After spending all the precious hours of your maternity leave with your bundle of joy, it’s time to return to work.
You have so many fears, “How will my boss and co-workers perceive me and my work?” “Will they think that I can’t cut it because I now have a child?” “What if they keep my replacement in my old role and demote me?”
Luckily, due to the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), any sort of demotion is illegal! According to this law, employees of covered organizations can take job-protected, unpaid leave for specified family and medical reasons. This includes 12 work-weeks of leave for the birth or adoption of a son or daughter.
The FMLA rules apply to all companies who employ 50 or more people, public and private schools, and all public agencies. Covered employees are defined as having worked for the employer for the previous 12 months, having a minimum of 1,250 hours worked during those 12 months, and working at a location where the company employs 50 or more employees within a 75 mile radius.
FMLA includes the following benefits and protections:
- Employers must continue health insurance coverage as if their employees were not on leave.
- Employees must return to the same job or one nearly identical to it with equivalent pay, benefits, and other employment terms and conditions.
- An employer may not interfere with an individual’s FMLA rights or retaliate against someone for using or trying to use FMLA leave or oppose any practice made unlawful by the FMLA, or be involved in any proceeding under or related to the FMLA.