Hello everyone.

I am new to this forum, which is a miracle from above, for those of us who understand very little regarding our employee benefits and/or California laws.

I will be as brief as possible providing only the highlights and of course gladly answer any questions.

I work for an ESOP type of company, since 2001. I have only called in sick twice ever since I started working for this company. An normally receive 2 weeks paid vacation.

Last year my wife became pregnant, and her due date was July 1st. As the company guy I am, I programmed my vacation around that time early when we got the approximate date.

Due to my wife’s difficult pregnancy and high risk (she’s 35) she had to stop working on her first trimester. She was constantly sick and without any one to care for her except me, but never missed a single day of work. The times I had to take her into the hospital to receive I.V. (she lost 35 lbs.) I always scheduled right before the last appointment around 6pm, and sometimes I didn’t make it due to traffic, but I was faithful to my work since I am the only breadwinner.

My boy came early by two weeks in the middle of last June on a Thursday, I worked that Friday and asked to start my two weeks on the following Monday. I took two weeks off with pay. We have NO ONE to care for my wife, so I had to be her nurse, and the baby’s care provider. No one came to help us.

My main dilemma now is, that I wanted to take some time off, in January since I haven’t had much of a vacation, and still haven’t called in sick this year (my work anniversary falls in June). I requested for a weeks vacation without pay. Management denied it saying I took two weeks already and I am only entitled to two weeks per year, and I already burned my two weeks, they claim I wont be eligible until 06/07. My wife is somewhat stressed about the situation, and a little bit depressed, since she was counting on having some time together as a family, which due to the complications she endured, we missed on a lot.

I work very hard and go beyond my call, on a daily basis, getting up as early as 5am, and putting in a lot of hours. Others in our company come and go, and their work ethics leave a lot to be desired, yet receive many favorable benefits, because they kiss up to the bosses.

:confused:

How many employees are there within a 75 mile radius and did you work at least 1250 hours in the past year?

How many employees are there within a 75 mile radius and did you work at least 1250 hours in the past year?

hello,
worked 2000 hrs (officially, but worked more)

22 employees

Unfortunately, the employer is too small to be subject to either the federal FMLA or the California equivalent (if I remember correctly). However, you should be eligible for Paid Family Leave, which is funded by your SDI deductions, but this is only as a partial income replacement; it is not job-protected leave.
http://www.edd.ca.gov/direp/pflfaq2.asp

I'm not unsympathetic, but the employer doesn't have to grant the time off if he/she chooses not to. Have you spoken with them about a short personal leave? Problem is, you haven't been there very long, and employers are sometimes reluctant to grant such leave to an employee who has been there less than a year. In addition, small companies may not have policies for such situations because they just don't happen frequently enough.

If there is something else available, I'm sure one of our California experts will let you know. However, at this point, I don't see any job-protected leave that the employer is required by law to provide; only the PFL for partial income replacement IF you can get an unpaid personal leave.

thank you for your response.

i have been working there since 2001. only called in sick 2 time in almost six years.

this will change my entire attitude regarding how much i give to the company, because i do a lot of stuff for them on my own time.

just to give you an idea, a woman there took seven months leave.

i am not a woman, and they argue i dont have pregancy leave.

thanks again,

:confused:

You sound like a fabulous employee! Why an employer would risk losing you over a week off is baffling, particularly because studies show it is far more expensive to replace an employee than it is to give a trained, experienced employee some flexibility.

It is possible that you have a reverse sex discrimination case. I doubt your employer gave the woman you mention seven months of "pregnancy" leave -- most likely, a lot of that time was for bonding. Fathers should be accorded bonding time on the same basis as mothers.

You may want to talk to an attorney or call the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing about filing a complaint.

--Cynthia
www.worklifelaw.org

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

What time you grant six months later is different than what you grant at the time of disability. I agree that it is short sighted of the employer not to grant the time off, I'm just not seeing how the two are similarly situated. Of course, in CA anything is possible.