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Can You Be Fired While on Maternity Leave in Florida? - BT Law Group, PLLC · BSPE Legal Marketing Podcast

• 0:00
  Can You Be Fired While on Maternity Leave in Florida?
• 0:02
  Losing your job while caring for a newborn can transform an already overwhelming time into an urgent financial and legal crisis that demands immediate answers.
• 0:11
  In Florida, an employer can legally terminate an employee during maternity leave, but only when the decision is based on a legitimate reason that has nothing to do with pregnancy, childbirth, or protected leave.
• 0:22
  When a termination is connected to a pregnancy, a related medical condition, or the use of legally protected leave, the employer may have crossed the line into federal or Florida law violations.
• 0:32
  The Family and Medical Leave Act provides eligible employees with up to twelve weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave, and when you return, your employer must restore you to the same or an equivalent position with the same pay and benefits.
• 0:45
  To qualify for FMLA protection, you must have worked for your employer for at least twelve months, logged at least 1,250 hours in the preceding year, and work at a location where the employer has at least fifty employees within seventy-five miles.
• 0:59
  Even if you don't qualify for FMLA, you may still be protected under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, Title VII, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, the ADA, or the Florida Civil Rights Act, each with its own eligibility rules and employer coverage standards.
• 1:14
  A Florida employer can lawfully end employment during maternity leave for reasons like a genuine company-wide layoff, documented misconduct, or pre-existing performance problems that existed entirely independent of the pregnancy.
• 1:26
  However, a termination that suspiciously follows a pregnancy announcement, targets employees on leave disproportionately, or comes with a shifting explanation can be a signal that the real reason was discriminatory.
• 1:38
  Warning signs of pregnancy discrimination include negative comments about your leave, different treatment compared to employees who didn't take leave, a position later filled by someone else after supposedly being eliminated, or positive performance reviews that suddenly turned negative after your pregnancy announcement.
• 1:55
  The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act requires covered employers with fifteen or more employees to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnancy-related limitations, and an employer cannot force you onto leave when another accommodation would work just as well.
• 2:09
  Florida Statutes Section 760.10 under the Florida Civil Rights Act also prohibits covered employers from discriminating against any employee based on sex or pregnancy, adding another important layer of protection for workers in this state.
• 2:23
  Building a strong claim means gathering emails, text messages, performance reviews, staffing records, and any communications tied to your pregnancy, leave, or termination so that the full picture of your employer's actual reasoning becomes clear.
• 2:37
  If you were fired during maternity leave or just before returning to work, call BT Law Group, PLLC at 305, 507, 8506, located at 3050 Biscayne Blvd STE 205, Miami, FL 33137, United States, to discuss your rights and next steps with a dedicated attorney today.