Wronful? Should they have contacted me first?

[Anonymous1991]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Michigan

 

[Anonymous1991]

Fired on maternity leave

I currently work for walmart, well kind of. I have been on maternity leave for 8 months now. Two months ago I called and asked for and extension leaving a message for my manager to call me back with any questions or of she just wanted to hash out plans. Yesterday I found out that I was supposed to be fired a while ago. But due to a system error I was not. Long story short my manager didn't know how to do it right. When I talked to personal she said I should have received a letter, when I told her I didn't she said I would be receiving one soon. I'm not sure whaty rights are.
Should they have offered me a last chance deal?
Should they have told me that if I don't come back now I would be fired? I was under the impression that I could take off a year. As myanger said that when I first told them I was pregnant.
How long am I aloud to stay on a leave of absence before losing my job?
Is the year thing true?
What are my options?
Will I qualify for unemployment?
Is this wrongful termination?
Please help me! I tryed to call the anonymous help hot line but they wouldn't help without me giving store number, which I'm sure they would know it's me calling, only one person in my situation at our store.

 

[henbob6]

Hi, A-1991. The forum's preview function deletes posts for some reason. To post your question, please edit your original post.

ETA - ok, a new post works just as well.

 

[commentator]

They did not fail to do anything they were required to do by law. They are not required to tell you anything, give you much of anything, notify you in a certain way, etc. You can be terminated at any time for any reason. Did you refuse to come back after your first requested maternity leave had run out?

You can file a claim for unemployment, it is always good to do so as soon as you are able available and ready to return to work. But they will go back only 18 months from the date filed to pull in wages from your work to make up a claim. That means if you have been out of work a very long time, more than a year, there may not be enough wages to set you up a claim so they can even try to decide if you qualify. But if there is a claim, they will determine if you are out of work through no fault of your own. A year off on maternity leave is unbelievably generous, and it's doubtful they'd see this as a right. Reason to terminate, yes. But file a claim for benefits and see what they say. Even if approved, they never last more than 26 weeks and you must be making an active job search the whole time.

Otherwise, I think I would ask to come back to work, and if refused, start looking for something else after you find good child care.

 

[eerelations]

I currently work for walmart, well kind of. I have been on maternity leave for 8 months now. Two months ago I called and asked for and extension leaving a message for my manager to call me back with any questions or of she just wanted to hash out plans. Yesterday I found out that I was supposed to be fired a while ago. But due to a system error I was not. Long story short my manager didn't know how to do it right. When I talked to personal she said I should have received a letter, when I told her I didn't she said I would be receiving one soon. I'm not sure whaty rights are.
Should they have offered me a last chance deal?
Should they have told me that if I don't come back now I would be fired? I was under the impression that I could take off a year. As myanger said that when I first told them I was pregnant.
How long am I aloud to stay on a leave of absence before losing my job?
Is the year thing true?
What are my options?
Will I qualify for unemployment?
Is this wrongful termination?
Please help me! I tryed to call the anonymous help hot line but they wouldn't help without me giving store number, which I'm sure they would know it's me calling, only one person in my situation at our store.

Here are the answers to your questions, in order.

Absent a contract or CBA that states otherwise, employers are not legally required to offer their employees "last chance deals."

I don't think employers are legally required to remind their employees on leave that their maximum allowance of job-protected leave is expiring. Someone better versed in FMLA regulations will step in and correct me if I'm wrong.

I believe that under FMLA regulations the maximum job-protected maternity leave an employee may take is 12 weeks.

Given the above, the "year thing" is not true.

Your options are to apply for UI benefits and start searching for a new job.

You may or may not qualify for UI benefits. If you haven't earned any money over the last eight months, you may not meet the UI earnings requirements.

This is not a wrongful termination. Employers are legally free to fire employees who take leave in excess of 12 weeks.

If you want to make a case to WalMart that you wouldn't have taken so much leave had your manager not told you that you were allowed to take up to a year off, you may. However, WalMart will not be legally bound to reinstate you. The best way for you to make your case would be through the help line but you will have to tell them your store number. And that's not really a big deal anyway, you're already fired, what more can they do to you?

 

[Anonymous1991]

Thank you

Thank you for all the advice! It's great to have answers. I totally understand their side. They have a business to run and can't wait around for me to be ready but I also needed to know were I stood and now I do. Thank you all so much!

 

[cbg]

Just to confirm, the answers you got from eerelations are correct. The maximum time they are required under the law to offer you is 12 weeks. Once you hit day one of week 13, they have no further obligation under the law to hold your job any longer.