advise about maternity leave and CA law

OK--this is not for me, but for a very good friend of mine.

She works for a company that is struggling and took off on maternity leave a few months ago to have a baby.

In July (while she was still on her maternity leave) her boss contacted her and informed her that she could not come back to work--her job was no longer needed. She hired a lawyer--her boss discovered that you cannot terminate a person's job while they are on maternity leave--and now she is scheduled to return to work on October 1.

But--they have changed a lot of things about her position--she will be coming back as a contractor instead of a regular employee--and she will be on a "probation" period (like a new employee--in spite of already having worked there for years).

Her fear is that her boss is setting the stage so that he can get rid of her after a discrete period of time.

We know that they have to have a job for her to return to--but how long is that protected? If they keep her for a month or two--can they then get rid of her with impunity? She is in California.

I am very worried for her--but coouldn't find anything relating to this situation on the web....so I thought I would see if any of the DUers had ever come across anything like this.

and have the lawyer take care of it.

Asking for legal advice on a message board is never a good idea.

Good luck to your friend. And you're pretty sweet for trying to help her out.

(the place that laid me off recently) and we are really good friends. (just friends--her fiance also works there)

As horrible as that employer was to me--I just am stunned that they would try to do this to someone on maternity leave. But when I google it--I have found that this kind of stuff happens to a lot of people.

Sigh--why can't we be as civilized as the rest of the world?

means that she is essentially self-employed like a lawyer or accountant. I don't think the employer knows the law about this because it means she is doing more than just his job. Here is a link to the IRS explaining the difference between an employee and a contractor.

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=99921,00.html

Here are the forms that the employer would give her for that status

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=179114,00.html

I think this guy is setting her up to no longer require her services and he's actually in violation of the law if he is doing this. I suggest she contact the Labor Board. They have lawyers that can advise her and it's free.

Oops! Edited to correct second link.

we are on the phone right now---

He is totally trying to circumvent the law on this...I hope they can nail him for it.

Isn't it amazing what people try? and what they actually get away with?

If she is a contractor--then they probably don't have to pay unemployment--that could be another reason why they went this way. What scum.