Maternity Leave and FMLA
MelissaBoldt
4 Posts
My company does not have a maternity leave policy but we have always enabled a 6 weeks leave (unpaid unless they have time available) for a normal delivery and 8 weeks for a c-section.
If I have a policy in force stating this and I also have a FMLA policy in the employee handbook, am I required to tell the employee they are eligible for 12 weeks?
Comments
Hi Melissa:
Yes. Assuming that the employee qualifies for FMLA leave, under the FMLA, an employer must provide an employee requesting FMLA leave with the details of the employee's rights and obligations for FMLA leave and any consequences to the employee for failing to meet said obligations.FMLA requires that an employee receive his or her FMLA rights in writing. This notice of rights must be in a language in which the employee is literate, and must include a number of items. To be safe, use the DOL's Form WH-381, which can be found at : http://www.dol.gov/esa/forms/whd/WH-381.pdf.
If an employer fails to provide the required notice, the employer may not take action against the employee for failure to comply with any provisions required to be set forth in the notice. The employer is also required to give responsive answers to employee's questions about the employee's rights and obligations under the FMLA.