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Massachusetts Maternity and Pregnancy: What you need to know

The Massachusetts Fair Employment Practices Law makes it unlawful to discriminate against an employee based on sex, which includes pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions (MA Gen. Laws Ch. 151B Sec. 1et seq.). It is also unlawful for an employer to refuse to restore a female employee to her employment or to impose any other penalty following her absence for maternity leave (MA Gen. Laws Ch. 151B Sec. (4)11). The Act covers private employers with six or more employees, all public employers, employment agencies, and labor organizations.
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The Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) regulations require employers to treat employees affected by pregnancy in the same way employees with temporary disabilities are treated (MA Reg. Ch. 804 Sec. 8.01). Although there is no state comprehensive family medical leave law, the Massachusetts Maternity Leave Act (MMLA) provides some advantages for females who give birth or adopt a child under the age of 18, or under the age of 23 where a mental or physical disability is involved (MA Gen. Laws Ch. 149 Sec. 105 D). Employers with six or more employees are covered.
Entitlement of female employees. Under the MMLA, full-time female employees who are absent for no more than 8 weeks from their position for the birth or adoption of a child and have completed an initial probationary period established by the employer or, where no such probationary period exists, have completed at least 3 consecutive months for the same employer, are entitled to be returned to their previous or similar position with the same status, pay, length of service, credit, and seniority (MA Gen. Laws Ch. 149 Sec. 105 D).
Multiple births. According to MCAD, because the ...

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