Your rights for pregnancy leave are primarily determined by the governing family leave act which mandates that employers provide maternity time off for new mothers. Although the law typically mandates a minimum of twelve weeks of time off, your actual amount of pregnancy leave will depend on the size of the company that you work for and their HR policies.
Most likely, you’ll use a combination of short-term disability, personal days, and any accrued vacation or holiday pay as part of your unpaid family leave during your time away from work.
The family leave act specifically applies to corporations that have at least 50 workers. If the organization that you work for is smaller, then there are limitations on what is covered for maternity leave. Indeed, for individuals who are working in small businesses, short term disability may be an alternative if the employer is too small to accommodate the pregnancy leave
While pregnant, it is important to know that you employer can only change your position and job responsibilities if your pregnancy makes you unable to perform your required duties.
During the actual pregnancy leave, your employer is required to pay you the equivalent amount of what you would receive on short term disability. Upon completion of the twelve weeks, your employer is required to restore you to the same pay and the same or equivalent position as your old job.
Which benefits are available to you will depend very much on which state you live in. In 2002, California led the way in enacting paid family leave, and other states such as Massachusetts and New Jersey are considering following suit. And not all states allow women to take short-term disability leave to cover pregnancy, birth, and postpartum recovery.
Your employer may have policies that dictate the order in which you can take different kinds of leave. In any case, you’ll want to start looking into your options as early as you can during your pregnancy and make sure you have all your paperwork sorted out before the baby arrives.
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