Forums
No maternity leave = unemployment?
Legal Forum
No maternity leave = unemployment?
Discuss employment-law issues such as family leave, overtime, disabilities law, harassment, immigration and termination.
If we don't offer maternity leave can employees collect unemployment?
We are a small company- we do not come under FMLA (we have about 30 employees within a 75 mile radius.
One of our employees is p
3
Cat:Topic ForumsForum:ForumId54
Cat:Topic ForumsForum:ForumId54Discussion:DiscussionId36897
Forums » Topic Forums » Legal Forum » No maternity leave = unemployment?
|
No maternity leave = unemployment?
posted at 2/8/2011 5:13 AM EST
|
Posts: 18
First: 2/3/2011 Last: 2/9/2011 |
Thank you. I think having something put in writing is the best place to start. I guess I'm just concerned because it takes so long to put anything in motion. I am pretty confident that this girl is going to go to the lawyers about his remarks, (she left the office crying yesterday because of what he said about the water purifier 'joke') and the fact that we don't have a mat leave in place is just going to make the situation worse.
I think she has a pretty good case and when she comes to me, if she comes to me- with whether she should go to a lawyer, I feel like I don't have a leg to stand on. Because his 'jokes' are offensive- but because he's the CEO no one will say anything. He's been sued before for stuff like this and he just doesn't learn. |
|
|
No maternity leave = unemployment?
posted at 2/8/2011 5:43 AM EST
|
|
Posts: 7
First: 10/3/2006 Last: 8/2/2011 |
Maybe I've missed it, but did you say that the owner will only allow her to be off for 2 weeks or for 2 weeks *with pay* ? We are a very small company in texas with just 6 employees - and both times that pregnancy has come up, it has been on hourly (non-exempt) employees who do not have any time off benefits. By law, we guaranteed them both a job when they returned, but they did not receive any pay for their time off. One was out for 8 weeks and returned to her job. The other chose not to return to work. The one who did not return actually won unemployment from us because we had actually cut her hours (which was why she didn't return to work). Our workload was way down. But since we did not keep her job open -- at her same amount of hours -- she was able to file/win unemployment benefits. The other lady did not have her hours cut as it was a different year and business was fine. We had brought in a temp and doubled up on workloads for the weeks she was out. If the owner of your company is doing this because they really want to get rid of this employee, they should allow her her time off, allow her to come back to an equivalent job, and then find some *other* reason to let her go at a later time. Just my thoughts. |
|
|
No maternity leave = unemployment?
posted at 2/8/2011 5:44 AM EST
|
|
Posts: 2442
First: 2/12/2000 Last: 9/14/2011 |
I would not post my opinion as you never know who reads these posts.
Remember that you are the company spokesperson since they pay your wages so you must defend and protect the company. If you are allowed you should immediate talk to outside counsel, make a record of all that has transpired and send it to outside counsel so that it maintains the confidential priviledge. You might also make sure that there are no inflammatory notes anywhere in any files. |
|
|
No maternity leave = unemployment?
posted at 2/8/2011 5:51 AM EST
|
|
Posts: 18
First: 2/3/2011 Last: 2/9/2011 |
Sunnyblu and Howard7-
Thank you both for your responses and advice. It would be time off with no pay. But I think I should follow Howard7 advice and take this off-line to an appropriate counsel. Thank you everyone for your input. |
|
|
No maternity leave = unemployment?
posted at 2/8/2011 6:21 AM EST
|
|
Posts: 562
First: 11/12/2009 Last: 9/14/2011 |
Sorry that you feel that this got off track with the comments about the weekly blessings meetings. But as HR professionals, I would say that its in our DNA that we're constantly in a state of alert regarding potential trouble in the workplace.
As far as your CEO's comments are concernded, they are potentially evidence that there is an intent at the highest level in the company to discriminate against women who are pregnant. The comments that you related could be very damaging. I hope you are keeping a private file of everything related to this including what you have done about it, CEO comments, the employee's comments/questions/requests and the company's responses to those. If not, you should start one. |
|
|
No maternity leave = unemployment?
posted at 2/8/2011 6:32 AM EST
|
|
Posts: 18
First: 2/3/2011 Last: 2/9/2011 |
Thank you. I have keep everything in my head, but I will start logging everything.
However, I think that everything I log is only evidence against the CEO! I understand getting off track, but this issue is really coming as an urgent priority over the weekly meeting. I know that's an issue in and of itself, but I really feel this is taking precedence right now. |
|
|
No maternity leave = unemployment?
posted at 2/8/2011 6:38 AM EST
|
|
Posts: 544
First: 9/27/2004 Last: 9/13/2011 |
It's all about language, there is a lot of industry literature that talks about aligning policies and benefits with the values of the organizational culture. Maybe you can help the CEO understand this disconnect. |
|
|
No maternity leave = unemployment?
posted at 2/8/2011 7:09 AM EST
|
|
Posts: 562
First: 11/12/2009 Last: 9/14/2011 |
Yes, you do need to set priorities and I agree that your pregnant employee is indeed the priority.
Don't look at keeping a record as evidence against the CEO. You are going to keep this separately and keep it in a file that doesn't mention any particular employee. Use a generic name for the file (I always call mine my OSOD file - which stands for "Oh s--t, oh dear"). Doing so will enable you to avoid providing this record in the event of a subpoena. You are also going to keep this file to refresh your memory in the event you are deposed or have to testify. You may also need it to protect yourself. But don't think of it as evidence against the CEO - it's not the intent. |
Forums » Topic Forums » Legal Forum » No maternity leave = unemployment?
