Indiana has no state maternity leave law for private-sector workers, so Indiana maternity leave rights come almost entirely from federal law: up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act if you meet its eligibility rules, workplace accommodations during pregnancy under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, break time to pump after you return, and possibly additional unpaid leave under the Americans with Disabilities Act. State government employees are the exception. An executive order signed in March 2025 gives them roughly 10 to 12 weeks of paid parental leave.
Who Qualifies for FMLA Leave
The FMLA is the backbone of maternity leave in Indiana, but it doesn’t cover everyone. Three conditions all have to be true. You must have worked for your employer for at least 12 months, logged at least 1,250 hours during those 12 months, and work at a location where the employer has 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius.1U.S. Department of Labor. Family and Medical Leave Act The 12 months don’t have to be consecutive, though a gap of seven years or more generally breaks the chain.
The 50-employee threshold is where a lot of Indiana workers fall out. If your employer is smaller than that within a 75-mile radius, the FMLA doesn’t apply and Indiana law doesn’t step in with a substitute. Your options in that case come down to whatever your employer offers voluntarily, any short-term disability coverage you carry, and the pregnancy accommodation protections described below.
How Much Leave You Get, and Whether It’s Paid
An eligible employee can take up to 12 workweeks of leave in a 12-month period for the birth and care of a newborn.1U.S. Department of Labor. Family and Medical Leave Act The leave is unpaid. Whether you receive any income during that time depends on your employer’s policies and any disability insurance in place.
Your employer can require you to use accrued vacation, sick days, or other paid time off while on FMLA leave, and that paid time runs at the same time as your FMLA clock rather than adding to it. You can also choose to use paid leave on your own initiative. Either way, you have to follow the employer’s usual paid-leave procedures.2U.S. Department of Labor. FMLA Frequently Asked Questions
Leave for pregnancy complications or a newborn’s serious health condition can be taken intermittently, in blocks of hours or days, without needing your employer’s permission. Bonding time is different: taking that intermittently, say one day a week for several months, requires your employer to agree. If they do, they may temporarily move you into a different position with equivalent pay and benefits that better accommodates the schedule.3eCFR. 29 CFR 825.120 – Leave for Pregnancy or Birth
Notice
When you know your leave is coming, which is the usual situation with a due date, give your employer at least 30 days’ notice. If something changes and 30 days isn’t possible, such as an early delivery or a sudden complication, notify your employer as soon as you reasonably can.4eCFR. 29 CFR 825.302 – Employee Notice Requirements for Foreseeable FMLA Leave You don’t have to name the FMLA, but you do have to give enough information for the employer to recognize that the leave qualifies.
Job and Health Insurance Protection
When your FMLA leave ends, your employer must restore you to the same position you held before or to one with equivalent pay, benefits, and working conditions.5U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 28Q – Taking Leave from Work for Birth, Placement, and Bonding with a Child under the FMLA Demotion, a lesser role, or any penalty tied to your protected leave is not allowed.
Your employer must also keep your group health coverage in place during leave on the same terms as if you were still working. If you normally pay part of the premium, you still owe that share while on leave.1U.S. Department of Labor. Family and Medical Leave Act
Paid Leave for Indiana State Employees
In March 2025, Governor Mike Braun signed Executive Order 25-34, which significantly expanded paid leave for state government employees who give birth. Eligible mothers receive up to six weeks of paid Childbirth Recovery Leave after a vaginal delivery, or up to eight weeks after a cesarean section. That stacks on top of a separate New Parent Leave benefit of up to 150 hours for full-time employees, bringing the combined paid leave to roughly 10 to 12 weeks. Both are available immediately at hire with no waiting period.6State of Indiana. Executive Order 25-34 – New Parent and Childbirth Recovery Leave
The policy applies only to state government employees. Private employers in Indiana are not required to offer paid parental leave, though some do. Where an employer does offer paid leave, it typically runs concurrently with FMLA leave rather than adding to it.
If You Don’t Qualify for FMLA: Pregnancy Accommodations
Federal accommodation law reaches more Indiana workers than the FMLA does. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, effective June 27, 2023, requires employers with 15 or more employees to provide reasonable accommodations for limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions unless doing so would cause undue hardship.7eCFR. 29 CFR Part 1636 – Pregnant Workers Fairness Act The point of the law is to keep you working comfortably rather than forcing you onto leave too early.
