A friend of mine (living and working in NY state) recently took a job with a major mass media company – a full salary and benefits position.
They received a benefit FAQ sheet and an associated website outlining the company’s benefits available to employees during the hiring process. These documents and website were broad overviews at best and did not include specific details for each of the benefits.
My friend and their partner are expecting a baby in May 2023, they accepted the job in early December 2022. Upon actually starting the job and reading the Employee Handbook it turns out the parental leave is only eligible for employees who have 6 months completed at the company.
Nowhere in the benefit documentation provided did it state that 6 months of employment was required in order to receive the parental leave benefit. My friend inquired with an HR executive that she’ll likely have completed ~5 months of employment and wanted to confirm the parental leave benefit would be available. The HR executive confirmed my friend is not eligible for the benefit.
Is there legal recourse here? What’s the best course of action?