ABA Family Legal Guide

Law and the Workplace

On the Job

Discrimination Based on Gender

Is an employer required to give workers maternity/paternity leave?

If an employer is covered under the terms of the Family and Medical Leave Act, it is required to give workers maternity and paternity leave.

Title VII requires employers who grant leaves of absence for other types of personal nondisability reasons to grant maternity/paternity leave on the same terms. If there is a medical reason for an extended leave after childbirth, then the employer must treat the leave in the same way as it would treat any other request for medical or disability leave.

Some states, such as Washington and Minnesota, have laws requiring employers to grant parental leave to employees.