Questions & Answers

I changed jobs about 7 months into my pregnancy with my first son. I believe the law says that to be covered by FMLA, you have to have been there for 12 months and something about working 2000 within those 12 months. So, when I left to have my baby, guess what happened? They let me go. Fortunately I did not have my insurance through them, AND I had been talked into not quitting my previous job by my boss at the first company. I worked in a pharmacy and the way they figured if you qualified for benefits was your average hours worked within the last year (and I had worked there for 4 years). Even after being gone from full-time for 2 months and working a few hours here and there until the baby was born, I had enough average hours to qualify for maternity leave with my previous company and never went back to work there after. I've never heard of anyone having to pay a company back if they don't return after ML.

I've been off work since I was 22 weeks with pre-term contractions, I'm now 33 weeks and won't be going back until after I deliver. When you are covered by your employers health insurance program and go on medical leave, your employer pays the health insurance company, and you are required to pay your employer back upon returning to work. I had seriously considered not returning back to my job after I'm released, but I have to pay my employer back for 5 months of insurance coverage that I didn't pay for.

I think it depends where you live. Could you go back for a week or two and then quit? If so, you might be able to dodge having to pay it back. I would check the laws in your state/province.

My sister in law was sort of in this situation. She went back for a week and then quit.

The answers seem to vary if you Google it. Many people recommend looking into the requirements so that there will be no surprises but it does seem like it's a possibility. You probably need to do some research. Good luck!