The majority of the states in the U.S. are covered under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA). Kansas is one of those states, but some workers are concerned about being fired or laid off while on maternity leave.

It is possible for an employee to be terminated while on leave, but only under certain circumstances.

FMLA provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave. That means that when the worker comes back to the job, he or she must return to the same position or to a position with comparable compensation, working conditions and benefits.

For example, Fiona is one of 20 administrative assistants for the Taste Good Bakery Company. She takes FMLA for 6 weeks after the birth of her child. While she’s away, her boss, Mark, hires Eva to take Fiona’s place. Mark prefers Eva’s work and wants to terminate Fiona. This is not legal. Mark must provide Fiona her original job, or another administrative assistant job that has the same wages, etc. as the one she left.

Conversely, if the Taste Good Bakery Company enacts a layoff of 50% of its employees, including 5 administrative assistants while Fiona is on leave, she could be terminated. The point to remember is that employees on leave are not exempt from general layoffs that apply to all departments of a company.

Pregnant women are protected under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA). This federal law prohibits employers from using a woman’s pregnancy against her in employment practices. If, however, the company suffers a general layoff, and treats all the non-pregnant employees in the same manner, a pregnant woman could be terminated.

The FMLA applies to all states.  However, eleven states, including Maine, Minnesota, Wisconsin and others, have established family leave laws of their own. In these states, the rules for termination while on leave may vary widely. 

Last 10 posts by Tamara

• Louisiana Employee Privacy Act - April 20th, 2011
• FMLA 101 – Mississippi Maternity Leave - April 19th, 2011
• Florida Overtime Update - April 18th, 2011
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• North Carolina Employee Privacy Act - April 14th, 2011
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• Ohio Maternity Leave - April 12th, 2011
• Georgia Overtime Update - April 11th, 2011
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This entry was posted on Monday, February 2nd, 2009 at 6:11 am and is filed under Labor & Employment Laws, Pregnancy Laws. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.