I wanted to see if anyone could help me out on this one. I am currently 34 weeks pregnant with my 4th child. About a month ago my boss asked me to send her my plan for maternity leave. I had requested 12 weeks; she reminded me that we have less then 50 people so the family plan act does not come in to play. I then sent an email and she again said 12 weeks was fine. Yesterday she came to my office to tell me as a business decision they will only allow me 6 weeks. All of this time is unpaid which is fine. I am really upset about this and wanted to find out if anyone had some advice to share with me. I work in new home sales and the market is getting better by the day however it is still a lot slower than we would all like, one of the comments made to me was if the market was different this wouldn't be an issue. Any advice would be great either how to work the system to get my full 12 weeks or how to make the best use of 6. Thank you!!
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I'm an HR professional, you may want to go to the SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management ) website and research the bylaws for your state's FMLA (family medical leave act). Also check the company's fmla handbook and speak with an employee relations specialist at your Headquarters. They should be able to advise you if this information is correct. That office, may have fewer than 50 employees, however that is not the number that FMLA is based on. If there is another office or headquarters, the number of employees is based for the whole corporation. In addition to the fmla guidelines, a firm cannot force you to return to work if you are able to get a doctor's validation that you are medically incapable, be it, physically or mentally.
If I were you, I would fight this. Since you already have 3 kids, I'm sure you know that it takes some time to heal physically. You need those 1st 6 weeks just to re-coop and adjust and then you need some more time to bond (and sleep, as at 6 weeks the child likely will not be sleeping through the night).
I work in Washington DC and I know the laws are different in every state, but in DC the number of employees is 20 -- not 50. Make sure you check into your state laws b/c they supersede the federal laws. Also, you should at very least be paid short term disability (which is 6 weeks), after the short term disability, you should be able to take any accrued vacation time or sick leave.
Honestly, if your company will not budge on the issue, I would think about floating your resume around. I think it's terrible that they are trying to rush you back.
As a company looking at the bottom line, she can do what she wants, especially when the laws don't apply (under 50 employees). Of course, she could've thought about it before agreeing to your plan the first time around, but that's a different issue.
As a small business owner myself, I'm afraid I'd have to agree with her final decision.
You have it in writing that they approved 12 weeks, yes? And it was only verbal that she backpedaled to 6 weeks? I'd try to hold them to the 12 weeks as promised.
My company really worked with me on my maternity leave. I was given the standard 6 weeks of maternity leave with 1/2 pay and then they agreed to allow me to work from home part time the other six weeks. I thought this wonderful because it came me more time with my new baby and then also allowed me to to slowly get myself back into the work routine.
Hi C.,
That's a tough one. Would she be willing to compromise on 8 weeks? Also, do you have any vacation time coming? Perhaps you could schedule some vacation leave after 6 or 8 weeks to stretch it out. I returned to work after 7-8 weeks with both of my kids, and found that I was ready mentally :-).
One thing that's popular at my office is coming back for half days or every other day for a few weeks. Also, what is your childcare situation? If you already have a plan, and they can't take your child until a specific date you could use that as a way.
Just some thoughts. Good luck and congrats!
M.
