I was employed as a recruiter by a small company for 3 months before giving birth to my baby. I was being paid on an hourly plus commission basis without any benefits. They told me they could not pay me while on maternity leave, but I asked them if I would be paid on an hourly basis for work I perform while on maternity leave. They said that would be okay so throughout my maternity leave, I worked part-time from home on an hourly basis. After my maternity leave, I went back to work in the office for a few hours and worked from home the rest of the those 2 days. Then I received a call from my my manager and was told they could not keep me on payroll anymore because they needed somebody who was able to dedicate themselves to the job full-time. Meanwhile, they called one of my clients and left a message on her voicemail that it was my last day on payroll because with the new baby, I was not able to dedicate the time necessary to perform my job.

More to the story is this: the last 3 paychecks I received (while on maternity leave) were not given to me on payday including one being 9 days late. Then the day they let me go (Friday), I told them I would come into the office to get my check, return my keys, etc. and they told me I would have to wait until Monday.

This just doesn't seem right. What are my rights? Do I have any?

Colorado law requires that you be given your final paycheck immediately upon being fired, so you can report that to your state DOL.

While I would hesitate to make a definite declaration without more facts, I think you have sufficient reason to contact the EEOC and/or your state human rights commission with regards to a possible case of pregnancy discrimination.

BTW, you mention that you work for a "small" company. If your employer has less than 15 employees total, forget the EEOC and go straight to the state human rights commission. Federal discrimination laws do not apply to employers of less than 15 employees; CO discrimination laws apply to all employers regardless of size.