Legal Question in Employment Law in Missouri
Pregnancy Leave
An employee at my organization is pregnant. Our organization has only 16 employees and is not required to offer benefits under FMLA. My question is can she take time off to have her baby and still be eligible for health and dental benefits while she is off. She understands that she will be off without pay, but she wants to know if she can keep her benefits while on pregnancy leave. Is our organization even required to offer this type of leave. We are non-profit with under 20 employees.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Pregnancy Leave
Generally speaking,as long as you keep her on the payroll even if she is on a leave without pay you can still provide benefits to her. Of course you must continue to make any required payment for the benefits on her behalf during this time. The contents of the specific benefits package you have provides the ultimate answer. Before you take any action in this regard which might put your employee's benefits at risk you should run this by an employment lawyer who can review the plan and other relevant documents and provide you with a written opinion on what you can do and how you should do it.
If I can be of further assistance to you, please do not hesitate to call me 901.527.5522 or e-mail me.