US citizens working US jobs in a foreign country - has anyone gone through applying for FMLA / leave of absence? My permanent US addy is in CA, I live in MX, and just found out I'm pregnant.
Posted by SpicyMangosteen@reddit | expats | View on Reddit | 7 comments
Please be gentle, I'm in full shock over this pregnancy and feeling very ill.
Has anyone gone through this? Did they accept your doctors note from another country? I can still get any doctors forms filled out in english. My company already knows I'm in Mexico.
Thanks
glitterstickers@reddit
Mexican employment law is what applies to you, not US. Your home address doesn't matter, where you physically work from does.
Assuming you are actually an employee and not a contractor.
SpicyMangosteen@reddit (OP)
That's not true. I am a temporary resident in Mexico, I am allowed to maintain my center of vital interest in California while I'm here, but Im not permitted to work for any entity that has a presence or otherwise does business in Mexico. I consulted attorneys in both countries before I came here, and my company consulted their own professional advisers as well.
HVP2019@reddit
Those attorneys and lawyers were involved to figure out how things like this will be handled.
Employees get sick, get pregnant, can have disputes, those are normal things, attorneys knew those things happen.
They knew that if you were to get sick or pregnant you will be using doctors in location you are located not the doctors in US since you aren’t in US.
CuriosTiger@reddit
You can maintain whatever you want, but your Mexican employer is only going to care what Mexican law has to say about maternity leave. They're not bound by the laws of another country just because you happen to be from there.
SpicyMangosteen@reddit (OP)
I have a US employer. My legal permanent address is in the United States, but I will be staying in Mexico for the birth.
CuriosTiger@reddit
With a US employer, wouldn't you just apply for FMLA like any other employee? Or are there prohibitions against being abroad during your leave in the FMLA?
I thought family leave was family leave, regardless of where you take it. I guess I'm not understanding the problem here.
SpicyMangosteen@reddit (OP)
I think im just scared because I've never gone through the FMLA process, i didn't know if anyone else had gone thru this and run into any hiccups providing an out-of-the-US-doctor-note. The FMLA process requires a medical professional to fill out some forms, too.