Comments on: KHK mom, and employment lawyer, takes maternity leave questions personally

By: jaklein

jaklein — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 19:11:54 +0000

Give us a call and we’ll be happy to discuss..

By: Kristy

Kristy — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 21:11:12 +0000

I am confused on the eligibility for fmla/cfra. I work for a pharmaceutical company and there headquarters are in New Jersey where they have 450 employees however my territory is in San Francisco, Ca and there are’t 50 employees in a 75 mile radius..? So I’m confused on if I qualify by that definition. Can you clarify for me? Thanks so much for your help!

By: Rachel Hulst

Rachel Hulst — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 00:36:43 +0000

LeAnn,

You would definitely be entitled to 8 weeks pay of disability benefits through the state of California. Whether or not you are entitled to disability benefits paid by your employer (or short term disability policy) would depend on your employer’s policy. If the policy states they offer only 6 weeks of pay, that may be all you are entitled to. However if the policy provides “for as long as you are disabled” (or something to that effect), you should be entitled to the 8 weeks (providing a doctor’s note may help if you have not already done so). In the end, nothing in the law actually requires your employer to pay (just to give you the time off).

By: LeAnn

LeAnn — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 23:55:52 +0000

The company that my employer uses will only give me 6 weeks disability pay even though I had a C-Section. Is this correct? I’ve been told that in California the law states I would recieve 8 weeks pay for a C-Section and 6 weeks for a vaginal birth. Any help would be appreciated.

By: Linda

Linda — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 23:46:15 +0000

“However, that pay is only available to those employees who would otherwise qualify for leave under the FMLA or CFRA—meaning that you need to work for an employer who has 50 or more employees within a 75 mile radius. If you don’t, you are not entitled to 12 additional weeks of leave time and therefore, no pay for 6 of those weeks.”

I thought the eligibility for Paid Family Leave was for any employees that pays SDI taxes. Please advise

By: Jane Smolen

Jane Smolen — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 02:06:57 +0000

Would love to know Rachel’s thoughts on the RN am in the same position

By: Naomi

Naomi — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 21:25:35 +0000

I’m a RN who was offered a job to begin sometime mid-May. I have been looking for work for almost a year now since I moved here. This job offer is for a military hospital in northern CA, but it’s a contracted position from an out of state agency. I applied for this position almost a year ago, and just received the call this week that a position opened up. The only problem is, I am 30 weeks pregnant and haven’t informed them yet of my pregnancy. We’ve only been in contact via telephone and email. Should I tell them I am pregnant, and if I do, do I qualify for any Maternity Leave? And how long? They need me to work part-time in May and full-time starting in June. I’m due first week of July. I really want this job b/c it’s in my field of nursing and mostly desk job for me. Also, RN jobs are hard to come by right now. Please advise, should I not waste their time or should I go for it and ask for maternity leave so soon after hire?

By: Rachel Hulst

Rachel Hulst — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 23:50:47 +0000

Cathy,

Assuming that you have worked at your company for more than a year with at least 1250 hours of service and there are 50 employees working for your company within a 75 mile radius of your location of employment, you are entitled to an additional 12 weeks under CFRA. You are correct that the 12 weeks starts AFTER your 10 weeks of disability (you are actually protected for up to 4 months time of pregnancy or childbirth related disabilities).

By: Cathy Peters

Cathy Peters — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 12:05:36 +0000

This is very helpful information; thank you for posting. I have a question- 12 weeks time off to bond w/ baby under CFRA starts after the disability period ends, correct? My Dr. (ob-gyn) extended my disability period by two weeks b/c of a possible hernia (after 8 weeks disability as a result of a c-section), and the state of CA extended my disability payments accordingly (by 2 weeks), so it would follow that the 12 weeks starts after this total 10 week period ends, correct? The issue is that the company, Matrix, which helps to coordinate leave time details for my employer (a large corporation) has “denied” the additional two weeks of disability b/c of a “lack of info” (so I will be receiving no additional disability payments beyond what the state of CA provides during this two week period), and is stating the 12 week bonding period under CFRA begins after the 8 week disability period (not 10 weeks).

So in this case, when does the 12 week CFRA period begin- after the 10 weeks disability recognized by my Dr. and the state of CA (per disability payments), or after the 8 weeks as defined by Matrix? Matrix has not been very helpful in explaining all of my rights to me- even to the extent of asking me at around the 10 week point, “how come you’re not back at work yet?” I had to tell them that I’m taking additional time off under CFRA (even though they’re supposed to be the ones advising me on this info/my rights, etc)- it’s been rather frustrating.

If you could possibly help me w/ an answer to my question above, I would be extremely grateful! And yes, I can understand why you’re popular among your pregnant friends, too- in my experience (having had two children born while working at two different large companies), employers don’t seem to be very helpful in fully explaining all of the options available to new mothers in regards to potential leave times, etc.

Best regards,
Cathy Peters