my wife will be leaving on maternity following the birth of our fist child. her employer is forcing her to use all her vacation time for the next two years and all personal days towards her leave. she only wants to take the 12 weeks of unpaid leave and not use any vacation time, sick days or other towards getting paid while she is out. can they force her to use these days or not. she would like to save them for when she returns in case we want to go on vacation or otherwise.........also if she is forced to use them against her will does she have to pay the time back if she decides not to return to her job? also, the vacation time they want her to use is time that is not accrued yet. that is why i am upset. they want her to use her two weeks of vacation time she would get next year to pay her while she is gone.

The federal FMLA does allow an employer to require that employees taking FMLA use all paid time off benefits they provide - vacation time, paid sick days, paid personal days, etc. I've never heard of an employer requiring an employee to use paid time off they haven't yet accrued though (i.e. the employee's vacation for the coming two years.) That's still not illegal (just bizarre) unless the employer only requires those employees taking leave due to pregnancy to do so. If that's the case, then it would be discrimination and a violation of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act.

also if she is forced to use them against her will does she have to pay the time back if she decides not to return to her job? That's a matter of the employer's policy but I can't see how they could reasonably get the wages back if your wife elects not to return to work after her leave is up. If they want to pay your wife vacation in advance of her earning the time, then that's the chance they take.

There is a recent case, decided by an appellate court last month, in which the court held that forcing an employee to use sick time for maternity leave was an adverse employment action, and because the employer did not force other employees who were out of work for non-pregnancy reasons to use sick time, it was discriminatory.

I would need to know more facts about your wife's employment situation before I could say if she can be forced to use her paid leave time in the way you describe, but she might want to discuss it with an attorney.

If you need help finding an attorney who is knowledgeable about such matters, feel free to contact me at info@worklifelaw.org.

Cynthia
www.worklifelaw.org

*Note: the foregoing is provided for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.

hello

these people will help you for free

under title 7 of the federal civil rights act this is a discriminatory practice and has remedies under federal and state laws

human relations commision of your state handles claims at the state agency level.

make some phone calls.



rini