Five Things to Check for in Your Maternity Leave Policy
According to the American Pregnancy Association (APA), maternity leave policies usually combine different sources, such as FMLA, short-term disability and paid company leave. Understanding the fine print in your company’s maternity leave policy will provide job protection while reducing potential problems. Below introduces five things that you should check in your company’s maternity leave policy.
The Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
The first thing to check in your maternity leave policy is if FMLA is offered. FMLA is a federal law that provides certain employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid time off. At the same time, it guarantees that you will have a job when you return to work. However, FMLA only applies under certain conditions. For example, eligible employees must have worked for their employer for at least one year at a company that employs at least 50 people in a 75 mile radius.
Keep in mind that FMLA is flexible and allows you to take a total of 12 weeks of unpaid time off within a one year period. However, some companies require employees on FMLA to use their paid leave when they are on FMLA. If you are planning on using FMLA, you must give a 30-day notice to the HR department. Finally, FMLA also applies to employees, such as
…show more content…
Pregnant employees who experience a high-risk or complicated pregnancy may need to unexpectedly leave or miss work. An ideal maternity leave policy will express an understanding for unplanned absenteeism during pregnancy. It is an unfortunate fact that some employers discriminate against pregnant women by trying to force them to work or disciplining them for missing work. If you are experiencing a complicated pregnancy, be sure to check first with your high-risk pregnancy doctor to have official medical documentation of your specific needs and
An employee took time off due to his wife giving birth prematurely. His requested time off was approved by his original manager as the employee qualified for FMLA since he has been with the company for two years and was for the care of his spouse. Under (1)”FMLA rules certain employees can be provided up to 12 weeks unpaid, job-protected leave per year. The employee must work for the company at least 12 months, have at least 1250 hours during the 12 months and the where the employee work, the company must employ at least 50 employees within 75 miles”.
The Family and Medical Leave Act sets regulations for job-protected leave related to family and medical reasons. FMLA applies to organizations with 50 or more employees working within 75 miles of the employee’s worksite (“Employment Laws,” n.d., para. 6). Employees who have been with their current employer for 12 months and who have worked 1250 hours of service in the previous 12 months are eligible for 12 weeks of unpaid leave through FMLA (“Eligibility Requirements,” Revised 2013). FMLA covers the following leave reasons:
The FMLA entitles eligible employees the ability to take off up to 12 weeks of unpaid time off within a 12-month period with the benefit of job protection upon returning to the company. The time off is subject to specific criteria that must meet federal guidelines. The website www.dol.gov lists these five leave entitlements.
The Family and Medical Leave Act sets regulations for job-protected leave related to family and medical reasons. FMLA applies to organizations with 50 or more employees working within 75 miles of the employee’s worksite (“Employment Laws,” n.d., para. 6). Employees who have been with their current employer for 12 months and who have worked 1250 hours of service in the previous 12 months are eligible for 12 weeks of unpaid leave through FMLA (“Eligibility Requirements,” Revised 2013). FMLA covers the following leave reasons:
4.2 Secondly, the Maternity & Parental Leave Regs 1999. Maternity allows female employees to have the basic rights including, time off for anti natal care, not to be unfairly dismissed, and the choice to return to work after their child has been born. Parental leave provides the right for employees to take unpaid leave to support dependants in an emergency which we at Pershing fully support.
situations like taking medical leave for having a baby will be usually be twelve weeks.
When an employee has a baby they could be eligible for maternity leave and maternity pay. You have the right to maternity leave regardless of how long you've been in your job, how many hours you work, or how much you're paid. This is also the case for antenatal appointments. You are legally entitled to reasonable paid time off to attend antenatal appointments. Employees must take a minimum of 2 weeks off work (or 4 weeks if they are a factory worker).
Maternity leave is a retreat that all mothers should have the opportunity to experience after childbirth. The birth of a child can be exciting, exhausting, and challenging for all new mothers experiencing the joys of parenthood. Unfortunately for some working mothers living in the United States, maternity leave is not always guaranteed. The United States is one of the only developed countries in the world that doesn’t guarantee paid maternity leave. An idea so common in other countries is considered a luxury benefit for hard-working mothers in the United States.
The government understood the difficulty of balancing work and childcare. As mentioned previously, FMLA permits mother to take medical leave for the period of time during which they are physically unable to work due to pregnancy, childbirth, recovery and related medical conditions. Additionally, both parents to take leave for the birth of a child, and for the placement of a child for adoption or foster. Thus, the leave allows the parents to bond with their child within one year of the child’s birth or placement. Nevertheless, according Gomby and Pei (2009), the two most important determinants of whether parents take leave are if the leave is paid and job-protected. Although FMLA provides job protection, it is unpaid, therefore many parents decide not to take it or may return to work earlier than they would have wanted to so they can support their
Although current federal and state level legislation guarantee some protections, these policies do not cover all new parents. Parents must have worked a minimum of 5 months while contributing to State Disability Insurance to receive 55% of their salary during 6 weeks of their parental leave, and must have worked with an employer for 1 year to quality for 12 weeks of unpaid leave (“About Paid Family Leave (PFL),” n.d.). Parental leave is not accessible to all adults in the United States because of these requirements, and therefore makes early parenting even more challenging for working adults. Nationally, the trend for mothers on maternal leave has stagnated, although the US economy has expanded (Zagorsky, 2017).
Google and YouTube- 18 weeks of paid maternity leave, 12 weeks of “baby-bonding leave” for primary caregivers, and up to 7 weeks for non-primary
The Family and Medical Aid Act (FLMA), of 1993, provides for 12 weeks of unpaid, job protected leave for certain specified events (8). Whilst one could refer to this as maternity or paternity leave if taken because of a pregnancy, this would not be strictly true. Where maternity and paternity leave are offered around the
Regardless of the time that an employee has been working in a company, any worker is always eligible for maternity leave. Moreover, in most companies; female employees receive more rights and protections during their pregnancy.
When a mother holds a job and then becomes pregnant she is presented with two options. The first of which would be to quit, or if lucky the company many offer an employee benefit leave. The basis of leave, as an employee benefit, is maternity leave. This offers a certain amount of time paid or unpaid to the mother after the birth of the child. The next step up would be paternity leave or paternal leave. This is leave that not only is offered to the mother but also the father so that both parents may spend the first few weeks at home with the newborn. Not all countries have the basic guarantee to the maternity leave. Let alone the idea of paternity leave, which is still considered
Having a baby is one of the greatest experiences a woman will have in her life. Having a baby comes with a lot of responsibility. These responsibilities include trying to be a mom while working at the same time. Although it is true that the problem gets easier as the baby grows older, a person must ask him- or herself an essential question: what about the first few crucial months of the baby’s life? Is a mother supposed to leave her newborn baby in order to work and make money essential in supporting herself as well as the newborn, or is she to stay home and form that essential bond with her child while allowing her body time to heal? A mother should not be forced to make this difficult decision. Moms need to create a bond, heal themselves after labor, and have an income all at the same time. Therefore, paid maternity leave should be mandatory for all mothers during the first months of their child’s life.