Disappointed by dismal maternity leave

vicsim1220

Being a FTM I've never payed much attention to media/policy regarding maternity leave in the United States.

I started my career 15 years ago working for Johnson and Johnson and I remember hearing they provided great maternity leave (now up to 17 weeks paid) I guess I assumed most companies offered some paid maternity leave. I now work for a very successful biotech in the Bay Area and just learned from HR that my company does not provide paid maternity leave benefits. Instead, I'll have to utilize short term disability for up to six weeks after birth which will pay around 66% of my salary and then once that runs out I can utilize 6 weeks of California Paid Family leave which will be capped and only equates to about 40% of my regular pay. I know living in California we have much better benefits than other states so I do feel fortunate about that. I'm just shocked that I work for a company whose mission statement is "Focused on Life" yet we don't provide paid maternity leave for our employees. I know some companies are leading the charge and stepping up to the plate especially tech companies (Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, Adobe etc) but the vast majority of us are left to pile the pennies to prepare for limited pay in order to care for our baby after birth.

It's crazy to learn that the U.S. is one of only four countries in the world with no required paid maternity leave. The others are Liberia, Swaziland, and Papua New Guinea.

I hope the latest trend towards improving maternity leave continues and more companies follow suit. Or maybe I should just move to Sweden which leads in maternity leave, 56 weeks at 80% pay!

ACleanLife24

This is why I had my babies in the UK .... we are planning on moving back to the US but after these shenanigans are done... oh yeah and no bills to have a baby, before and after

The US is really in a shameful position and it is so sexist but we can't talk about that part!

Melfox143

My company is based in California, I have to be on short term and get 40% of my pay. It's so disheartening to think my employer classified maternity leave as a disability. And who can live off of 40% of their pay?!??

jenn43

40% definitely sucks. But in comparison, I own my own business, so I won't get any pay while I'm out. That's my choice, and I'm not complaining, but everybody's situation is different. I was able to get a short term disability policy which will bring us some income. Is that an option for you, to supplement what your company pays?

meganmarie1087

I worked for a bank during my first pregnancy and I had to utilize short term disability and pay was 60%, which was obnoxious because bills do not just simply go away while you are on maternity leave. We had to save while I was pregnant for my leave. This time around I work for an insurance company that provides 100% pay for the first 6 or 8 weeks, depending on the type of birth and then after that you can utilize PTO or FMLA. I am rolling over a week of PTO from this year and utilizing 2 weeks from next year so that I can get a few more weeks off at 100% pay.

When comparing healthcare and maternity leave to other countries, the U.S. is terrible. I won't even get started on high deductibles!

AlissaLee17

I have to use my sick days (which I've been accruing for two years). Any time beyond that is STD at an undisclosed pay rate, or unpaid time off (cannot afford). I work for a bigger university, and since most of the benefits are great I had hoped maternity leave would be good, too. Mehhhhhh. I guess I'll just take my 3 weeks and be glad that I have anything.

ceds07

I work for a CA based company too and we just had a fully paid maternity leave policy put in place thanks in huge part to one of the senior executives recently giving birth. The first time around I had to use a combination of short term disability and pay, etc. I know the Bay Area competition right now is incredible. How big is your company? Is there any chance you can use this as an opportunity to get them to reconsider their policy?

parenthood4

Yep, it stinks. I was a teacher with my first two, so I could take 12 weeks because of FMLA, but it was unpaid.

We were required to use all of our sick time and vacation time for the leave, so I actually got paid for 8.5 weeks with my first because I had a lot of time saved up. My second I got paid for 4 days, since I had used up the time for my first.

Luckily we could afford it, but it puts people in a really bad situation. I stay home now so it's not an issue for me any more, but it really needs to be changed. It's infuriating.

ecwk

Don't get me started. It's shocking to me how outrageous this is in the U.S. If I was having baby at home in Ireland I would have six months full pay. I was genuinely appalled when I realised how awful the situation is here and it's terribly unfair to mothers. My DH gets better leave than I do!! His is 13 weeks full pay!! I'm a teacher and I get sweet f**k all!!!!

smount2011

I don't get maternity leave either. And for just starting a new job I get 1 week of vacation, 5 personal days, and 13 sick days. I'm taking 2 weeks off just because that's about all I can afford. Short term disability here in New York is a joke. I can take that, but it's maximum payout is $170 a week. When I make almost 3x as much in a week? I can't afford that.

blgibson2004

I've been with my company for 8 years and each year I get 2 weeks paid vacation/sick time. It has to be used by the end of the year or I lose it. I'll use all of my 2 weeks and then not get paid for the remaining 4 I'll be off. Due to FMLA I can take up to 12 weeks but I can't afford 10 weeks unpaid. I will take 6 to recover and be able to snuggle my new baby but going back is going to be terrible. You would think working for a small privately owned company whose motto is "family first" they would help their employees out a little more.

