Finally I thought I would tackle a very popular legal issue that affects working mothers AND fathers: parental leave. Notice I've called it parental leave not maternity leave because dads have rights too, as might partners under a civil union or domestic partnership.
As many of you know all too well, in general, here in the US you do not have a right to parental leave. It is much more complicated than that. First of all there is paid time off work and unpaid time off work. The first thing you have to know is that in general you do not have a right to get paid time off work for parental leave here in the US. There are a lot of factors that come into play to determine what kind of parental leave you are entitled to. Such as:
-whether you work full time or part time
-whether you work for a governmental agency of some kind
-the size of your employer
-what kind of leave you are looking for: paid or unpaid?
Then you have to figure out WHO is going to compensate you for your leave:
-your own private employer
-the Federal government
-or a State agency
1. Any generalizations about maternity leave are probably wrong.
First of all you cannot generalize maternity leave in this country by saying: Women here get X amount of maternity leave. Again, there is no inherent RIGHT to receive maternity leave. It is nice if your employer provides it or if you work for a company covered by FMLA so the federal government provides you with some kind of protection.2. I can take all the time off in the world and my boss can't fire me.
Not necessarily true. In general you can take plenty of UNpaid time off and not be fired or rather discriminated against for being pregnant or having a child, but eventually you can be terminated from your employment. You are basically treated as if you have an illness or disability but your job will not be held open forever.Here is some information about pregnancy discrimination as provided for by the Title VII of Civil Rights Act of 1964, taken from the Equal Opportunity and Employment Commission's website (EEOC). The very first thing to notice is that Title VII covers employes with 15 or more employees, NOT smaller companies.
Facts About Pregnancy Discrimination
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act amended Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions constitutes unlawful sex discrimination under Title VII, which covers employers with 15 or more employees, including state and local governments. Title VII also applies to employment agencies and to labor organizations, as well as to the federal government. Women who are pregnant or affected by pregnancy-related conditions must be treated in the same manner as other applicants or employees with similar abilities or limitations.
Title VII's pregnancy-related protections include:
It is also unlawful to retaliate against an individual for opposing employment practices that discriminate based on pregnancy or for filing a discrimination charge, testifying, or participating in any way in an investigation, proceeding, or litigation under Title VII.
- Hiring
- Pregnancy and Maternity Leave
- Health Insurance
- Fringe Benefits
3. In Canada they get a year off of paid maternity leave. It is much better than the US.
Well I'm no expert on Canada, and while I agree they DO have a better system going on over there, their maternity leave laws are also complicated and women there DO NOT get one year of paid maternity leave. They get a certain number of weeks paid and then can take UNpaid time off for up to I believe 2 years. But again I know nothing about Canada law, I just know that you can't take off a year and expect to be paid the whole time there either. Read more about Canada's maternity leave laws IF you wan to read for half an hour...http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/lp/spila/wlb/wfp/11maternity_leave.shtml
First of all the Family and Medical Leave Act is a Federal law that basically provides employees that fall under a certain category, the right to take up to 12 weeks of job-protected UNpaid leave during any 12 month period. It does NOT entitle any employee to paid time off. Now I don't know about any of you, but UNpaid time off isn't all that great. How will you pay bills with NO paycheck for 12 weeks? Most people cannot afford to do this.
And by the way the FMLA is not specifically meant as paternal leave. It just happens to be that birth and taking care of a child fits under the act. It is also meant for anyone who needs to care for an immediate family member or for the care of your own health condition.
Now you have to see if you actually qualify for protection under the FMLA. Here are the basics:
- Private Sector employees:
- If you work in the private sector your employer must employ 50 or more employees
- in other words private small businesses are NOT regulated by FMLA
- Public Sector employees:
- The good news? FMLA covers ALL public agencies (state and local governments) and local education agencies (like schools- public OR private).
- Eligibility:
- To be eligible you must have worked for the employer for a total 12 months and have worked at least 1,250 hours.
- just started your job? too bad. no FMLA protection for you.
- Vacation time/sick leave?
- If you have vacation or sick leave you can use it and it is substituted for unpaid FMLA time so usually you don't get 12 weeks PLUS your sick leave/vacation pay!
- In fact your employer can require that you take all of your accrued sick days/vacation pay and it counts against the 12 weeks you receive.
- So when you go back to work after your marvelous 12 weeks of UNpaid leave you will have NO sick days or vacation days left!
Still not sure if you're covered? read here!
More stuff here: http://www.dol.gov/compliance/laws/comp-fmla.htm
And the WHOLE act for fun, is here: http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/statutes/fmla.htm
5. I can just apply for Short Term Disability and get paid during maternity leave.
Sort of. First you have to know about the different kinds of STD. There are short term disability benefits provided by the state you live in IF they provide STD benefits.
A. Short Term Disability offered by state:
-California
-New York
-New Jersey
-Rhode Island
-Hawaii
B. Private Short Term Disability Insurance:
Then you have to find out if your employer provides STD benefits of some kind, also known as private STD insurance. Sometimes your employer may have better benefits than your state or FMLA. Don't forget you will probably have to exhaust all of your vacation leave and sick leave before you get to use this benefit.
Either way STD will usually only pay you 50-75% of your pay for a certain amount of time. This is still better than unpaid leave under FMLA.
C. Other disability laws by state:
Finally, the state you live in might have their own disability laws granting you some kind of benefits. Here is a wonderful report that goes through each state's stance on parental leave. I urge everyone to read through it and do additional research if needed.
Other misc. issues:
Did you know that:-If you and your partner work for the same company you're only entitled to a combined 12 weeks of parental leave between the two of you?!
-apart from Federal and State laws some cities may actually have a law that protects certain employees. Here in Chicago, our mayor recently announced the city's first maternity leave policy granting PAID maternity leave for certain city workers! It's a great step in the right direction!
http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/mayor/press_room/press_releases/2011/september_2011/mayor_emanuel_announcescitysfirstmaternityleavepolicy.html
So are you still confused about the parental leave you are entitled to and perhaps a little angry?
- Talk to your HR department hopefully there is an experienced person at your job that can explain to you the policy in place at your employer. Consider your accrued vacation and sick leave and see if you can use this in combination with any leave under FMLA or STD.
- Research the FMLA and your state laws by reading through the articles above.
and finally do you REALLY want to be depressed?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parental_leave
To summarize:
-Central European countries are the most dedicated countries in the world regarding parental leave, the US? not so much.
Here is some final food for thought:
LIBERIA, a tiny poor country in western Africa.
PAPAU NEW GUINEA, a tiny country in the Pacific ocean.
SWAZILAND, a REALLY tiny country in southern Africa.
and yes,
the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Looking for the some of the best maternity leave?
Sweden: 16 months paid leave
Switzerland: 16 weeks at 100% paid
Austria: 16 weeks at 100% paid
Bulgaria: 1 YEAR at 100% paid
Denmark: 52 weeks at 100% paid
France: 16 weeks at 100% paid
Norway: 56 weeks paid leave
Estonia: 18 months paid leave
hec, even my mom's little country of Colombia in South America offers 12 weeks of paid maternity leave.
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