STD Maternity leave help

So I have been on leave since just before my son was born on July 31st. All legit on short term disability. I’m currently in a program for my mental health that does not end until the end of April when I planned on using my PFL and working one day a week to ease back into working. I have stayed in contact with them through everything letting them know anytime my leave was extended. My work has decided I have been gone long enough and tells me that they can no longer hold my position and if I have to extend my leave any longer they will remove me from my current position to fill it. I would then be moved to a part time position where I would no longer have my health benefits….. from my understanding that is illegal and they have to put me in a roll that is equal to my previous one WITH my health benefits. Does anyone know if this is correct? This company markets themselves in being women forward but has been so crappy through this.

Show your support

I thought so but it looks to me that you only get 12 weeks covered by fmla/crfa so after that I believe the company can do whatever they want? Unsure. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fmla https://calcivilrights.ca.gov/family-medical-pregnancy-leave/

This does sound illegal. I’m a manager and my leave department is very clear with me that people returning must be at an equal position upon returning

My understanding is that there’s two parts in maternity leave that provides job protection. First part is FMLA and PDL which runs concurrently with 12 weeks of job protection. Then you have the CFRA which would cover your child bonding period for another 12 months. They all indicate that you will be reinstated to the same or comparable position, except in limited circumstances unrelated to your leave. I’m not exactly sure if these regulations cover additional extended leaves. I would also check what your company employee handbook states.

I believe that is correct. You can be moved from your role but it should be into something similar and if not possible it has to be a valid reason. I’m not sure in regards to part time being an option in the interim of the new role being identified though.

My understanding is that PFL would need to be used alongside FMLA or CRFA and recently when my husband used this for bonding he had to take it in 2 week increments, he wouldn’t have been able to do once a week. Could it be that part that they’re finding an issue with?

@Catherine they don’t know anything about my PFL only because they refuse to talk to me about it until I apply for it. Good to know about the 2 week thing though

@Danielle (Danie P!) I think that’s one of the main things throwing me off. I understand filling my position but moving me to something that won’t bring in as much pay and position would not be equal at that point. So frustrating

@Susan I believe the extended leave is covered by FEHA. I asked them to keep me in the loop with dates and how long I have so I can prepare but they dropped this on me with less than a week to figure out.

@Kelcey on behalf of people who work under any management, thank you for knowing this information and being clear about it. My manager couldn’t even tell me what my benefits were when I started. This should have let me know how this would go 2 years later and management still has no clue what’s going on 😭🤦🏽‍♀️

@SeaSea it will never cease to amaze me how awful managers can be. I always strive to be knowledgeable and remember my employees are humans and deserve respect. I’m sorry you’re going through this

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