maternity leave at small business

alannakmc

hi ladies!

wondering if anyone can help.  i work at a small hedge fund (one of six employees) and will be the first person to ever have a baby, so there is currently no maternity policy!  i am trying to get all my ducks in a row and find out what other small hedge funds/investment offices offer, before i go to my superiors to discuss.  if anyone out there works in a similar environment (or even at a small business not associated with finance) - could you let me know what your policy is? 

i really appreciate it!

 

jnnfrrose6

I was the first person in forever to get pregnant at my male dominated office. Once I told my boss I was pregnant I told him straight out that the ML policy they had sucked. Feel free to put it nicer He asked me to elaborate and I explained hoe FMLA only covered up to 12 weeks unpaid with a guarantee of my position or something equal, but many places have been trying to improve their benefits and this is one area to do it. They asked me to do some more research on what others in our industry as well as our clients offer and make a proposal. They ended up making changes to our policy that allows someone on ML to get 6 weeks paid (not the ideal of course, but certainly better than the $0 the plan was originally). Sorry for the long paragraph, bumping from my iPad.

24karat

MandJS said:

Honestly, it just depends on how accommodating your boss wants to be. Sounds like the company is too small for FMLA to apply. Other people's experiences are merely going to be anecdotal. 

This.

But FWIW, I manage the finances and admin stuff for a small business (<10 employees) and have no backup when I'm out of the office. My boss is one of the more accommodating ones. While ML is unpaid, she held my job for me both times for 3mos plus the extra 3mos I was on bedrest this last pregnancy. I heard through the grapevine that there were people interested in my job but she turned them down, even though no one really expected me to return and it was a hardship on her for me to be out so long. She was not required to do this since FMLA doesn't apply to businesses with so few employees.

Not many small businesses have ML policies and most I've heard of are completely unpaid. ML hits pretty hard when you only have a few employees, so it's fairly understandable. Hopefully your boss can be accommodating, just go into it knowing he/she may not be able or willing to. Good luck!

rjeller32

MandJS said:

Honestly, it just depends on how accommodating your boss wants to be. Sounds like the company is too small for FMLA to apply. Other people's experiences are merely going to be anecdotal. 

From what I've read when I was pregnant with DD1, at least in my state you had to have at least 52 employees to have any sort of "requirement" allotted for maternity leave. I also live in a right to work state, so it affects a lot.

Definitely agree with quote poster that you can't really gain a lot of knowledge on the subject of maternity leave here. Talk to your employer, so you know from the get go what they allow and what they don't. Let them know what you want, and either settle on an agreement, or start looking somewhere else if you don't like the answer. Look up your state laws, but I definitely agree that the size of the business will most likely null out any FMLA.

BlckRoses

PP are correct, the federal limit for FMLA to apply is 50 employees reporting to locations within a 75 mile radius.  If you only have 6 employees, it doesn't apply.  However, FMLA is only job protection, not paid leave.  So even those of us who work for larger companies will be taking unpaid leave.  

You could also check to see if your company offers a short term disability policy.  While this won't hold your job for you, it will pay you some amount while your on medical leave (typically 6 weeks).

Just talk to your manager and see what they can do.  Also, some states (California) have state disability as well.  

obxlaurak

My old company did not have any sort of company-provided paid leave.  If you wanted to be paid, you had to sign up for short term disability and pay a premium with every paycheck and you'd only get 2/3 of your salary paid.  My new company is the same, however they pay the short term disability premium.  So that's a little better.

The US needs to get on the ball and have some better laws regarding paid maternity leave.

BlckRoses

MandJS said:

BlckRoses said:

PP are correct, the federal limit for FMLA to apply is 50 employees reporting to locations within a 75 mile radius.  If you only have 6 employees, it doesn't apply.  However, FMLA is only job protection, not paid leave.  So even those of us who work for larger companies will be taking unpaid leave.  

You could also check to see if your company offers a short term disability policy.  While this won't hold your job for you, it will pay you some amount while your on medical leave (typically 6 weeks).

Just talk to your manager and see what they can do.  Also, some states (California) have state disability as well.  

Generally speaking, to be covered for maternity leave under a short term disability policy, you need to be signed up BEFORE getting pregnant. Also, they generally only cover 6 weeks pay, and not usually at 100%. But again. Check your local policies.

Very true, I should have mentioned that.  My company (300+ person company) has a short term disability policy that pays 66.6% during medical leave only (6 weeks for birth).  And it has a 30 day elimination period, so it doesn't kick in for 30 days.  All in all, I will get 2 weeks of 66.6% pay for maternity leave.