How much maternity leave are you taking?
Rhea77
member
How much leave do you plan to take after the baby is born? Do you plan to keep extra saved leave as a buffer after you go back to work, to use for baby sick days and doctor appts, etc? And if so, how much time are you saving as a buffer? Do you have to take LWOP?
I had barely enough leave saved up to take off the amount I wanted, but I've required so many prenatal visits that I'm using up a huge chunk of leave before the babies even get here (I'm going weekly now and it will become twice a week in a few weeks). I'm going to have to take advance leave or LWOP. Just not sure how much to plan for. I'd like to take a whole 12 weeks off afterward, but not sure if that's realistic. I will probably only end up with enough leave to take 5-6 weeks without going in the hole. And I'm not sure if it's better to take LWOP and hope my tax returns can pay the mortgage, or take advance leave and forever be earning it back. It's frustrating. I'm envious of women that can afford to stay at home.
Re: How much maternity leave are you taking?
I'm taking 12 weeks off total. The first week is my 4 days of sick time plus one vacation day until STD kicks in for weeks 2-6 at 60% of my pay. I then have the option to use the 7 left over vacation days I have to get paid for some of the time off but will probably be taking weeks 7-12 with no pay. So a good chuck of my time is only receiving 60% of my pay and LWOP.
We've been saving up since March of last year when we started TTC to have enough to cover us in the transition. I'll also be returning to work part time so that will be a major shift in our income so we've been trying to live on less and bank the difference when we can.
I'm not sure yet, but I definitely need to figure it out. The first time I had no issues taking 12 weeks - I had 8 paid through STD and 2 weeks vacation, so 2 were unpaid. This time, I'm not sure I can even do 2 weeks unpaid because we will still be paying for DS's school, so it's hard to get 0 income and shell out tons for his school.
I know I will for sure have 6 weeks STD and 2 weeks vacation. Beyond that, it will depend if my doc will extend my STD and how we're feeling about the finances. I'm thinking I will likely take 10w total, but we'll see. I'll definitely be working right up until delivery, unless there are any issues.
ETA: I carried over just under 2w (9 days) of vacation, which is what I'll be using for leave after STD is up. I'll still be accruing vacation before the baby gets here and while I'm on leave - so that will be more my"buffer" since I'll be coming back at almost mid-year.
My last day is February 15th, so about 2 weeks before baby is due. Then I will be off for the year, and most likely won't return until March 2014.
I feel for those that don't get much/any paid time off. When I had DD #1 I worked for a small company and had to take all 6 weeks unpaid.
I now work for a national company and gets paid leave. Week 1, use sick leave or paid time off, week 2-5 std paid at 100% of my pay, week 6 it drops to 60% of my pay. Then we just found out starting Jan 1st they are giving all employees "parenting leave", which is an additional15 days of paid leave that can be used anytime within the year that your child is born! So I plan to take that extra 3 weeks after my 6 weeks of paid leave - giving me a total of at least 9 weeks off, possibly a little more, but unpaid.
I plan on coming back after maternity leave, but don't plan on staying very long after returning. I don't make enough to pay for daycare - so it's such a waste. Not to mention I want to be home with my babies!!! So hate to say I'm going to be that person, but I am. I do play on staying and helping them transition my position to someone else, so I won't be leaving them high and dry.
My Ovulation Chart
i intend to take all 52 weeks that I'm allowed; unless work can make me a convincing offer to come back sooner. Plus I've been off on disability since November 1st.