My employer has told me I cannot be gone longer than 30 days for maternity leave. I work for a small company (10 employees) so I understand they don't have to comply with FMLA guidelines. My question is when I take more than 30 days which I'm 150% certain I will do, can they fire me while im out on leave and leave me unable to collect any disablity or unemployment? I have worked for the company for about 2 1/2 years. I also have had other coworkers have major surgery recently where they were not told they needed to return within 30 days and were givin the option to work at home while recovering. My position/duties would not allow me to work from home even if I wanted to. I'm just trying to prepare myself for what I can expect to happen during my leave to ease the stress as much as posible. Their lack of compassion has me completely dumbfounded and quite angry. This stress can't be good for my pregnancy!

If 30 days is all they would allow an employee with a broken leg or pneumonia, 30 days is all they have to allow you. Outside of FMLA, neither Federal nor Idaho law requires that they provide any particular length of time for maternity. They just can't give you less time than they would provide a similarly situated with a non-maternity condition.

If the other employees had positions that allow them to work from home and yours does not, that's unfortunate but not illegal.

Say I have a c-section and my Dr does not release me for returning to work until 8 weeks post delivery....what happens then? I'm not going to return to work until I feel confident that I am healed. Am I eligible for disability that is supposed to kick in after 30 days? If not...why do they carry the coverage then??

When you are entitled to disabilty benefits is a matter of the policy terms, not law. We can't tell you when you are eligible for benefits because we have not read your policy.

Idaho is one of 45 states that does not mandate they provide disability benefits at all.

In the overwhelmingly large number of cases, whether you are termed or not has no affect on your disability benefits. So even if they term you after 30 days, it should not prevent you from collecting disability benefits, assuming that they have such a policy, that you are eligible for coverage under the policy and there is not anything in the policy that specifically says otherwise.

Thank you for the replies.