I have been with this Idaho company for 3+ years, although I live in Washington. I worked to the day before I had my daughter. I took 2 weeks of maternity leave, one of which was my 1 week of vacation for the year. The company which I work for has never had to deal with this before, as I work for a construction company (male dominate industry). This company has 48 employees (always stays under 50 for multiple legal and finacial purposes). I was the only accounts receivable and billing person they had. They hired another gal one month before I was due for birth. I trained her. When I came back to work, two weeks later, I no longer had an office and I was told I would no longer hold the same position. I was also told I would be cut back on hours and they were not sure what my job description was. In the last 1 1/2 months, I have done everything from clean out the breakroom fridge to paint the confrence room. I have not had one week that was full time. They have NOTHING for me to do. I feel like I'm being punished or they want me to quit. Isn't there something wrong with all of this? If so what do I do?

That could be why they always have less than 50 employees, so they don't need to follow FMLA laws.

There may be something wrong.

Has anyone else in your company taken two weeks off for a temporary medical issue, such as surgery or recovery from an accident? If so, how have they been treated? If your employer let them return to their same job once they recovered, under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, it needs to let you return to yours. Check out http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/fs-preg.html for more info.

Unfortunately, too many mothers are mistreated when they return from maternity leave. Employers may be trying to make them quit, based on an unexamined (and false) bias that mothers won't be good workers, or will have attendance issues. Courts have said that employers cannot make that kind of a stereotyped assumption about mothers, and that taking negative personnel actions against mothers based on stereotypes is illegal gender discrimination under Title VII. While you don't need direct evidence of biased thinking in order to win, if an employer makes statements like "mothers aren't good workers" or "I'd rather have a man than a mother work for me", then it is much easier to win the case.

You may want to talk to an attorney if you think you are being treated differently from others who took time off for a temporary medical condition, or if you suspect you are being treated differently because you are a mother.

--Cynthia
www.worklifelaw.org


**The foregoing is provided for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.**

Yes, there have been multiple people that have kept the same jobafter being away for whatever medical issues. Lots of times they keep them in the payroll while they are out. I didn't get that. But I did get a few isults during my pregnacy, that I believe are discrimitory. I'm know this is all wrong, but I don't know who to talk to about this.

There are several things you can do to get more information.

You can go to the EEOC's website, www.eeoc.gov. They have information there about filing a claim.


You can get in touch with your local EEO agency -- you can find that by going to your state government's website or by going to the list on the EEOC website above.



Hope this helps,
--Cynthia

Thank you soooo much!:)