LAID OFF WHILE ON MATERNITY LEAVE?

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Anonymous said:
Can you get laid off while on maternity/short term disability leave? Serious responds only please.
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Yes you can get laid off while on maternity leave/short term disability but it is not effective until you are ready to come back to work or after being out for 26 weeks on short term disability whichever is earlier depending on the state you live in. California and New York protect you. If you then go out on long term disability you can not accept the severance package. Read the paperwork very carefully. If you fall in that category have a lawyer look over your paperwork.
 






Anonymous said:
Yes you can get laid off while on maternity leave/short term disability but it is not effective until you are ready to come back to work or after being out for 26 weeks on short term disability whichever is earlier depending on the state you live in. California and New York protect you. If you then go out on long term disability you can not accept the severance package. Read the paperwork very carefully. If you fall in that category have a lawyer look over your paperwork.
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What do you mean if you live in NY or California it will protect you? Like they are not able to lay you off if you're on maternity/disability?
 






To be laid off while out on maternity leave is a no no according to the law. You can use the idea that you were discriminated against because you are now a mother and the company views you as a liability.

As long as you are meeting all your goals and objectives, good reviews, and meet your managers expectations there is no reason to be let go, but to do so while out on maternity leave will be grounds for legal action.

Seek legal help and also look at Federal statues regarding this issue.

Good Luck
 












This happened to me in january with another company. Was told they have their corporate lawyers in place to ensure the layoff could occur. It sucks. I wanted to fight it but I didn't want to spend money on lawyer/court fees in the event it didn't go my way.
 






Yes your position can get laid off, but as another person stated you cannot even be contacted during your leave. Once you get back you will get the full 60 days paid notice and then your severance starts from there. Layoffs are for positions so maternity leave really doesn't mean anything. If you are the one with the lowest ratings you will go, its just delayed because of your leave. You are allowed to call your manager during a layoff, they just cant call you.
 






Anonymous said:
What do you mean if you live in NY or California it will protect you? Like they are not able to lay you off if you're on maternity/disability?
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I only know that California and New York will protect you while out on disability. Other states may also, I just don't know. Also according to California law short term disability is 52 weeks, not 26 under the Novartis Plan. Companies have to follow each individual state's laws not their own rules.
 






I was laid off last December while on short term disability. Several things that have been said have bearing here and several things to keep in mind.

1) I was out on STD, but technically not yet official. Actually did not become official and retroactive until the end of December. Either way I would have been at home and not out in the field.

2) My manager had been previously notified that I was on STD, so he did not contact me, I contacted him and was pretty sure what he was going to say about my "position" since I had a "1" in sales for CY 2008 (1st time in 12 years with Novartis).

3) Packet was already in the mail and arrived the following Monday because the company did not yet know I was on STD either officially or unofficially.

4) STD would not really protect you as as soon as you come off you will be offically notified that you are part of the layoff. Remember, the decision was made to eliminate your position before you went on STD.

5) If your condition is serious enough to last 6 months and then be converted to LTD, that is a consideration. Under the "rules" of the last layoff, STD payments would have stopped as of the day the WARN ACT 60 day period expired. If not on STD, you get your severence and all other applicable benefits. If still disabled you are basically on STD without payment and payments would not start again until you run thru your full allocation of STD days; at that point your LTD kicks in. If you had the company provided LTD where you did not contribute, the payment is 50% of salary and bonus, but if you supplemented that thru a payroll deduction, it would be at 67% of salary and bonus. Keep in mind that maternity STD would rarely, rarely ever roll into LTD (LTD is expected to last 2 years or longer).

6) I wasn't sure about recovery in my case. I put together an Excel spreadsheet to see when LTD payments would "catch up" to severence payments plus other layoff benefits and it would not catch up until something like March or April of 2012, assuming that I did not find other work.

In my case my doctor felt that my condition was getting better and he would not support LTD anyway. I let the STD run for 6 weeks and then fell into the pool with the other 1399 that were laid off.

Now working again and in total remission from my cancer.

Barry Simon
 






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