Career Coach

Q I plan to take 12 weeks’ maternity leave, but my manager is pressuring me to return early to work on a big project. Is this legal? How do I get her to back off?

A Managers legally can’t tell you to cut leave short if you qualify for it through the Family and Medical Leave Act (you can check to find out), says Carolyn Wheeler, an employment lawyer at Washington, DC, law firm Katz, Marshall & Banks LLP. FMLA laws “prohibit interference with