I'm pregnant and I'm due April 9th. I am the administrative assistant in a very small office and I handle alot of the HR stuff, I'm fairly new to the company (4 months) and I've never had to deal with anything associated with HR so this is all very new to me. My boss doesn't really know much about HR but yet she's the HR person here and just kind of throws things at me to do with no guidance so it's up to me to do my research and figure things out.

The problem I'm having is with FMLA. How do I set myself up with FMLA? I have no idea where to begin and I feel like I'm just going in circles trying to figure this out.

I did see that you need to have worked 12 months with the company in order to qualify for FMLA. Is there any way around that, I'll only have been with the company for 8 months at the time my baby is due.

ANY HELP WOULD BE SO GREATLY APPRECIATED. THANKS IN ADVANCE!

FMLA eligibility is determined by Federal law, not by the employer, so if you have not worked there for 12 months by April you do not qualify for FMLA and no, there is no way around that.

Assuming that your employer has 6 or more employees you will, however, qualify for up to 8 weeks of unpaid leave under MA state law. Although the leave is required by state law, however, what paperwork or administrative procedures you will need are employer-specific.

Here's a link on the Ma. Maternity Leave Act (MMLA)

http://www.mass.gov/mcad/maternity1.html