State Maternity Leave Laws

[stinybean]

For me, I was told FMLA leave is 12 weeks, but any time a year from the date you start FMLA is taken from those 12 weeks. So if I took 6 weeks for maternity leave, that is 6 weeks less I could take for FMLA. I'm from NY, so it might be different.

[PurpleIris]

Looks like in Massachusetts your state maternity leave (8 weeks) runs concurrently with FMLA. From Mass.gov:

"For example, a female employee who takes a leave for the purpose of caring for a newborn or adopted child may be covered both by the FMLA and MMLA. In such an instance, provided that all FMLA requirements are met, the employee's leave may count simultaneously against her 12-week entitlement under FMLA and her 8-week entitlement under the MMLA".

A law recently passed re: paternity leave that also gives men 8 weeks of (unpaid) leave, though again FLMA seems to supersede that with 12 weeks.

FU America and your shitty parental leave.

[sapphyre0702]

FWIW Connecticut gives you 16 weeks (doesn't run on top of pregnancy disability, but at least trumps federal FMLA)

[trixi282]

Besides FMLA and state laws, make sure (sounds like you may have) you check what your company policy is and if the laws pertain to your company. For example, FMLA is a federal law but only really applies to larger companies. Smaller business do not have to follow that if they have under a certain number of employees and may only allow an employee a few weeks. Not sure how the state laws relate in that aspect, but definitely ask or look into that as well.

[Deleted]

In California FMLA and pregnancy disability leave run concurrently so the max you can take after you have the baby is 3 months. But I could be wrong... Your HR person should be able to explain this to you. I swear they make it complicated on purpose just like taxes ! I remember being really confused about the whole FMLA thing and when it starts. There is also the time you take off before baby arrives and that is seperate as well. I'm taking off 2-3 weeks before my due date. So I'm going to meet with my HR person about it on Monday

[lc1158]

Also check with your Union (if you have one). Like poppyc8 I am also in CA but my union has negotiated with my employer that I can take up to 6 months total baby bonding leave.

[musicfrk2002]

From what I've found, all I get in Illinois is my 12 weeks of FMLA leave. However, I can use short term disability at the same time, so I can be off work for 89 calendar days with my job protected, which would be just over the 12 weeks. Our fiscal year starts June 1st, so I am hoping to work until at least then so I can use my sick time during the 5 day waiting period before STD goes into effect

[holliberry28]

I'm in NY, working for New York State, and because I'm not at the just 12 months (it'll be 10 by the time I go on leave) they said I'm not eligible for FMLA. They also said you have to sign up for short term disability leave? Or is maternity leave something separate? Noone at HR can give me any straightforward answers so I'm just prepared to take off 12 weeks unpaid...

[trixi282]

Apr 27, 2015 10:41:17 GMT -5 holliberry28 said:

I'm in NY, working for New York State, and because I'm not at the just 12 months (it'll be 10 by the time I go on leave) they said I'm not eligible for FMLA. They also said you have to sign up for short term disability leave? Or is maternity leave something separate? Noone at HR can give me any straightforward answers so I'm just prepared to take off 12 weeks unpaid...

For a lot of companies (and some gov't entities) maternity leave is partially paid through disability pay/leave.  Maternity leave isn't really a separate or unique thing, there's typically just the 'restrictions' or guidelines that make it maternity leave vs. any other disability.

As for FMLA, the only thing that FMLA does is the 'guarantee' that you will have a job when you return after being out for 12 weeks on medical leave (for you or a family member).  So if your manager/boss/company is willing to 'honor' FMLA or allow you to take off 12 weeks unpaid (or just paid with the partial disability benefits) then great.  But they're basically saying that since you don't qualify for FMLA, they're not guaranteed to keep your job (or any job technically) for you to return to.

[belle0720]

Apr 25, 2015 19:50:00 GMT -5 @poppyc8 said:

In California FMLA and pregnancy disability leave run concurrently so the max you can take after you have the baby is 3 months. But I could be wrong... Your HR person should be able to explain this to you. I swear they make it complicated on purpose just like taxes ! I remember being really confused about the whole FMLA thing and when it starts. There is also the time you take off before baby arrives and that is seperate as well. I'm taking off 2-3 weeks before my due date. So I'm going to meet with my HR person about it on Monday

I'm in California and can take 6 months total, 3 of which being job protection under FMLA. When you say pregnancy disability leave are you referring to the California Paid Family Leave? The way mine will work is 6 weeks Company Fully-Paid Leave, then 6 weeks California Paid Leave concurrent with Company Partially-Paid Leave (so I'm still fully paid) and then I can take up to 3 more months unpaid protected by California FMLA. At some point in there I am required to take 1 week paid or unpaid vacation time, I'm not sure if it's after the 6 weeks Company Fully-Paid Leave or after CPL runs out though. I have a timeline somewhere that details it all but I don't know what I did with it...

[Deleted]

Apr 27, 2015 11:21:19 GMT -5 belle0720 said:

Apr 25, 2015 19:50:00 GMT -5 @poppyc8 said:

In California FMLA and pregnancy disability leave run concurrently so the max you can take after you have the baby is 3 months. But I could be wrong... Your HR person should be able to explain this to you. I swear they make it complicated on purpose just like taxes ! I remember being really confused about the whole FMLA thing and when it starts. There is also the time you take off before baby arrives and that is seperate as well. I'm taking off 2-3 weeks before my due date. So I'm going to meet with my HR person about it on Monday

I'm in California and can take 6 months total, 3 of which being job protection under FMLA. When you say pregnancy disability leave are you referring to the California Paid Family Leave? The way mine will work is 6 weeks Company Fully-Paid Leave, then 6 weeks California Paid Leave concurrent with Company Partially-Paid Leave (so I'm still fully paid) and then I can take up to 3 more months unpaid protected by California FMLA. At some point in there I am required to take 1 week paid or unpaid vacation time, I'm not sure if it's after the 6 weeks Company Fully-Paid Leave or after CPL runs out though. I have a timeline somewhere that details it all but I don't know what I did with it...

I'm meeting with my HR person this week so I'll be able to have more details. I do know based in DS that my work pays zero. That includes no paycheck or health insurance matching funds of 401k matching while I'm out the entire time. Any pay I did receive while out previously I received through the government and it was a tiny fraction of my paycheck. Not enough to pay our mortgage. That's why I've been saving money the past 9 months to be able to afford my leave.

My sister in law works for UCLA as a doctor and she's get 100% paid while out. It just depends on the company you work for

[belle0720]

@poppyc8 Boo to your employer! Under California Paid Family Leave though you should receive up to 55% of your pay for up to 6 weeks--obviously there's a maximum but at least it's something!

[dmoney]

In MD its only FMLA there is no additional maternity leave unless the company offers something... SO my company offers 1 week 100% paid maternity leave ill get 6 weeks of Short Term Disability (i dont qualify for FMLA because I havent been with my company for a year) and then ill be taking an additional 2 weeks of PTO that i have saved up.