Can employer refuse all of employee's maternity leave? New York City

[killagramz]

My Best friend is currently pregnant, do any day now. She was told that she could not take her leave until she actually went into labor. She is 8 months now , and was recently told that she should not take all of her leave, that she should leave that in case of an actual emergency. She has been with her job for two-years now. She has vacation days and sick days, but they are still telling her that she should just take two months. Can she take all her without being fired? Also, If they still deny the full maternity leave, can she sue?

[Marketeer]

Does your friend's leave fall under the Family and Medical Leave Act? In other words, has she worked there more than 1 year and worked at least 1,250 hours in the past year. And, does the employer have more than 50 employees located within 75 miles of her job site.

If so, she is entitled to 12 weeks of unpaid leave under FMLA. Employers can require that individuals use any vacation and sick leave they have available for the first part of it, but it's 12 weeks total regardless of what other leave the employee may have available. In addition, NY has state disability insurance to provide partial income replacement. FMLA is for serious medical conditions and for bonding time after the baby is born, so it can't be used just to take some time off before the baby comes. If your friend was not experiencing complications that would mandate need to start her leave before the baby was born, she can't start her FMLA leave.

If she is covered under FMLA, then she is entitled to her full 12 weeks of leave.