Stormiewinter

Ugh it is disgusting! I am originally from Canada and my whole family gets a full year at 60% pay frome unemployment insurance (which everyone has to pay into anyways). Now we live in New York and I teach. I do not get paid maternity leave but can use what sick days I have (about 5 weeks worth). I will do my best to take the rest of the 12 weeks unpaid. With my first I had to go out on bed rest and I am terrified this will happen again. If it does than I may have to take the whole leave unpaid. Literally makes me want to cry every time I think about it.

Torpedogirl

I cannot believe how much the policies vary. It really is ashame. I feel for you ladies. I am in NJ and maternity leave is one thing that we have going for us. It is actually pretty awesome how much time we get off paid IMO. I know it also varies depending on certain smaller companies being exempt. I work for a large hospital with over 7,000 employees over all of their buildings so I am lucky to be with them.

Tara0604

Has anyone seen this? i found it entertaining and depressing at the same time. Such a shame that the "greatest country in the world" has such disrespect for parents and families. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIhKAQX5izw

klantzer21

Sadly in the US most companies do not offer paid maternity leave. My company does offer 6-8 weeks unpaid maternity leave but I'm going to look into fmla just in case I need more than 8 weeks off

kfarr26

Yeah, my company doesn't even offer short term disability, and no company I called to buy a policy on my own had delivery as a covered event. My state has no maternity policy.

So basically, I'll take all of my accrued vacation and sick time. Then, on top of not being paid for 8 weeks, I'll actually write a check to my employer each would be payday to keep my insurance. Then I'll leave my tiny baby in daycare so I can go back to work while completely sleep deprived and hormonally unbalanced. Yay USA!

Parker16772

I get two weeks sick/vacation a year but I really don't want to take it all at the beginning of the year so I am debating on whether I want to use any of it at all. I will probably roll over a week so I will have more like three. I am thinking I might use one week just to pay for insurance because otherwise I will have to write a check to cover our insurance while I am out. I do have short term disability so I will get 60% of my pay. We are so behind other countries and it sucks but I knew that so we have been saving extra money to cover me not getting paid. I am hoping we don't have to dip into it but If we do we do. 

arcanejinx

Maternity leave is a big reason why I'm so glad I am Canadian. The cost of infant care alone would keep me out of the workforce for at least a year anyways.

SparkE82

I don't have any paid maternity leave, no STD, and my company is small enough that they aren't even required to keep my job for me. Luckily my employer is pretty awesome, and I am not worried about losing my job.

I will have to use a combination of sick time, vacation, and unpaid time off when the time comes. DH and I are trying to save up, but it seems since we have become pregnant, things keep breaking/needing repair around the house, cars, etc.. So saving has been slow going....but we will get there.

SparkE82

kfarr26 said:

Yeah, my company doesn't even offer short term disability, and no company I called to buy a policy on my own had delivery as a covered event. My state has no maternity policy. So basically, I'll take all of my accrued vacation and sick time. Then, on top of not being paid for 8 weeks, I'll actually write a check to my employer each would be payday to keep my insurance. Then I'll leave my tiny baby in daycare so I can go back to work while completely sleep deprived and hormonally unbalanced. Yay USA!

I am in the same boat you are......I feel your pain....lol. It will all be worth it though.

skruhmin

I also work for a high tech company - Oracle - and we are lucky to get full 100% paid 6 week STD (up to 12 weeks a year, but uncomplicated vaginal is 6 weeks, c-section is 8 weeks).  You can take 6 more weeks unpaid FMLA.  One "perk" is that I can take up to 4 weeks 100% paid before the due date (kind of stupid you can't put that on the back end).  I'll probably end up doing 2-3 before.  But yeah, it's awful.  At 6 weeks you aren't even close to feeling human yet let alone the hormones are still on rollercoaster status.

jess9802

When I was pregnant with DS I was an associate at my firm. I had no vacation or sick leave bank - I took time off as needed and at my discretion. This made it somewhat difficult for figuring out how much leave I could take. We didn't have a short term disability policy nor was our company large enough to qualify for FMLA or the state family medical leave act. Fortunately as someone on the partner track in an industry that does try to offer competitive benefits, I was offered four weeks at 100%, four weeks at 50%, and four weeks at no pay, plus 100% of my benefits paid while on leave. I ended up taking eight weeks off, so essentially got six weeks at full pay and two weeks at no pay. 