Reasonable accommodations can include:
- Schedule changes, such as shorter hours, a later start, or part-time work
- Physical adjustments, such as a stool to sit on, a closer parking space, lighter duties, or lifting help
- Policy changes, such as allowing a water bottle at your workstation, more frequent bathroom or rest breaks, or a modified dress code
- Telework or a temporary transfer to a different role
- Time off for medical appointments or recovery, treated as an accommodation
An employer cannot force you onto leave if a different accommodation would let you keep working.8U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. What You Should Know About the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
Indiana’s Civil Rights Law also prohibits pregnancy-based sex discrimination and applies to employers with six or more employees, well below the FMLA’s 50-employee cutoff. A separate state statute, Indiana Code 22-9-12, addresses pregnancy in the workplace at employers with 15 or more employees, though its protections are narrower than the PWFA.
Extended Leave Under the ADA
If your 12 weeks of FMLA leave run out and you still cannot return because of a pregnancy-related complication that qualifies as a disability, the Americans with Disabilities Act may require your employer to grant additional unpaid leave as a reasonable accommodation. The EEOC has said that an employer’s obligations don’t end just because FMLA leave has been exhausted.9U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Employer-Provided Leave and the Americans with Disabilities Act
The employer can push back only if more leave would cause undue hardship, and the fact that FMLA leave is already used up doesn’t prove that by itself. The employer has to look at the real operational impact, including how long the added leave would last and whether your return date can be predicted. Conditions like severe preeclampsia, postpartum complications requiring surgery, or pregnancy-related depression that prevents working are the situations where ADA extended leave most commonly applies.10U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Enforcement Guidance on Reasonable Accommodation and Undue Hardship under the ADA
Getting Paid During Leave: Short-Term Disability
Indiana has no state disability insurance program. The only route to wage replacement during maternity leave is a private short-term disability policy, either one your employer offers as a benefit or one you buy on your own. Employer-sponsored group plans are far more common and less expensive than individual coverage.
A typical plan covers a portion of your salary, often 50 to 70 percent, for a set recovery period after childbirth. That’s commonly six weeks for a vaginal delivery and eight weeks for a cesarean. Most policies have a one- or two-week waiting period before benefits start. If you’re thinking about buying an individual policy, you generally need to purchase it before becoming pregnant, because pregnancy is a pre-existing condition that most individual disability policies will not cover.
Taxes depend on who paid the premiums. If your employer paid, or you paid with pre-tax dollars through a cafeteria plan, the benefits count as taxable income and your employer withholds federal income tax. If you paid the full premium with after-tax dollars, the benefits are not subject to federal income tax.11Internal Revenue Service. Employer’s Supplemental Tax Guide
Nursing at Work After You Return
Federal protections continue once you’re back on the job. The PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act, which amended the Fair Labor Standards Act, requires employers to provide reasonable break time to express breast milk for up to one year after your child’s birth. The employer must also provide a private space that is shielded from view, free from intrusion by coworkers or the public, and not a bathroom. The space needs a place to sit and a flat surface for the pump.12U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 73A – Space Requirements for Employees to Pump Breast Milk at Work under the FLSA
The PUMP Act covers nearly all employees, including groups previously excluded like teachers, nurses, and agricultural workers. If your employer refuses to provide break time or an adequate space, you can file a complaint with the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division or go directly to court. For space violations specifically, you must give the employer written notice and at least 10 days to fix the problem before suing. No waiting period applies to break-time violations or if the employer has already made clear it won’t comply.13U.S. Department of Labor. FLSA Protections to Pump at Work
If Your Employer Violates Your Rights
Retaliation for requesting or taking FMLA leave is prohibited. That includes termination, demotion, cut hours, and any other adverse action tied to your use of protected leave.2U.S. Department of Labor. FMLA Frequently Asked Questions
For an FMLA violation, you have two paths. You can file a complaint with the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division at 1-866-487-9243, which investigates and can compel compliance. You can also file a private lawsuit without going through the DOL first. If you win, the court can award lost wages and benefits, an equal amount in liquidated damages that effectively doubles the back-pay award, interest, reinstatement, and reasonable attorney’s fees.14Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 2617 – Enforcement Liquidated damages are automatic unless the employer proves it acted in good faith and had reasonable grounds to believe its conduct was lawful.
For pregnancy discrimination outside the FMLA, such as being fired by a small employer because of your pregnancy, file with the Indiana Civil Rights Commission within 180 days or with the federal EEOC within 300 days. You can reach the commission online, by mail, by phone at (800) 628-6580, or in person at its Indianapolis office. PWFA violations are also enforced through the EEOC.15Indiana Civil Rights Commission. How to File a Discrimination Complaint