I started working the first week of May this year in New Jersey before that I was on unemployement. I was out of work b/c complications with pregnancy for about 2 + months. I been back at work now since August. I work for a small firm, only about 14 employees. My questions are:

1. I want to take as many weeks as I can to spend with the baby. How many weeks of maternity leave may I take legally without being fired.

2. My employeer has nothing in Handbook on Maternity leave, and we are not paid for maternity leave, will I be able to at least get Short term disablilty or is there any other way to get paid leave?

3. I read in some states the employer has to pay for time off for doctor visits. I am in N.J. when I take 1/2 day b/c of prenatal visit does my employer have to pay me a full day?

4. My employer pays fully for my medical benefits, does he still have to when I'm on leave? And is an employer allowed to terminate medical benefits when on maternity leave?

I'm sorry for so many questions, but I'm trying to figure out what my rights are.

1.) Your employer is too small to qualify for FMLA and NJ does not have any state mandated maternity/medical leave. So the number of weeks you can stay home depends on how many weeks your employer is going to allow you to take. In your specific circumstances, the law does not mandate that you be given ANY time at all - the only legal issue is that you cannot be granted less time than a similarly situated employee with a non-maternity medical condition.

2.) You are in one of the few states that does mandate disability benefits. You should be able to apply for benefits under the state plan. Contact the NJ DOL for details.

3.) That depends on whether you are an exempt or a non-exempt employee. I know of no state where an employer is required to pay for you to go to a doctor's appointment; in all states an employer may not dock an exempt employee for a partial day absence unless it is covered by FMLA. In almost all states, including NJ, an employer may require that you use vacation or sick time to cover a doctor's appointment regardless of whether you are exempt or non-exempt.

4.) If you qualified for FMLA, the answer would be that he had to continue to pay for medical benefits while you were on leave. Since you do not, the answer is that he doesn't, but that he cannot single out only maternity leave to stop benefits. If he stops benefits for ALL medical leave he can stop yours; if he does not stop benefits for non-maternity medical leave he cannot stop yours either.

Although you would not be eligible for COBRA due to the small size of your employer, I believe NJ has a provision for state continuation of insurance (at your expense).

For the record, administratively it is more trouble for the employer to cancel someone's insurance and then reinstate it when they return, than it is for them to leave benefits in place. So unless he has given you some definite reason to believe he intends to cancel your health benefits while you are on leave, I wouldn't worrry about it.