FMLA for Pregnancy & Maternity Leave

girls baby crib The Federal Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) provides important unpaid job protection for working women experiencing pregnancy complications, premature birth of an infant, or who want to bond with their baby.

Women can apply for disability benefits to replace income during a pregnancy and/or while recovering from childbirth if they had a policy in place prior to getting pregnant. Five states have mandatory coverage. What you will find on this page:

FMLA eligibility criteria
Paid leave 0ptions
Handling pregnancy complications, premature birth, special needs

State Disability Insurance

The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides for unpaid leave. Government sponsored paid family leave is provided exclusively at the state level. But only five states have coverage that applies to most maternity leave situations, as many women return to work well before any long term benefits might apply.

State Family Leave Regulations

Ten states have separate family leave regulations that may provide additional weeks of job protection, may apply to workers with smaller employers, or may combine with the Federal rule and work sequentially. Others will apply concurrently based upon circumstances.

FMLA for Maternity Leave

FMLA provides important maternity leave benefits. Covered employers must grant an eligible employee up to a total of 12 workweeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period for one or more of the following reasons:

Taking care of your newly born infant
Placing an adoptive or foster child in your home
Providing care to a close family member (such as your parent, child, or spouse) with a significant medical problem

To qualify for FMLA, an employee must have worked for the same employer for at least 12 months (not necessarily continuously) and clocked at least 1,250 hours of service (slightly more than 24 hours per week) during the 12 months leading up to FMLA leave. Any organization with 50 or more employees working within a 75-mile radius of the work site must comply with the FMLA.

For a precise answer about whether you qualify for Family Medical Leave Act job protection, you can complete an FMLA eligibility questionnaire. You will get a helpful email response within minutes. Complete your paperwork if you believe you are eligible.

FMLA for Pregnancy Disability

FMLA also allows you to take up to 12 weeks of job protected leave during any 12 month period to address your own serious medical condition. If you need to stop working early due to pregnancy complications, this time will count towards your total of 12 weeks.

Any FMLA time used prior to delivery eats into the time available to care and bond with your baby. Several state maternity leave laws may extend the total amount of job protected time away from work. This may happen in one of two ways:

Extended job protected time running concurrently – a handful of states provide more than twelve weeks of leave.
Sequentially running job protections – several states have laws limiting the leave to caring for a sick family member. A women experiencing complications of pregnancy can take FMLA for her own serious health condition, and then take state leave to care for and bond with her newborn.

Paid FMLA

FMLA provides important job protection in case you encounter pregnancy complications, or your infant is born premature and requires extended care at home. But it's all unpaid time away from the job.

You can create your own FMLA pay by purchasing supplemental maternity insurance before getting pregnant. It will provide paid FMLA if you miss work prior to your delivery, and additional payments if your child is born premature, or if postpartum disorders delay your return to work.

Five states have mandated paid leave policies in the form of short term disability, which provides income replacement in case of your own disability.

Paid Family Leave Via Unemployment Insurance

Only two states have official paid family leave programs. But thanks to a new law passed in 2009 twenty two different states now allow unemployment compensation benefits to be paid for a "compelling family reason". While not paid family leave in name, the new definitions and incentives translate into an equivalent level of assist.

Health Insurance During FMLA

An often overlooked factor for many new parents is what happens to your health insurance while on maternity leave. The FMLA protections are often just the tip of the iceberg. There are income considerations, baby bonding leave, and adding your newborn to your health plan.

FMLA for Extended Infant Care

12% of babies are born premature. Parents often face a dilemma when this occurs: how much time can I take off and still have my job upon return? Just keep in mind the 12 week rule. Include any time you needed to take prior to delivery for any complications.

Add all of this time off, and ask if you can afford all this missed income.

Keep in mind that various state have laws to pertain to the care of a family member. FMLA provides protections for your own disability. These two laws can be combined and work sequently if needed to extend your job protected absence.

Intermittent Leave and Prenatal Care

Under the definition of a serious medical condition the Family Medical Leave Act regulations stipulate that a serious medical condition is one that requires continuous treatment by a healthcare provider. One definition of "continuous treatment" includes any period of incapacity due to pregnancy, or for prenatal care.

Prenatal care is a common requirement for perfectly healthy pregnancies. Women routinely visit their Ob Gyn to monitor the health of their baby. Often these appointments are hard to get and require a woman to take time from work to keep these appointments.

The FMLA allows for intermittent leave for this type of situation. But be careful about using prenatal care with FMLA. You must request permission from your employer to use intermittent or reduced schedule FMLA under this scenario. Your employer has the right to deny your request when requesting intermittent leave for a pregnancy related condition. Also, as your pregnancy progresses you may need to use the time if complications prevent you from working. You only get twelve weeks.

Source: EEOC.Gov