Understanding Maternity and Leave and Job Protection

A recent query on maternity leave came up recently on The Wall Street Journal Online. A woman returned from maternity leave and was laid off two days later. She was told that the company she worked for wasn't doing well. Her question was whether she had a case against the employer.

As noted in the WSJ, there are federal laws that, if breached, offer grounds for legal recourse.

If the employee's maternity leave was covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act, she may be able to prove that her dismissal was in retaliation for using the 12 weeks of unpaid leave provided by the act. Before the Family and Medical Leave Act came along, it was standard for many employers to limit maternity leave to the number of vacation hours that an employee had accrued. Believe it or not, some employers wouldn't even allow women to use accrued sick leave. Unfortunately, there are vestiges of that kind of mindset still alive in the workplace, and some women – and men who may need to utilize the act to care for a family member – may experience hostility from supervisors still burning over the legal protection the act provides. For the record, here's a rundown of what types of employers must provide their workers the benefits of the act: Public agencies (including state, local, and federal employers), public and private elementary and secondary schools, and private employers with 50 or more employees in 20 or more work weeks. The act provides protection for those who need time off from work to care for a family member or even themselves.

Sex, as in gender, or pregnancy discrimination also could apply. To prove pregnancy discrimination, a female employee must be able to show that she was singled out and treated differently from others as a result of having been pregnant. To prove sex discrimination, you must show proof that a comparable male employee who returned from any type of leave wasn't terminated.

If you have been fired after returning from maternity leave, and are wondering whether to pursue legal recourse, you need to review how other employees have been treated. In the case of our original employee, she needs to find out whether she was the only one let go and if the layoffs had been planned for a while. Can this employee prove that there were no work-performance issues? Did the company's finances warrant a cutback? Did other employees with more seniority and better performance records than hers lose their jobs too? Before you take legal recourse, there are a lot of matters to pursue. More on the legal protection and family leave can be found at out www.nela.org.

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