Community Chat

[pggoody]

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.

[StephaniM]

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.

[Caffeina]

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

[spud188]

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

[jaxs mom]

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. 

[GardeniaGal]

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.

[ROMARY]

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. 

[pggoody]

@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. 

[stevieb]

@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.

[VaBelle35]

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.