CREATING A CULTURE THAT UNLEASHES YOUR PRACTICE’S POTENTIAL
discrimination based on sex. As a result, the Preg- nancy Discrimination Act of 1978 was passed, which explicitly requires that all employers treat pregnant and nonpregnant employees equivalently, both in terms of benefits received and all other re- spects. This act requires employers to treat a preg- nant employee the same as any other temporarily disabled worker, if she is unable to perform her work because of her pregnancy. Since the ADA was passed in 1990, accommodation of employees with disabilities has been a standard feature of antidis- crimination law for US employers having 15 or more employees. Some state disability laws are applica- ble to businesses with just a few employees. In 1993, the FMLA was passed, which provided important federal protections for both men and women. The FMLA stipulates that employees may take as many as 12 weeks of unpaid leave annually for the birth or adoption of a child, care of a sick child, placement for foster care, or due to illness of themselves or an immediate family member. FMLA does not apply to businesses with fewer than 50 employees. Several states also have their own maternity leave laws and programs, so it is impor- tant to research your state regulations.
4. How Can My Practice Best Comply with These Laws?
Employers must provide the same benefits to all employees, whether or not they are pregnant. Em- ployers must treat workers that are disabled equiv- alently. If an employer adjusts the workload for a worker who is not pregnant but who has some other disability or mitigating circumstance, they may not refuse to do so for a pregnant employee. Treatment of all disabilities must be materially equivalent. Employers may not forbid a pregnant employee from continuing to work if she wants to and is physically capable of doing the tasks associated with the position. If your practice allows unpaid leave for short-term disabilities, the same policy should be extended to your pregnant employees. Your prac- tice should have a written policy about unpaid leave—under what circumstances it is granted, how long a leave is permitted, whether you will continue to pay for employee benefits during the period of leave, and what amount of lead time is required to request a leave. Many practices that are not sub- ject to FMLA structure their policies to resemble the FMLA statutes.
5. Who Should Be Eligible for Maternity Leave?
When creating a maternity leave policy, it is impor- tant to consider the eligibility requirements that you may have in place for other disabilities. Can an employee with only 30 days on the job qualify for an unpaid leave if she breaks her leg while snowboard- ing? Be careful that you consider pregnancy-- related and postpartum disability the same as all other temporarily disabling conditions. Under the FMLA, employees must have worked a total of 12
months, or 1250 hours in the prior 12 months, in order to qualify for the standard 12 weeks of unpaid leave. You may shorten this time period as you see fit, as long as you apply it evenhandedly. Another consideration is whether to offer parental leave in order to include fathers. And if you have husband and wife employees, will you allow them to share available leave time between them?
6. Should Leave Be Paid or Unpaid?
If you can afford it and have valuable employees that you want to retain, you may want to consider providing some type of pay in order to encourage your employees to return to work. This can also make your business more attractive to prospective hires, especially in majority-female industries such as veterinary medicine. Generosity builds trust and loyalty. If this is not an option, employees may purchase a short-term disability plan prior to be- coming pregnant that will replace some of their sal- ary. Many practices allow employees to use banked vacation and sick leave pay to help fund a maternity leave. Your policy should state whether employees can save unused vacation time from a previous year to use in a future year for a maternity leave.
7. How Long Should a Maternity Leave Be?
Your policy should consider the needs of your busi- ness as well as the needs of the postpartum worker. Most deliveries assume a 6-week postpartum period of disability (8 weeks for twins or triplets), and with complicated births this period may be longer. As a result, 6 weeks is considered a minimum time for maternity leave, and that is the time period covered by most disability policies. If your employee isn’t able to return when expected, or requests additional time or a part-time schedule upon return, you should leave room in your policy for the possibility to extend leave when requested, subject to a review. If the employee has postdelivery complications, you might even be required to extend the leave, in order to comply with the ADA.
8. Is Maternity Leave Required?
Maternity leave is not a legal requirement for most practices, because most practices have less than 50 employees, so are not subject to the FMLA. How- ever, with 85% of new veterinarians now female, having a policy in place is just good business. You also must provide disability leave for pregnancy or postpartum recovery if you provide leave for any other type of disability. In addition, the same ben- efits that are provided to workers on disability leave must be given to employees on maternity leave. This includes temporary disability benefits, accrual of seniority, pay increases, and vacation calcula- tions. Employers must hold the pregnant employ- er’s job open during their maternity leave for the same amount of time that jobs are held open for employees on disability leave.
AAEP PROCEEDINGS Vol. 64 2018 165
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