Maternity leave rights are governed by the family leave act of 1992 with defines the basic understanding and rights for maternity leave Even though this legislation typically requires a minimum of 12 weeks of time off, your real amount of maternity leave will be based on the size of the organization that you work for and their human resources policies.

Essentially, you will take a mixture of short-term disability, private days, and any accrued vacation or holiday pay as part of your not paid family leave during your time away from the office.

The family leave act specifically applies to companies that have at least fifty employees. If the company that you work for is smaller, then there are limitations on what is covered for pregnancy leave. Indeed, for those who are working in small businesses, short term disability may be an alternative if the employer is too small to accommodate the pregnancy leave

During pregnancy, it is essential to understand that you employer can only swap your position and work responsibilities if your pregnancy makes you unable to do your requisite duties.

Through the actual maternity leave, your employer is obligated to reimburse you the equivalent amount of what you would receive on short term disability. Upon completion of the 12 weeks, your employer is obligated to restore you to the same pay and the same or equivalent position as your old job.

Which benefits are available to you will depend very much on which state you live in. In 2002, California led the way in enacting paid family leave, and other states such as Massachusetts and New Jersey are considering following suit. And not all states allow women to take short-term disability leave to cover pregnancy, birth, and postpartum recovery.

Your employer may have practices that dictate the order in which you can take different kinds of leave. In any case, you’ll want to start looking into your options as early as you can during your pregnancy and make sure you have all your paperwork sorted out before the baby arrives.

Julie Xillion is creative manager for Bloom’en Nutrition chewable prenatal vitamins, a fresh approach to prenatal nutrition.

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