This time around I'm a partner in the firm, so my salary is a percentage of what I collect each quarter, and I take a monthly draw. Ordinarily if you draw more than your salary based on collections, you don't get another draw until you've collected enough to pay it back, but our managing partner has agreed to vary from that. So I'm going to take another eight weeks, take my draw, and then will have until the end of 2017 to pay back an overpayment, if any. I'm basically borrowing against future earnings, but that's the beauty of being a business owner, I guess.

DH works for a big tech company and he will be eligible for two weeks paternity leave at 100% pay.

MrsBroughton15

I work for the state...we get 2 weeks of parental leave paid, same as new fathers that aren't giving birth. WTF? Then I have to use all my vacation and sick time, THEN I MIGHT be eligible for disability that pays 50% for the remaining time of leave. 

kfarr26

SparkE82 said:

kfarr26 said:

Yeah, my company doesn't even offer short term disability, and no company I called to buy a policy on my own had delivery as a covered event. My state has no maternity policy.

So basically, I'll take all of my accrued vacation and sick time. Then, on top of not being paid for 8 weeks, I'll actually write a check to my employer each would be payday to keep my insurance. Then I'll leave my tiny baby in daycare so I can go back to work while completely sleep deprived and hormonally unbalanced. Yay USA!

I am in the same boat you are......I feel your pain....lol. It will all be worth it though.


It will be! In the big picture, this is a small blip in time. I am definitely very envious of those in other countries or even with short term disability here!

We have been putting aside money each paycheck since we decided we wanted to have kids and officially try, so I've pretty much self funded a paid maternity leave by time I'm out. So there's that.

I feel for those in a position where saving is more difficult and they're forced into super short leaves. As much as I hate how much this is going to cost us, at least we have that option.

Stormiewinter

For those of you who need to continue to pay for part of your insurance over Mat leave I would recommend checking with your hr department to see if they can spread it out over the months that you are paid in the fall and winter. That way you don't have to pay when you are unpaid. I am hoping to do this again so it is one less bill I have to worry about!

ashcav

I find the maternity leave situation in the US to be incredibly depressing and frustrating. I get 6 weeks @ 60% and 6 weeks unpaid. I'll have 4 weeks of vacation I can use luckily. But it makes me so angry, something needs to change. 

irenewslee

I also live in the bay area and I guess my benefit is slightly better than yours.  My company will subsidy on top of the 55% paid by short term disability for the first 6 weeks so I get paid 100%.  After that I get 55% from California family leave which I have the option to use my PTO to get full pay.  It does make it very difficult for moms to stay home and care for the baby.

Also, if you have health insurance with your company, you should check to make sure you will get full coverage during your mat leave.  If you were to extend your mat leave beyond the 12 weeks, you may end up losing insurance coverage (and your baby's too if you want to have the baby covered under your plan).  With my first, I was under DH's insurance but this time around, we are still deciding what to do. 

bachchic

You're not alone in being surprised by your company's maternity leave policy. Most working women don't ask about these benefits during their interview process -- and even thereafter -- for various reasons. Have you considered trying to negotiate your maternity leave? Despite the company's policy, sometimes exceptions are made. These are never "official" and may require some strategizing. One thing that may help you is showing your HR department or manager that your company's competitors are doing something more for their pregnant employees. fairygodboss.com is a place where women crowdsource their maternity leave benefits and they also wrote a guide about negotiating for maternity leave: https://fairygodboss.com/pages/topic/how-to-negotiate-for-more-maternity-leave

JessKo08

I work at satellite location of one of the best medical facilities in the U.S., although our insurance is pretty good, our maternity leave leaves something to be desired. You have to use up all your sick and personal time, then unpaid FMLA. Our nurses union does the negotiations but unfortunately it's the same company wide. It's just a shame such a reputable, very large institution who is nationally acclaimed and is constantly making medical breakthroughs is stuck in the Stone Age when it comes to maternity leave.

jmathi0149

There was an entire John Oliver Last Week Tonight dedicated to maternity leave stating a lot of these same facts. It was so interesting. Sometimes you can find the episodes on his website or youtube! It is sad how much it costs to start a family. We will end up paying $8000 out of pocket due to have to meet our $4000 out of pocket max two years in a row by having a March baby.

mshukh

The situation in US is terrible. I am from a country that will keep your job for you for 3 years and pay 100% for a full year (maybe 2, I'm not sure). 

With our first, I was working for one of the big 4 accounting firms which boast a very generous maternity leave. I was out for a full 16 weeks on 100% pay (this included some PTO time). I was also able to work from home as much as needed for the month after. I was fortunate. My hubby worked for a small company that did not provide any parental leave. 

