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Can I be fired during maternity leave?

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L

lel20

Guest
What is the name of your state? Michigan
4 1/2 weeks into my maternity leave my boss called to inform me that she was going to look for someone with more experience and that she would not need me to return to my job. I have been there for almost 2 1/2 years and during that time have not received any bad reviews (for that matter, no reviews). She has posted a help wanted ad for my position but now is asking for an associates degree, which I dont have but am in the process of getting. During my leave, I did ask for a raise and she said that she would think about it. I had not received a raise at all during my employment. Is this a legal firing? If so, how can someone be fired while on maternity leave? If not, what should I do about this? Of course, I would not want to work where I am not wanted but this has really hurt my finances for myself and my family. She said she is sending me one weeks pay for severence but I havent received it. She is also sending my a letter of recomemdation. I asked her if I was fired due to my performance and she said no.
 


I'm not an attorney, but I'd look into the FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) there's a bunch of requirements needed to qualify for it, such as the number of employees at the jobsite and things like that. here's a link for more details, perhaps if you can't find the answers there, you may be able to develop some more specific questions.

I believe you have to be an employee employed for at least 12 months, and have worked at least 1,250 hours, and the max ammount of leave that can be granted is 12 weeks in a 12 month period. Having a baby should qualify (these are things I just got from the website I list below)

http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/fmla/

as for the salary thing, I have no idea about that.

I hope this helps some...
--Dave.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
Yes, you CAN legally be fired during a maternity leave. Somehow or other a great many people have gotten it into their heads that if you are on maternity (or any other kind of medical leave) you CANNOT be fired, no matter what, and that is simply not true.

As to whether yours is a legal firing or not, it's difficult to say. David is correct that FMLA MAY apply - but even FMLA does not grant automatic, cannot-be-fired-for-any-reason protection. You say that you have been there for two and a half years so that's one criteria met; does your employer have at least 50 employees within 75 miles of your location? Did you work at least 1,250 hours in the 12 months leading up to the beginning of your leave? If so, then FMLA applies and you are entitled to up to 12 weeks of leave with your job protected - as long as there is no legitimate, business-related reason why you would have been let go that is unrelated to your leave. (The 12 weeks of leave would INCLUDE any time you may have missed for doctor's appointments, morning sickness or any other time missed that is related to your pregnancy, as well as the time off for the baby's birth.)

If there is a a legitimate need for your position to have an associates degree and you do not, then it's legal to fire you now, regardless of whether you are on maternity leave and regardless of whether that leave qualifies for FMLA. I would have to wonder, however, why the job SUDDENLY needs an associates degree and why the need is so urgent that it can't wait till you return. I can't say with any certainty that they're lying, however.

Michigan does not have any state-mandated leave time, so if FMLA does not apply there is no guaranteed job protection for any kind of leave. In that case, it is legal to fire you anyway UNLESS you have a VALID reason to believe that if you had been on leave for any other kind of medical reason (say a broken leg) you would NOT have been fired. That is because if FMLA doesn't apply, the only other applicable law is the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. The PDA does NOT say that you can't be fired - it says you can't be fired for any reason that someone on a non-maternity related leave would have been fired for. If they would have fired someone with a broken leg or pneumonia, they can fire you. If they wouldn't have fired the hypothetical employees with other medical conditions, they can't fire you. Problem is that this is very difficult to prove.

Bottom line: IF FMLA applies AND IF you believe that you are being fired solely because you took maternity leave, you can contact the US DOL and file a complaint. If FMLA does not apply, you probably have no case for anything.

They are not obligated under the law to provide you with any kind of severance.
 

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