Caught in the FMLA labrynth!

AprilShowers

I know this question has been posed to the forum before, but I just want to double check and be sure before I take the information to my boss.

Here's the situation:
We offer 8 weeks of unpaid maternity leave to all employees, regardless of status or length of employment. We have an employee who will become eligible for FMLA half way through her maternity leave. Do we then have to offer her 12 weeks of FMLA from her day of eligiblity on? Also, if she missed 4 weeks due to maternity leave, does that time count against the 1250 hr requirement for FMLA making her not eligible or is that time protected?

Thanks for any help you can provide,
April
xpray

Don D

On the face of it, and knowing only what you stated about it, it sounds as if your present "maternity leave policy" is discriminatory, or, do you perhaps offer it to men as well? I would think she is not eligible for FMLA since she was not eligible at the time the leave commenced.

LindaS

I agree with Don in that the 8 weeks, if not offered to male employees as well, seems discriminatory. Pregnancy should NOT be treated differently than any other illness or injury when it comes to company policies. Regarding the FMLA issue, I would verify that there isn't a state statute that comes into play. For example in the state of WI, the person only needs to have 1000 hours in before they become eligible. In addition, the federal guidelines only provide a BASELINE for allowing someone the leave, you always have the option of going above and beyond it. If it were my employee, I would go ahead and approve the leave, since she will be out anyway, and begin the clock ticking. This way when she returns she will already have used a significant amount of time allotted her and will not be able to take an additional 4 weeks after she returns and technically qualifies for the leave.

Just a thought.

AprilShowers

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In my post I stated that "We offer 8 weeks of unpaid maternity leave to all employees, regardless of status or length of employment" all employees includes men.
I just want to know what we are required to do as I am having trouble interpreting the law. I have read through both federal and state employment law guides and have come up with nothing in regards to this. We will probably end up offering the FMLA when she becomes eligible since it "seems" like the right thing to do. We want to do what ever we can for employees, but I need to present my boss with the facts, not what I think seems right, as I do the research for her and she makes the final decisions.

But, Linda- I think what you're trying to tell me is that there are NO guidelines to follow in this case?

Hope this helps clarify!
Thanks!
April

PAhr

The 1,250 hours are only hours that the employee has actually worked. You do not count any vacation, PTO or paid or unpaid time off. If the employee has actually worked 1,250 hours she would be entitled to FMLA as soon as she is eligible, in this case once she has hit the one year mark. Hope that helps.

AprilShowers

Here is what we are going to do:
We are going to allow the employee 12 weeks total of leave for the birth of her child. We believe (after much reading of the FMLA) that offering 6 weeks of medical leave and then an additional 12 weeks is unreasonable and that we could defend it in court (if necessary). My head is still aching from this one. Thanks everyone for taking a stab at helping me! I hope you never find yourself in a similar position!
Have a good afternoon,
I think it is nap time,
April
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