Parental Leave and Pregnancy-Related Employment Obligations for Churches: The FMLA and Beyond

Churches often start parental leave and pregnancy-related questions with the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”). That is a useful starting point, but it is not enough. The FMLA may not apply to a church at all, and even when it does, other federal, state, and local laws may create separate obligations.

Churches should evaluate these issues broadly, including leave, pregnancy accommodations, lactation, wage replacement, benefit continuation, job protection, and family caregiving. The FMLA is an important starting point, but it is only one part of the analysis.

Start with the FMLA

The first question is whether the FMLA applies. For most private employers, including churches, the employer generally must have at least 50 employees for 20 or more workweeks in the current or preceding calendar year. An employee must separately satisfy the FMLA’s eligibility requirements, including 12 months of employment, at least 1,250 hours of service during the preceding 12 months, and employment at a location where the employer has at least 50 employees within 75 miles.¹ The distinction matters: the 75-mile requirement is part of the employee eligibility test, not the test for determining whether the employer itself is covered.

When the FMLA applies, eligible employees may receive up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for qualifying reasons, including birth and bonding, adoption or foster placement, the employee’s own serious health condition, and care for certain family members with serious health conditions. Employers generally must continue group health coverage during FMLA leave and restore employees to the same or an equivalent position when they return.²

Churches that operate elementary or secondary schools require special attention. Public and private elementary and secondary schools are covered employers under the FMLA regardless of employee count, although individual employees must still satisfy the applicable eligibility requirements. Special rules also apply to certain instructional employees.³

For new parents, FMLA leave may be available for birth, adoption, foster placement, and bonding during the 12 months following birth or placement. Pregnancy-related incapacity, prenatal care, and recovery from childbirth may separately qualify as leave for the employee’s own serious health condition.⁴ Intermittent or reduced-schedule leave solely for bonding with a healthy child generally requires the employer’s agreement. By contrast, employer consent is not required when intermittent leave is medically necessary for another qualifying FMLA reason.⁵

FMLA compliance also requires more than a handbook policy. Covered churches should have procedures for notices, certifications, benefit continuation, recordkeeping, and return to work, and supervisors should be trained to recognize potential FMLA requests.⁶

Look Beyond the FMLA for Pregnancy-Related Obligations

Even if the FMLA does not apply, a church may still have obligations under other federal employment laws. Title VII, as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, generally prohibits pregnancy discrimination for employers with at least 15 employees; the Americans with Disabilities Act may require accommodations for qualifying pregnancy-related medical conditions; and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act generally requires reasonable accommodations for known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions unless doing so would create an undue hardship.⁷⁻⁹

Do Not Overlook Lactation Requirements

Churches should also comply with federal and state lactation laws. Under the federal PUMP Act, most covered employees must receive reasonable break time and a private, non-bathroom space to express breast milk for up to one year after childbirth. Pumping time may need to be paid if the employee works during that time or uses an otherwise paid break, and state or local law may provide broader protections.¹¹⁻¹³

State and Local Laws May Be the Most Important Part of the Analysis

State and local laws may impose additional requirements even when the FMLA does not apply. These laws may address paid family and medical leave, sick and safe leave, pregnancy accommodations, lactation breaks, wage replacement, benefit continuation, job protection, and reinstatement rights. Because these requirements vary significantly, churches should identify the laws that apply in each state where they have employees.

• Minnesota. Minnesota’s statewide paid leave program provides wage replacement and job protection for qualifying family and medical leave reasons. The law is separate from the federal FMLA and may apply even where the FMLA does not.¹⁴⁻¹⁶
• New York. New York Paid Family Leave provides eligible employees with paid, job-protected time away from work for qualifying family leave reasons, including bonding with a new child, caring for a family member with a serious health condition, and certain military-family needs. It operates separately from the FMLA and has its own eligibility rules, benefit structure, notice requirements, and job-protection provisions.¹⁷⁻¹⁸
• Illinois. Illinois has several leave laws that may be relevant, including the Paid Leave for All Workers Act, the Family Neonatal Intensive Care Leave Act, and the Family Bereavement Leave Act. These laws may create obligations separate from both the FMLA and any voluntary paid parental leave benefit, so Illinois employees should not be analyzed solely under a federal FMLA policy.¹⁹⁻²¹

Religious Protections Are Important, but They Are Not a Blanket Exemption

Churches have important constitutional and statutory protections in employment matters. Those protections, however, are not a blanket exemption from leave, accommodation, wage-and-hour, or nondiscrimination laws:

• Title VII, for example, permits qualifying religious organizations to make certain employment decisions based on religion. The statutory exemption addresses the employment of individuals “of a particular religion”; it does not, by its terms, authorize discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth, or sex.²²
• The First Amendment’s ministerial exception may also bar certain employment claims involving employees who perform important religious functions. 
• The Supreme Court has emphasized that the analysis focuses on the employee’s actual role and responsibilities rather than simply a job title or ordination status.²³

Churches should therefore be cautious about assuming that an employee’s ministerial status resolves every leave, accommodation, wage, or benefit issue. The analysis depends on both the employee’s religious functions and the nature of the particular claim.

Voluntary Paid Parental Leave Should Be Carefully Structured

Many churches choose to provide paid parental leave beyond what applicable law requires. A well-designed benefit can help a church care for its employees, support families, and recruit and retain talented staff, and importantly, carefully coordinated with applicable leave laws. Such benefits often reflect both practical realities and a church's desire to support employees during a significant life event. 

