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Materntiy Leave

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cjohn3

Junior Member
What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Texas
My question applies to Maternity leave. I was schedule to return to work in January. On the day I was to return my boss told me that the person that had filled my postion for me while I was out would be keeping that postion and my options were to move to Houston ( I live in Dallas) or work at some other locations in a lesser position making less money. I was sent home and told to wait while they worked out the details. I received a call a week and 1/2 later informing me that I could return to that same location as I was working before in a lesser postion making less money. I asked had I done something wrong and the response was "no". What do I do. I made an anonymous call to my HR department and was told that the company guarantees employees their postion when returning from maternity leave. I have contacted the EEOC and they say I have to show evidence of Discrimination. I am at a lost. I don't know what to do at this point. Can someone give me some advice, please?
 


Beth3

Senior Member
Evidence of discrimination means you have to show you were treated differently than a similarly situated employee who was on medical leave for a similar length of time who was not pregnant. The law doesn't entitle you to special treatment because you're pregnant - just the same treatment any other employee would receive.

Please post back and answer the following. First we need to determine whether the FMLA applies.

1. How long have you worked for this company?
2. Do they have more than 50 employees working at the location you were at and/or within a 75-mile radius?
3. Did you work at least 1,250 hours in the 12 months prior to taking this leave?
4. What were the dates of your leave?
5. Had you taken any other leave time in the 12 months prior to this leave?

I made an anonymous call to my HR department and was told that the company guarantees employees their postion when returning from maternity leave. That may be true within certain limits. If, for example, you wanted to take a six month maternity leave, I doubt the company would hold your job open for that length of time.
 

cjohn3

Junior Member
Maternity leave- response to response

Thank you for responding. To answer the questions you asked. I have been with this company since Nov 2002. This is a property management corporation so there are well over 75 employees that work for the company. Yes, I worked well over 1250 hours in a 12 month period. I was put on bed rest under a doctors supervision November 8th 2004 and gave birth on December 1 2004. My company allows 12 weeks of maternity leave. So I was within the 12 week time frame at the time I was scheduled to return to work. My company offers vacation,sick and personal time (which you are required to take). At the time I went on leave I had 5 days of vacation left that went towards my maternity leave. When I made the call to HR, their response to my question was based on returning after 12 weeks not longer than that. So, I was supposed to be returned to the same status with the same pay.
 

Beth3

Senior Member
So call HR back and tell them that you were released to return to work within the 12 weeks required by the FMLA in order to be returned to your former job and that it appears there's been a violation of the FMLA. I can't tell whether some miscommunication occurred or something else happened but your best option to be reinstated to your job in the short-term is to try to work this through directly with your employer and see if they can make this right.

Give them a week to straighten things out and tell them (nicely) that they have a week to do so and if they can't, then you'll have no other option but to contact the federal Department of Labor and file a complaint for an FMLA violation.
 
If the 50 employees are all within a 75 mile radius, it sounds like FMLA would apply. That being the case, your employer is legally obligated to return you to the same or a substantially equivalent position (same pay, same responsibilities, same benefits, etc.). What your employer is asking you to do violates the FMLA.

You can find informaiton on the FMLA by visiting the DOL website (www.dol.gov). Your employer is also required to have the information posted for all employees, so you can also check wherever it is your employer keeps their labor law posters.

If I were you, I'd start by calling the HR Department back, identifying yourself this time, and professionally and calmly explaining the situation. They seem to know what is required and would be able to help you, I'm sure. Although HR people don't usually "run the show," in cases of employment law like these, they are usually the ones who hold the cards. Supervisors are often ignorant of the law, so you'll have to enlist the aid of the HR people to straighten them out!

If you get no satisfaction, you can file a claim with the DOL.
 

cjohn3

Junior Member
Maternity leave

I will call the HR department, again. Just one other question, if I may? What do you do, in my case, if there is still no resolution? I mean, if they will not budge on their decision. The property is owned by investors which I am assuming are threatening to pull out or are causing a fuss, so my company is trying to cover their butts, which leaves "low men on the totem pole" out in the cold. My dilema is if they knew all of this was taking place (which they did) why wait until the day I was to return to tell me so. My immediate supervisor was told to consider her employment with the company only on a weekly basis and that she could be fired at any given moment. I feel as though they are in some sort of violation, just from how they are handling things. If they had told me ahead of time, I would not have any basis of complaining. I have a family to raise, so it is frustrating. They even sent me home to wait until they worked out the details, which took 10 days or more. I did not get paid for maternitiy leave and am not getting paid now. Even if I choose to return and accept the demotion, I have to wait until Feb 11th to fill a postion for someone whom they are terminating. The situation is ''shady'' (for a lack of better words) and this is why I am so uneasy and frustrated and concerned. My immediate supervisor told me that our District manager and the corporate office are trying to cover themselves, so this is why all of this is taking place and why it is to the extreme extent that it is now. So, after reading your response are you trying to tell me that it is OK what is being done to me now or that I have not basis for pursing this as some sort of violation? I was fine with working for the company until all of this took place. Now I do not trust them and do not want to work for them. And since they are taking way the pay that I have , I can not support my family with what they plan to offer me. The sad part that I am trying to explain and want people to see is that, if I accept the postion, it will show that I was demoted if I apply for a job somewhere else at a later time. That looks bad and it would have been as no fault of my own. If I plan to accept, I will always wonder what next, if they get in a bind. There are too may laws out there that protect and govern stupid things for me not to have a case here. I know the company doesn't have to care one way or the other what happens to me or my boss, but they are a corporation and laws have to apply to the way they treat there employees, in some sort of way.
 

