MA Pregnancy Leave Question - HELP
rmacs
1 Post
My wife started a new job as a teacher in Massachusetts on April 1st of this year. She is pregnant and will be expecting in mid-Oct. Her school year will end in mid-June and resume in mid-August. She loves her job but we are not sure whether she will stay home with the baby for the first couple of years or if she will go back to work after a certain amount of time. We'd like to handle the situation as carefully as possible to ensure that she does have a position to return to if so desired.
A few questions:
1. Does she qualify for MA leave? What are the terms of that leave policy? Paid/unpaid? If she indicates a desire to return after the leave has expired, and does not end up doing so are there ramifications?
2. When does she need to notify her employer of said pregnancy?
3. If given leave, does she have the opportunity to extend it?
Any other tips, advice, experiences would be VERY much appreciated. We just moved here from CA and are a bit overwhelmed by this situation.
Comments
Some of those questions are probably better answered by the union contract but I can discuss MA maternity leave in general terms
1.The maternity leave law in Massachusetts allows employees that have been employed full time for at least 3 consecutive months to take up to 8 weeks of maternity leave. The 8 weeks can be paid or unpaid depending on employer policy. If the employer's policy is that it is unpaid the employee can use paid vacation, PTO, and sick time. There is also the Family and Medical Leave Act which allows 12 weeks of unpaid leave for the birth of a child. There are eligibility requirements (minimum hours worked).
2. The law requires employees to give at least 2 weeks of notice "of her anticipated date of
departure and intention to return."
3. Inquire about possible FMLA and short term disability plan.