Does this maternity benefit seem legal?

Question

my company gives 6 weeks paid maternity leave (i've been there 8yrs) but you can take up to 12 weeks (6 being paid, 6 unpaid). However there is a catch - you must work 1600hrs for the year. if you take 40hr weeks times 52 weeks you get 2080 hours. holiday pay does not count so you have to subtract 48hrs (6 paid holiday) and then subtract the 12 weeks maternity giving you only 10 weeks and 4 days, so if you took the full 12 weeks you would not have 1600hrs for the year and if you don't have 1600hrs the company will take away your vacation time the following year (which in my case is 5 weeks). shouldn't I be allowed to take 12 weeks without being penalized?

Answer 1

i don't get paid anything for maternity leave, nor do they have disability insurance... none of it's fair, at all.

just an fyi... only NY and Cali (unless it's changed) require it as a state law for company's to have disability insurance. all the other states can elect it for themselves.

Answer 2

I've never heard of something this complicated for maternity leave.Most places will give you 6 weeks(for you to have baby) and then 6 more weeks(for the 6 weeks checkup) and yes some companies only pay half or 1/3 of the leave but most of the time if you have been there at least 1 year then something of it is paid. I have seriously never heard of such a penalty like that. You need to talk to the supervisor or whoever is high up there and ask them to explain maternity leave to you considering you have been tehre for 8 yrs and tell them maybe you have read it wrong but it does not figure up correctly. But yeah I would definately talk to someone ASAP about that and have them explain it in full detail of how this works.

Good Luck

Answer 3

it must be what is accumulated previous to the leave...you cant add up the whole year that hasnt even happened yet, because you didnt work those hours either...you been there 8 years, they should give you your maternity leave and thats that....all that figuring is b.s.- i think it means someone who maybe worked 6 months cant go and claim they want paid maternity leave, h**l they didnt even pass probation period yet, but ask inside the house they will have all your answers.

Answer 4

Are you sure that's right?  Maternity leave is considered disability leave, and it shouldn't count against the time you put in when determining vacation for the next year.  Talk to someone in HR to confirm that.

Answer 5

I believe that they can only penalize you for the 6 weeks that you are not going to be paid for. Talk to the human resource department asap to clarify.

Answer 6

Nope, it does not seem legal.  I'd go to HR and have them spell it out and GIVE IT TO YOU IN WRITING.  Get the boss to sign off on it as well.