My wife works for a company that has around 150 people nationwide and 40 people in the corporate office, so they don’t fall under the FMLA guideline. She is pregnant and her employer is denying her maternity leave request saying that she might not have her job back when she is ready to come back in 6 weeks. However, their employee manual does state that she would be entitled to up to 12 weeks of leave and her coworkers that had babies in the past were granted maternity leave. I have a 2 part question. 1. If her company doesn’t fall under the FMLA guideline, is there another law that would govern situations like this? 2. Is it legal to deny maternity leave applications even that it is stated in the employee handbook that disability & pregnancy leaves will be allowed? Thanks in advance for helping us out.

If FMLA does not apply, then the applicable law is the Pregnancy Discrimination Act which states that pregnancy cannot be treated differently than any other medical condition. This means that she can be treated no differently than someone who needs six weeks for surgery or a broken leg.

You'd need to have an attorney read the handbook to determine whether it's legally binding. The vast majority are not, and the vast majority contain language that permit the employer to change policies as needed. Without knowing the circumstances of the other employees, it's difficult to say why they feel they can't hold the job. It could be the type of work that the individual employees do, the time of year and the workload, and so forth.

How long has your wife worked for the company?

Since FMLA does not apply, the length of time she has worked for the company is immaterial.

Actually the length of time could matter.....

First assuming that FMLA does not cover this company it is obvious there is some sort of leave policy in place if it is in the handbook. Many employers do in fact have their own leave policies that either match FMLA or go beyond it in allowing employees unpaid leave with job protection. Therefore, if FMLA does not apply then this is the employers policy. Based on the information posted above I would say that one reason other people could be able to use this policy and his wife is not is because she has not been employed at the company long enough to fulfill the policy requirements. Most employers set a requirement of anywhere from 30 days to 6 months to be eligible for a company, non-FMLA, leave that protects their job. You will have to check the employee handbook for more information. I would add though that it sounds like they are willing to let her have the 6 weeks...she just doesn't have job protection so technically they haven't "denied" her leave request.

I would also add that FMLA may not necessarily be out of the picture. You mentioned there were 150 employees "spread our over the us" ...less then 50 at your wife's location however the requirement is that it be 50 employees within 75 miles ...courts interpret that as.."as the crow flies". So are there any other locations nearby who could be counted?

I would check the handbook again and read through that leave policy thouroughly.

Neither Texas nor Federal law provides any non-FMLA leave that comes with job protection. Unless a company handbook or policy reaches the level of a contract, which is slightly possible but not at all likely, I still maintain that in the absence of FMLA, the length of employment is meaningless.

You do have a point about the 75 mile radius.

that it be 50 employees within 75 miles ...courts interpret that as.."as the crow flies". So are there any other locations nearby who could be counted ?
Has there been a recent decesion on that? My source 2006 states the 75 miles as:
29 C.F.R § 825.111(b) The 75-mile distance is measured by surface miles, using surface transportation over public streets, roads, highways and waterways, by the shortest route from the facility where the eligible employee needing leave is employed. Absent available surface transportation between worksites, the distance is measured by using the most frequently utilized mode of transportation ( e.g., airline miles )
If there is a recent change in the courts please post it. Also the 75 miles is a radius. Thats a huge area in terms of sqare miles.
JoeC