<P> Prior to the enactment of FMLA legislation in 1993, maternity leave coverage was governed by state law, collective bargaining agreements and employer policies . The first set of maternity leave related policies emerged in the late 1960s . By 1969, five states had enacted Temporary Disability Insurance laws protecting employees from income loss in the occurrence of a temporary medical disability . Under this legislation, new mothers were granted leaves corresponding to the benefits that other employees received for temporary illness or disability . This state - level trend of maternity leave legislation continued into the 1970s and 1980s where multiple other states passed more explicit recognitions of new mothers' rights to a temporary leave of absence . Ultimately, 12 states and the District of Columbia had implemented measures requiring at least some private sector employers to offer maternity leave packages to its employees . Even in the absence of this formal legislation, employees in other states often obtained maternity leave through collective bargaining . Employees frequently held enough bargaining power to influence employer policies and negotiate for the inclusion of maternity leave protection . </P> <P> Despite some localized employees' access to maternity leave, there was growing pressure for national maternity leave legislation in the early 1990s . Many new mothers continued to be excluded from such maternity leave provisions despite growing national demand . Women now enjoyed greater employment opportunities and changing gender norms that encouraged increased labor involvement . This increased female employment extended to mothers as well who now were now more likely to engage in the workforce even if they had a young child . The labor participation rate of mothers with children under the age of 1 rose from 31% in 1976 to 54% in 1992 . In spite of a high labor force participation rate, only an estimated 40% of working women had access to explicit maternity leave protection . This inadequate national coverage provoked intense protest and growing national consensus on the value of maternity leave . Ultimately, the increased salience and galvanized national support prompted the 1993 enactment of the Family and Medical Leave Act mandating maternity leave . </P> <P> The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (or FMLA), signed into law during President Bill Clinton's first term, mandates a minimum of 12 weeks unpaid leave to mothers for the purpose of attending to a newborn or newly adopted child . However, the act does not attain universal coverage as it includes several limiting stipulations . In order to receive maternity leave, employees must work in a firm of 50 or more employees, maintain employment with the same business for 12 months and have accumulated at least 1,250 working hours over those 12 months . As of 2012, 59% of American employees were eligible under the FMLA . </P> <P> The FMLA is the only law that addresses family leave . Two other Federal laws, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's amendment of the Fair Labor Standards Act, provide some additional protection for parents on the birth of a child . </P>

When does maternity leave legally have to start
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