Maternity Leave Haller & Colvin, P.C. Attorneys Fort Wayne Indiana

Maternity Leave

Posted by: Holly Brady
January 20, 2011
Topic: Employment Law

Do I have to provide female employees with maternity leave after having a baby?

The short answer is, "No, the law does not require an employer to give ALL female employees maternity leave." However, as with most legal issues, the answer is not that simple and does not end there.

If you are subject to the FMLA and the employee otherwise qualifies based upon her months of service and number of hours worked over a 12 month period, you would be required to provide the employee with FMLA leave. If you are not subject to the FMLA or the employee does not qualify, you need to consult your employee handbook to determine how the Company treats other employees in a similar situation. It may be that while the FMLA does not apply and there is no particular provision in the Company handbook, the American with Disabilities Act may qualify the employee to a leave of absence as a reasonable accommodation. Finally, it is important to consider how you have treated male employees in the same situation to be certain that you are not exposing the Company to a claim of sex discrimination.

While the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects employees from discrimination based upon their pregnancy, neither the PDA or the ADA "guarantee" an employee a leave of absence following the birth of the child. Of course, it is impossible to cover all factual and legal scenarios presented by this issue.

Please contact our office to discuss and analyze the particular facts or your case to determine if leave is required by any of the applicable laws.

The contents of this blog post are intended for general information purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice.

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