This time I'm working for a health organization and will have 6-8 weeks STD @ 60% and will also be able to use a bit over 5 weeks of PTO at 100%. After that I can take unpaid as long as it does not exceed 6 months total, which I feel is great. But there doesn't seem to be any additional time over STD for maternity built in and that's disappointing. 

mistygenovese

I'm in KS (unfortunately, lol) and we only get FMLA if qualified. I work for an eDiscovery company that was just acquired by a larger company so once Jan. 1st rolls around, I'll lose all of the vacation time I've been building up instead of being able to roll the time over which really sucks. This means when it's time for me to go on leave, I'll only have roughly 30 hours built up instead of having 114 hours with my rollover time. US definitely needs to step up their maternity and paternity leave options.

skruhmin

mistygenovese said:

I'm in KS (unfortunately, lol) and we only get FMLA if qualified. I work for an eDiscovery company that was just acquired by a larger company so once Jan. 1st rolls around, I'll lose all of the vacation time I've been building up instead of being able to roll the time over which really sucks. This means when it's time for me to go on leave, I'll only have roughly 30 hours built up instead of having 114 hours with my rollover time. US definitely needs to step up their maternity and paternity leave options.

I would see if you can negotiate with them to get your old policy since you got pregnant under the old company.  That's worse that just starting a job and maybe getting benefits.

maddynnugget

I'm in NJ too but I work for a small exempt company. I got 12 weeks disability because my last was a c section. My boss was wonderful though and allowed me an extra 2 months off, albeit unpaid, and allowed me to come back at a more family friendly part time if I wanted to because she's awesome like that. This time things are structured a little differently at work due to necessity and being such a small, but busy company. This time I'll be back full time after the 12 weeks disability if all goes well.

ceruleanbreeze

Wow. All your posts make me feel very fortunate. I live in Australia where we are entitled to 18 weeks paid parental leave from the government. As I work in local government I also get 16 weeks paid parental leave from work (with the option of taking it at 32 weeks half pay). I have saved some long service leave and annual leave too, so I can take 12 months if I want and still be paid at least half my fortnightly wage. I don't have to return to work until the day before the child turns 2, if I want longer than that I need to resign.
All that combined with zero hospital bills puts my partner and I in a great position to start our family.
The U.S. needs to get on board with government paid parental leave, it would make such a difference in the lives of families, and help with bonding, not to mention promote breastfeeding for the recommended six months after birth.

bachchic

I agree and would also try to negotiate. If you're describing your situation accurately, you're in a bad spot and the best you can do is try to hope one of your managers or someone in HR is supportive of you. Here's a guide to negotiating maternity I found useful: https://fairygodboss.com/pages/topic/how-to-negotiate-for-more-maternity-leave

sheridanmmslater

You ladies are making me envious. I get to use my PTO (which is capped at 100 hrs, I can't accrue more than that) for 2.5 weeks, everything else comes from savings. No short term disability, no partial pay. Luckily hubby and I don't add extra exemptions to keep taxes from coming out of our paychecks so we'll get a sizable return in Jan or Feb that we'll put aside to pay all the bills as I'm the FT income right now (he's in school). His income will pay groceries, but it will be tight for a while.
We're fortunate to have wonderful families that help with childcare and are happy to have us over for dinner. I'm really hoping I can eke out an 8 week leave instead of 6.

Smom901316

mistygenovese said:

I'm in KS (unfortunately, lol) and we only get FMLA if qualified. I work for an eDiscovery company that was just acquired by a larger company so once Jan. 1st rolls around, I'll lose all of the vacation time I've been building up instead of being able to roll the time over which really sucks. This means when it's time for me to go on leave, I'll only have roughly 30 hours built up instead of having 114 hours with my rollover time. US definitely needs to step up their maternity and paternity leave options.

Or could you cash in some of those hours from this year and set the money aside for maternity ?

ECHbaby

Americans for get history far too quickly, people forget thatIF WE WANT SOMETHING we NEED TO DEMAND IT. That is the epitome of unions. Working towards obtaining human rights. Maternity leave is one of the most important things that should be covered by ALL and for all mothers.

Organize, talk with other moms to be or existing moms, write to ur rep and senators and DEMAND it.

Melodyags

The company that I work for but now out on upaid sick leave does not pay anything at all for maternity leave but you can take up to 16 weeks. I don't get paid sick time at all and did not purchase the short term or long term disability.

KatieintheCity

US parental leave policies are abysmal. I'll leave it at that, because if I get going, there's a chance I won't stop. And I'll want a drink. Which I can't have.