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Maternity leave for one and not all?

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opticsgrl

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? SC...home office in TX

My company offers no maternity leave whatsoever. My boss is pregnant and when she found out there is no mat. leave she was devastated. She went crying to the boss of the business that is in contract with us right next door. He going to offer the following solution to home office:
His wife will come in and basically work for free so the pregnant lady can still receive her weekly check. In other words, the wife is gonna make up the missed man-hours of the pregnant lady.And home office will be paying someone who isn't there.
This is a very kind-hearted thing for the guy next door and his wife to do, but very unfair to the rest of the company. We feel if one can be paid while not there, the same should be available to everyone else. The benefits are horrible-no short or long term disability, very little sick leave and not much vacation time-no personal time, either.So, if I were to be in an accident and unable to work, then I feel like they should pay me if they can pay someone else who cant work.
Can this be construed as any sort sort of discrimination in the pregnant lady's favor? Is it in any way illegal or just simply unfair?
Thanks for any advice!

PS: I don't know if HO has agreed to this arrangment or not. I'm just asking in case they do agree.
 


Beth3

Senior Member
Let's clarify a few things before getting into the particulars. The answers to these are important.

1. Does your company offer no medical leave whatsoever to employees? What would happen if an employee was in a car accident and needed to be off work for several weeks?
2. How many employees are there at the site you work at and within a 75 mile radius?
3. How many employees work for this company in total?
 

opticsgrl

Junior Member
Hi Beth3. Here are the answers to your questions:

1.No medical leave. If I were in a car accident, I could be absent but without pay. Or I could use my 1 week vacation and any sick time I had accrued. They'd hold my job but I'd receive no continuation of pay. I believe we can opt for disability coverage but the pregnant lady didn't opt for it.
2.There are 4 fulltimers and 1 parttimer. There are 2 other employees at another store w/in 75 miles of us.
3. I'd guess there are between 185-225 ppl employed with the company. We are all over the US on military bases only.

As I understand it, they don't hafta offer maternity leave because of the number of employees in our state (less than 50).
 

Beth3

Senior Member
They don't have to offer any medical leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act because your site isn't large enough. If all the facilities are small like that, they they don't have to offer medical leave to anyone (unless any one site happens to be in a State with it's own version of the FMLA with a very low threshold.)

The only federal law that applies then is the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, as employers with 15 or more employees in total are subject to that law. In brief, the only requirement is that pregnant employees be treated the same as any other similarly situated employees. If no other employees are provided medical leave, then they don't have to provide it to her.

The issue here isn't maternity leave, it's medical leave. A woman temporarily medically disabled from work due to pregnancy must be treated the same as any other employee who is temporarily medically disabled from work.

P.S. Disability coverage is an income protection benefit. It is not a leave policy.
 

opticsgrl

Junior Member
Gotcha. But my question is..how can they continue her pay when she isnt working? She will NOT be doing any work from home while on maternity/medical leave. Basically, someone else will be making up her missed man-hours and she will still get a check.
I know companies can do whatever they want within reason, but-if they are going to pay this employee while out on medical leave and that is not their policy-is it favoritism that they do it for one person and not all employees? Or is it just the way the world works sometimes?
 

Beth3

Senior Member
The law doesn't require everyone to be treated the same. If that were the case, the CEO, the accounting manager, and the janitor would all receive the same compensation which obviously is not the case.

If they wish to provide your boss with paid maternity leave and not others because she's a member of management, or because she has critical skills, or because she's been there a long time, they may do so. That decision may not seem fair or equitable to you and I'd understand why it doesn't but from a business perspective, it may make sense. But even if it's just because she's the company president's niece, that's still not illegal.

As long as these types of decisions aren't being made based on a prohibited reason (age, race, gender, national origin, religion, etc.), they're legal.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
Favoritism is not illegal. It is only illegal if she is being singled out for special treatment BECAUSE OF her race, religion, national origin etc.
 

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