Beth3

Senior Member
So, after reading your response are you trying to tell me that it is OK what is being done to me now or that I have not basis for pursing this as some sort of violation? How did you come up with that? Suzie and I both clearly stated that it appears that a violation of the FMLA has occurred and that if the company refuses to reinstate you to your former position and pay, that you should file a complaint with the federal DOL.

There are too may laws out there that protect and govern stupid things for me not to have a case here. Which is why we both cited the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA.)

I'm at a loss to understand how it is you could possibly interpreted either of our responses as saying you were SOL.
 

cjohn3

Junior Member
Maternity leave

I apologize, please forgive me. I clearly misunderstood your reply. I appreciate your responses and have acted on your advice. Thank you...
 

cjohn3

Junior Member
Additional questions regarding Maternity Leave

I have taken the actions suggested by Beth and one of the other members. I contacted my HR department and informed them that I had spoken with the EEOC and the DOL. What's strange to me is that before I mentioned that I had contacted these entities, I was told that I would not receive my regular pay but get lesser pay and still be demoted. Once I mentioned the EEOC and the DOL, I received a call that same day from my boss and was told I could have my regular pay back. I seems as though the know they are in the wrong, but they are still failing to completely rectify the situation back to its original status. Why is that? I spoke with my boss today and asked what would be told to a prospective employer when inquiry about my employment and why I was demoted? Her response was " I will just tell them that you took and extended maternity leave and the company felt the position needed to be filled". I then responded "I only took 9 weeks, when I was alloted 12 weeks. But she responded " Well, that's what I'll say!". I guess what I want to know is am I eligible to sue and get some sort of monetary settlement? I was finally told that I could return to work on Tuesday, but I dont want to go back now. Please help me and give me some advise. I plan to fight this all the way.
 

rmet4nzkx

Senior Member
You should receive your full pay from the time you were released and ready to return to work, not from the time they made a job available to you and you should have at least 3 weeks of FMLA time still available to you should you need it since you only used 9/12 weeks. Have you filled out FMLA papers yet, if not you may have to do this, HR should be able to help with that, you might also ask about your pay from the time of your release to return to work at 9 weeks even though they told you to stay home, that is because they were in violation. If they don't do this, file complaints with the eeoc ASAP that will also protect you from retailation. Insofar as your job description just list duties and no mention of demotion, if asked be painfully honest about what happened. I'm sure HR will explain that to them. Good luck
 

cjohn3

Junior Member
rmet4nzkx said:
You should receive your full pay from the time you were released and ready to return to work, not from the time they made a job available to you. What do you mean by this statement?

I have filled out complaint papers for EEOC, DOL and the Texas Commission for Human Rights. Surely, someone will contact my employer. What I was asking was has anyone seen large monetary settlements in cases related to mine? I know its bad and I felt bad about complaining to anyone before, because I did not want to cause any problems for anybody. I guess after speaking to several people and seeing that this employer could care less about me otherwise this would not be taking place, I am upset now and wish to make them pay and see they can't just treat people like this and get away with it.
 

rmet4nzkx

Senior Member
cjohn3 said:
rmet4nzkx said:
You should receive your full pay from the time you were released and ready to return to work, not from the time they made a job available to you. What do you mean by this statement?

I have filled out complaint papers for EEOC, DOL and the Texas Commission for Human Rights. Surely, someone will contact my employer. What I was asking was has anyone seen large monetary settlements in cases related to mine? I know its bad and I felt bad about complaining to anyone before, because I did not want to cause any problems for anybody. I guess after speaking to several people and seeing that this employer could care less about me otherwise this would not be taking place, I am upset now and wish to make them pay and see they can't just treat people like this and get away with it.
When your maternity leave was over, you should have been able to return to your old job or another one at the same rate of pay, if they had followed the law, you would have been working and receiving pay, they owe you the pay as if you had worked from that date on since they wrongly told you to stay home, that time should not be charged against FMLA either. If you want to sue you will have to get a right to sue letter from the EEOC, consult with an employment or civil rights attorney re your case. The person they are terminating may also have a cause of action.
 

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