn't necessarity change the outcome or the consequences.

I clearly disagree with this. Whether co-workers would be a concern ~ would never ever be my concern. I went on maternity leave twice. Not once did I care what my co-workers thought about it. Not once. I guess I'd like to THINK that a woman having a baby would be her chief concern and not what her co-workers think.