Maternity Leave in Maryland
Posted by Tamara
Maryland employees ask, “Can a worker on maternity leave be fired or laid off?
The answer is, “It depends on the circumstances.”
The majority of states in the U. S. are covered under the federal FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993). This Act provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for family and medical situations. Bonding with a newborn child, with a newly adopted baby, or with a newly placed foster child, all fall under the FMLA laws.
FMLA leave also guarantees the worker’s job. When the employee returns from leave, he or she must return to the same job, or to a job with comparable working conditions, compensation and benefits.
If, however, the employer suffers a general layoff while the worker is on leave, the employee may be laid off, too.
To illustrate, consider the XYZ car manufacturer. Darcy works on the assembly line at XYZ and takes two months maternity leave. While she is gone, Joe fills in for her job. XYZ wants to keep Joe in that spot, so determines Darcy will be laid off when she finishes leave. This is most likely against the law. Darcy must return to her same job or to a comparable one when she comes back from FMLA leave. XYZ must find her another position, or face charges of illegal discrimination.
Consider XYZ car manufacturer again, but this time poor sales have forced the company to lay off some employees. Darcy is on leave, but isn’t exempt from these layoffs. To be legal, the lay offs must be general and affect a number of workers. XYZ can not lay off Darcy simply because she is on maternity leave. However, if they would have laid off Darcy anyway, they may do so now.
In addition to the guarantees of FMLA, women on maternity leave, or about to take maternity leave are protected by PDA (Pregnancy Discrimination Act). This act prohibits employers discriminating against a woman just because she is pregnant. In the event the company suffers a general layoff, a pregnant woman can be terminated, but only if other workers are being treated the same way.
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