Returning after maternity leave?

Whitphelps1

I have not told anyone at work that we are pregnant yet, but I planning on telling them around 13-14 weeks. What they do/will not know is that I plan on being a stay at home mom and will not be returning to work after my maternity leave. I am curious if anyone else has done this and how you informed your office when the time came. Did you work your two weeks notice, did you tell them at the end of the leave and just not come back, or did they know all along? I don't think my company would give me maternity leave if they knew I wasn't coming back, but I feel a little bad lying about it. Thanks for all of your input and advice!!

Emmy Lou

Assuming that your leave is paid, take your paid maternity leave and then let them know a week or two prior to your date to return that you will not be coming back.  Juice the paid leave!

Autumnsnow

I'm in the same boat.  My DH wants me to quit and then I would possibly find a part time job a lot closer to home.  I don't know when I should tell them.  And even though it's a paid leave I'm not sure if I would owe anything back because it technically wasn't earned yet.  Guess I would have to ask HR.  The only good thing is that we go by the fiscal calendar which ends in Feb 1st so I pretty much would have earned all my time by the time I go out..i believe so anyway.

momtojad

I had to return to work in order for me not to have to pay my employer back.  I would check with you leave policy.  

jf198400

Be careful. Check your employee handbook and STD policies. Some companies will make you repay the money if you do not come back to work for at least some period of time. Also if the company is paying for your health insurance and/or other benefits, you may also have to pay back those premiums. So be very careful if you plan to take ML and then quit.

Are you on health insurance through your work or your DHs? You don't want to have your insurance cancelled when you give birth. You will be eligible to go on your DHs insurance, but this will reset your deductible and out of pocket to zero.

jf198400

Ps. I am also planning to be SAHM as I would have 3 kids in daycare. But I plan on quitting before I give birth. I will give standard 2 weeks notice.

amjung2103

Be sure you double check with your company's policy! I know where I am affiliated with, if you don't come back after your maternity leave they take back the money you were given on leave.  Not sure if this would apply to your situation.  

ccam

Like the other ladies said, check your company's policy.  Most places protect themselves from employees doing stuff like that! Oh and I guess I would wait a little while to tell them that news, personally, because you never know what might happen between now and then.

MrsLillyG

Like pps have said.  my handbook says that if I do not return after leave, I will be viewed as voluntarily resigning on the first day of my leave.  which I think means I would not get paid or have other benefits.

MrsAdventure

I am most likely going to be in the same boat. DH just took an amazing job, with housing as part of his pay. Once we move, I will go from a 10 minute drive to work to about 45 minutes to an hour. The drive will eat up a good portion of my pay, so once LO comes along and needs a sitter, I seriously doubt it will be cost effective for me to work. I'll be breaking even at best. But since he's so new to the job, I don't want to jinx it by telling my boss I'll be leaving. When I tell him in a couple weeks, I will be telling him I plan on coming back, and then play it by ear. Thanks for posting this OP, I learned a lot of things that I had not yet even begun to consider.

Edit: word fail

ZAFrisbie

I'm going to leave my current job and become a SAHM when baby arrives. I don't think I have enough days saved up to qualify for extended leave, so I think I will probably leave around a month before baby is due. I'm planning on telling my boss this week that I'm pregnant and so confused on when to tell her I won't be returning. Ahh, the drama!

CPM13

I was honest with my employer and told them pretty early (told my boss first then HR) that I wouldn't be back. Our HR dept worked with me and allowed me to stay listed as an employee so I could get my 6 weeks STD. I believe that honesty is the best policy. You may need to go back to work there someday or use them as a reference. 

ssstephanie214

i bet you could google a help hotline for working moms/women, such as 9to5, the national assoc. for moms in business, or something like that. 

be careful to review your employment contract. 

TXSparky

jf198400 said:

Be careful. Check your employee handbook and STD policies. Some companies will make you repay the money if you do not come back to work for at least some period of time. Also if the company is paying for your health insurance and/or other benefits, you may also have to pay back those premiums. So be very careful if you plan to take ML and then quit.

Are you on health insurance through your work or your DHs? You don't want to have your insurance cancelled when you give birth. You will be eligible to go on your DHs insurance, but this will reset your deductible and out of pocket to zero.

This.

With my first all those things were true. Ultimately I decided to go back and just try it out. It is always easy to quit later but not so easy to find another job if something happens.

If I had left, I would have given about one month notice. 2 weeks was in the handbook but I was going to give a full month in order to have time to train someone and buy some good will for future references or favors just in case.

venussapphire

Be careful about letting them pay and then not coming back. Depending where you work the can make you repay the money. My top up was on the condition i return for one year after my mat leave is over, or repay. I will return...but with a 5 year gap. Check out the laws in your area.

Also I think its bad karma.

MollMoll4

I think it's shady to plan to get pay knowing you aren't returning. I think you can look into your company's policy and find out if they will pay you either way and go from there. If you aren't going to come back you won't be getting paid anyway, you can just plan for those extra 6 weeks accordingly.

Celticlass6

I'm undecided about staying home. We're fortunate enough that we could afford for me to stay home. I'm just not sure what I'm going to want. Ideally I'd like to work from home or do it part time, but my current job isn't very flexible about those options.

For those of us undecided, should we still research daycare options and reserve a slot if its needed?

jf198400

Celticlass6 said:

I'm undecided about staying home. We're fortunate enough that we could afford for me to stay home. I'm just not sure what I'm going to want. Ideally I'd like to work from home or do it part time, but my current job isn't very flexible about those options.

For those of us undecided, should we still research daycare options and reserve a slot if its needed?

I would definitely reserve a spot. Worst case scenario you lose out on $100 or so deposit. If you don't reserve a spot you could really be in a bad situation. In many areas there are long waiting lists for infants. Going back to work is stressful enough, even when you have excellent childcare setup.

Celticlass6

@jf198400 thanks! That's what I was thinking. Now to just do the research once I get some energy back!

tinsleystricker

I work in HR and my advice would be to take the paid STD leave. If you can, request for additional 6 additional weeks of upaid FMLA leave. Return to work for a week and turn in your termination notice. 

ExcitedKJ

As an HR professional, general rule in HR for FMLA is that return to work = 30 days, so you could give notice on 30 days of working after returning. My company does enforce this and will recoup any monies that they paid. So choose wisely, it's really best to be honest, unless you think they will give you in writing that you do not have to return to keep the money.

Whitphelps1

I work for a very small company so they are not required to follow the FMLA guidelines. I will be taking STD for my leave as we'll as whatever PTO and sick days I have remaining. Not sure if that changes anything, but I thought it was important to note. Also what makes it more difficult as I plan for the future.