Maternity Leave

HRGirl

I have a question...I had an employer that gave STD for 6 weeks (normal delivery) and 8 weeks (C-section), so this was paid leave. If you opted to stay out the twelve weeks, you weren't paid for the balance. They advised this was your FMLA. Is this correct?

Terry

I'm not really sure about the question, but I have found the best way to explain FMLA and STD pay is to treat them separately. FMLA is an unpaid entitlement of up to 12 weeks with job protection and STD is a way to get paid during that leave. They can both occur at the same time so the day a pregant woman is deemed unable to continue work can be the start date for both STD and FMLA.

Don D

It's my understanding that any absence related to the pregnancy can be counted as FMLA leave, not necessarily starting on the date on which she is determined to not be able to work. We tentatively approve the FMLA as soon as the discussion is had and advise the employee that upon receipt of the medical certification the tentative is removed. Then, any subsequent absence for that reason is tallied.

Margaret Morford

Terry gave a great explanation about separating whether the employee gets the time from whether the employee gets paid for the time. I only want to add this wrinkle. If your organization's FMLA policy requires that employees run out their vacation and/or PTO bank, she could get additional pay during her 12 weeks of FMLA. For example, she wants to take her full 12 weeks and has three weeks of PTO time available when she begins her leave. This means that she gets the full 12 weeks of leave and gets paid for 9 out of the 12 weeks. She will get 6 weeks of STD, then 3 more weeks of PTO time and then the last 3 weeks will be unpaid. Hope that helps you. You also need to check your state laws to be sure they do not have more liberal statutes that would provide her more time. Call me if you want to discuss further.

Margaret Morford
theHRedge
615-371-8200
[email]mmorford@mleesmith.com[/email]
[url]http://www.thehredge.net[/url]