However, churches should carefully distinguish between leave provided for an employee's medical condition and leave provided for parental bonding. Leave that is tied to pregnancy, childbirth, recovery from childbirth, or related medical conditions may generally be limited only to the child’s mother, while leave intended for bonding with a new child should generally be administered on a gender-neutral basis. Offering paid maternity leave for bonding purposes while denying comparable leave to fathers, adoptive parents, or foster parents may create unnecessary risk under federal sex-discrimination laws. ²⁴

A common approach churches use is to provide a separate period of childbirth-recovery leave for employees who are medically unable to work because of pregnancy or childbirth, while also offering gender-neutral parental bonding leave available to all eligible parents following the birth, adoption, or foster placement of a child. This approach recognizes the unique medical needs associated with childbirth while promoting equal access to family leave benefits and reducing the risk of discrimination claims. 

A church’s parental leave policy should clearly address whether the benefit covers pregnancy or childbirth-related medical recovery, parental bonding, or both; whether paid leave runs concurrently with FMLA or state-protected leave; how employer-paid benefits coordinate with state wage-replacement programs; whether accrued PTO, vacation, or sick leave may be used; whether health and other benefits continue; and what notice or documentation may lawfully be required. Churches should also draft these policies carefully to align with their religious identity and sincerely held religious beliefs in mind, and should carefully tailor these policies to avoid potential violation of the church’s own bylaws or Statement of Faith. 

What Churches Should Do Now

Churches should treat parental leave and pregnancy-related obligations as a broader compliance issue, not just an FMLA issue. Clear, well-coordinated policies help churches support employees, plan for staffing needs, and reduce the risk of disputes. At a minimum, churches should:

1. Identify applicable laws. Review federal, state, and local requirements based on employee count, employee location, school operations, and workforce structure.
2. Update policies. Make sure leave, pregnancy accommodation, lactation, and state-specific policies are current and consistent.
3. Coordinate benefits. Clarify how paid leave, unpaid leave, PTO, state benefits, health insurance, and reinstatement rights work together.
4. Train supervisors. Ensure managers know when to elevate potential leave, accommodation, pregnancy, or lactation requests.
5. Review ministerial roles carefully. Keep job descriptions accurate, but do not assume ministerial status resolves every employment-law issue.

How Michael Best Can Help

Parental leave and pregnancy-related employment obligations extend well beyond the FMLA. Michael Best assists churches, religious schools, and other faith-based organizations with employee handbooks, federal and state-specific leave policies, paid and unpaid leave coordination, pregnancy and lactation accommodations, and individual leave requests.

As federal, state, and local requirements continue to evolve, churches should periodically review their policies and practices to ensure they remain legally compliant, administratively workable, and consistent with their commitment to being responsible and supportive employers.

This article provides general information and does not constitute legal advice. Leave and accommodation requirements depend on the employer’s size, location, operations, workforce, and the employee’s particular circumstances. Churches should consult counsel concerning specific situations.

Footnotes

1. U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Fact Sheet #28: The Family and Medical Leave Act (rev. Mar. 2025), https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/28-fmla; 29 C.F.R. § 825.110.
2. U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Fact Sheet #28: The Family and Medical Leave Act, supra note 1.
3. Id.
4. U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Fact Sheet #28Q: Taking Leave from Work for the Birth, Placement, and Bonding with a Child under the FMLA (Mar. 2025), https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/28q-taking-leave-for-birth-placement-child.
5. Id.
6. U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Fact Sheet #28, supra note 1.
7. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, What You Should Know About the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, https://www.eeoc.gov/wysk/what-you-should-know-about-pregnant-workers-fairness-act.
8. Id.
9. Id.; 29 C.F.R. pt. 1636.
10. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, What You Should Know About the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, supra note 7.
11. U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Fact Sheet #73: FLSA Protections for Employees to Pump Breast Milk at Work (rev. Dec. 2025), https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/73-flsa-break-time-nursing-mothers.
12. Id.
13. Id.
14. Minnesota Paid Leave, Medical Leave / Family Leave, https://pl.mn.gov; Minn. Stat. ch. 268B.
15. Minnesota Paid Leave, Paid Leave Employer Resources, https://pl.mn.gov.
16. Michael Best & Friedrich LLP, Minnesota Paid Leave Act: Pastors and SECA (Sept. 8, 2025), https://www.michaelbest.com/insights/minnesota-paid-leave-act-pastors-and-seca-102l475/; Minn. Stat. § 268B.01.
17. New York State, Paid Family Leave Updates for 2026, https://paidfamilyleave.ny.gov/2026.
18. Id.
19. Illinois Department of Labor, Paid Leave for All Workers Act, https://labor.illinois.gov/laws-rules/paidleave.html; 820 ILCS 192.
20. Illinois Department of Labor, Family Neonatal Intensive Care Leave Act, https://labor.illinois.gov/laws-rules/leave_rights_division/family-neonatal-intensive-care-leave-act0.html; 820 ILCS 157.
21. Illinois Department of Labor, Family Bereavement Leave Act, https://labor.illinois.gov/laws-rules/leave_rights_division/family-bereavement-leave-act.html; 820 ILCS 154.
22. 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-1(a).
23. Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & School v. EEOC, 565 U.S. 171 (2012); Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru, 591 U.S. 732 (2020).
24. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Enforcement Guidance on Pregnancy Discrimination and Related Issues (June 25, 2015), https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/enforcement-guidance-pregnancy-discrimination-and-related-issues#IC3.