Employee of store didn't get maternity leave - WWYD?

[Anonymous]

There's a small health food grocery store I frequent. They make a big show about how they treat their employees well.

I was talking to a couple employees and they confided in me that one of them is only 4 weeks postpartum and working already. She was told if she didn't come back within 2 weeks of giving birth, she would lose her job. I don't know if FMLA applies to her since I don't know how long she has been there, the number of employees, etc. But this strikes me as absolutely cruel and inhumane. I told her that she has rights, and they said there would be drama if they started anything and they could lose their jobs.

Is there anything I can do? I thought about posting a review online and contacting management, but I know she will get in trouble for saying anything to me. Obviously I won't be shopping there anymore. I just wish there was more I could do, I even offered to pay for a session with an attorney but she turned me down, I know she needs the job and losing it will harm her family. But it especially pisses me off that they put on a big show of being so progressive, and yet moms are treated like garbage.

[Anonymous]

Definitely say something to management. If you're a frequent customer, you would notice a pregnant worker who then returned two weeks later. You could ask what the policy is and how "supportive" they are around family rights. You can speak to this in generalities without ever mentioning that you spoke with this worker.

Is this a local store?

[Anonymous]

This is reality for many women. It’s shocking so few people understand this. Instead of making this woman feel uncomfortable, focus your efforts at your state level to provide paid parental leave. Don’t cause a rukus with management that is just going to cause harm to the individual in this case:

[Anonymous]

That's the downside to working for a small business. They don't have to provide the same things as larger companies because they don't have a high number of employees.

I work for a small company. I have 2 weeks maternity leave and the rest has to be PTO or LWOP.

FMLA doesn't apply if the business has under 50 employees.

[Anonymous]

This is not uncommon. I know someone who returned the same week as she gave birth to a car repair company where she was a receptionist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Definitely say something to management. If you're a frequent customer, you would notice a pregnant worker who then returned two weeks later. You could ask what the policy is and how "supportive" they are around family rights. You can speak to this in generalities without ever mentioning that you spoke with this worker.

Is this a local store?

+1 for this. Their response probably will be that she is welcome to take leave but it would be unpaid. Apparently that is the law.

I say apparently because I ran into a similar situation at my work about 10 years ago. I am a teacher and I work for a large school system in the DMV. All teachers are allowed to take maternity leave but they are only paid for it if they use their own sick leave. One of our new teachers had her baby in October and was back to work after three weeks (we receive 15 days of leave at the beginning of the school year). She used her 15 days and came back. It was appalling to me and others. Anyway, it took some doing but one of my colleagues and I were finally (!!!) allowed to donate leave to her so that this young woman could have eight weeks of maternity leave. It took us two weeks to get the school system to agree that they would ALLOW us to DONATE our leave to her. The whole thing still makes me crazy!

Anyway, the employee may not have enough leave saved up to take a paid maternity leave. It completely sucks but apparently it is the law. You are allowed to take leave but your employer is not required to pay you for it.

[Anonymous]

If local, probably a store that people on this board frequent and think the local neighborhood-y angle is just great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Definitely say something to management. If you're a frequent customer, you would notice a pregnant worker who then returned two weeks later. You could ask what the policy is and how "supportive" they are around family rights. You can speak to this in generalities without ever mentioning that you spoke with this worker.

Is this a local store?

+1 for this. Their response probably will be that she is welcome to take leave but it would be unpaid. Apparently that is the law.

I say apparently because I ran into a similar situation at my work about 10 years ago. I am a teacher and I work for a large school system in the DMV. All teachers are allowed to take maternity leave but they are only paid for it if they use their own sick leave. One of our new teachers had her baby in October and was back to work after three weeks (we receive 15 days of leave at the beginning of the school year). She used her 15 days and came back. It was appalling to me and others. Anyway, it took some doing but one of my colleagues and I were finally (!!!) allowed to donate leave to her so that this young woman could have eight weeks of maternity leave. It took us two weeks to get the school system to agree that they would ALLOW us to DONATE our leave to her. The whole thing still makes me crazy!

Anyway, the employee may not have enough leave saved up to take a paid maternity leave. It completely sucks but apparently it is the law. You are allowed to take leave but your employer is not required to pay you for it.

Hold up! There was no short term disability??? I also work for a large school system (FCPS) and have had two children in the 20 years I've worked here. With both deliveries, I had to use the first 20 days of my own leave, and then short-term disability kicked in. I had a c-section with each delivery and was covered through 8 weeks. If I wanted to stay home longer, I would have paid myself through use of my own sick leave. We do not have a "sick leave bank" here. If you are sick for more than 5 days within a 30-day period or have an ongoing issue, you use short-term disability.

[Anonymous]

I'd contact the manager and post on Next Door about it encouraging people to boycott the store and tell the store owner why they're doing it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If local, probably a store that people on this board frequent and think the local neighborhood-y angle is just great.

Post the store, let them deal with the blowback

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's the downside to working for a small business. They don't have to provide the same things as larger companies because they don't have a high number of employees.

I work for a small company. I have 2 weeks maternity leave and the rest has to be PTO or LWOP. FMLA doesn't apply if the business has under 50 employees.

That's disgusting. Especially since Roe v Wade was just turned back today. But even if it wasn't, if the law doesn't spell out doing the humane thing, then small business owners should just do it themselves. I am so glad my husband and his partner, small-business owners, paid for an employee's maternity leave for 16 weeks. They aren't legally required to, but morally required to.

[Anonymous]

The country really, really needs to establish some period of PAID parental leave that applies to everyone, across the board. One would think that with Roe being overturned and all of these “pro-life” people making their concerns heard that this would be seen as an urgent priority, but certainly it will not be. It’s really pathetic how poorly the government and private industry treats people.

[Anonymous]

DONATE. that is the key word. I do not want money (taxes) forcibly taken out my paycheck to pay for someone's choice to have a baby. She and her partner should have waited until they had enough saved up. Also, have on one here EVER heard the word adoption??

[Anonymous]

^^
has no one

[Anonymous]

Put pressure on the owners. This is so wrong!

My kids went to a religious preschool and the school tried to do this to one of the teachers. The parents all got together and changed the school’s mind quickly!