When is paid maternity leave required?

 

When is paid maternity leave required? Featuring Attorney Travis Hollifield of the Hollifield Legal Centre in Winter Park, Florida.

 
 

Attorney Tom Olsen: What is a law with employers regarding paid maternity leave, Travis?

Attorney Travis Hollifield: Okay. Well, with respect to Kelly's situation what I would say first of all is I'd want to find out how many employees are employed by her employer because if it's 50, 50 or more then the Family and Medical Leave Act kicks in and would require at least 12 weeks of unpaid leave. Paid maternity leave, under current federal and state law, with a very minor nuance to that, but I can generally say under current federal and state law there is no requirement for paid maternity leave. There's legislative efforts constantly going up and down particularly in Washington with respect to that issue. It's probably going to be a hot-button issue in the next presidential cycle but that's something that's probably going to be in the future but currently, for somebody like Kelly, there is no legally mandatory paid maternity leave.