I am sooo ready for my maternity leave. It's already hitting 115 degrees in the building where I work. I plan on starting mine at the end of July and using my full 12 weeks, as the company I work for is closing down at the end of October anyways.
I am planning on taking 3-4 weeks off & my husband will be taking the first 2 weeks off with me. Though when I return to work i will be taking the baby ("Wiggles") with me either 2/3 days a week & having my retired mother-in-law watch her the other 3/2 days a week. I work as a patient coordinator at my parents dental office, where my mother (as a young dentist) did the same thing with my brother & I when we were young. My mother was hoping I would be bringing "Wiggles" with me everyday, but I don't see how anyone would get anything done if I did. Has anyone else done something similar?
@JournoGrl23 Be sure to check in on how your STD works. Mine has a 7 day wait period, so my first week I'll be using PTO and then using the STD for the next 5 weeks (assuming vaginal 6 week disability period). I get 60% pay from STD. I can top up to 100% of my pay by using some PTO hours each week in addition to the STD pay but it has to be vacation hours so it isn't counted by the STD and deducted from what they pay out.
@JournoGrl23 Be sure to check in on how your STD works. Mine has a 7 day wait period, so my first week I'll be using PTO and then using the STD for the next 5 weeks (assuming vaginal 6 week disability period). I get 60% pay from STD. I can top up to 100% of my pay by using some PTO hours each week in addition to the STD pay but it has to be vacation hours so it isn't counted by the STD and deducted from what they pay out.
My HR told me for the company I work for we get STD starting day one for six weeks for vaginal delivery and 8 for c-section (what the doctor told them). We get paid at 50 percent STD at that time and then have to use 4 hours of PTO a day along with the STD. After the six or eight weeks I can continue to get paid for 4 hours a day until my PTO runs out (which will be at 9 weeks) and then the rest up to 12 weeks is unpaid. I want to go as long as I can but we may not be able to afford anything other than full pay. Especially now that I found out the cost of day care!
Oh, just a heads up for some people - check and see if your "maternity" policy is differentiated from STD. At my company it is, I would get 6 weeks at 60% for STD - Which if I were pulled from work for a pregnancy related complication THAT would be what I was covered under until I give birth. "Maternity leave" can not start at my company until after delivery, and is 8 weeks at 100% with a 7 day waiting period.
So in theory, I could have 6 weeks pre baby at 60% and 8 weeks after baby at 100% - and yes I called HR to make sure the two were not mutually exclusive.
I'm planning on working until I deliver, but if I can't - Good to know!
Yeah, in NJ we get 4 weeks before birth and THEN once the baby is born that's when the 6 or 8 weeks of "maternity" STD start. The weeks prior to birth are still STD but they don't count toward the weeks after baby is born, it basically starts over.
I will be taking 6 weeks with our short term disability and then I hope to take another 6 weeks unpaid if we can swing it. The big problem is insurance: work only has to cover my insurance until the end of the month. I am due August 2nd but if I have Bean on July 29th they can drop me on August 1st so I have to pay out of pocket. So part of my maternity leave may be spent looking for a new job! Oh, and I actually run the infant classroom at a daycare so I have to pay to take care of my own baby when I go back.
At first I was considering minimum leave for financial reasons. Then I applied for STD. So between that and PTO (though it was a process to.get it figured out because no one would give me answers, everything was so vague) I'm taking the full 12 weeks with FMLA. I can. And I will never have this particular baby as a newborn again and I want no regrets. I can always make money. And I hate my job so no reason to rush back.
Ugh, can I just bitch for a second about how horrible parental leave is in this country?? Reading this thread makes me sick. We shouldn't have to be making these decisions, even puppies aren't separated from their mothers this early! It's sad. I keep hoping for the laws to change, but before August? Not a chance. *Maybe* our kids will have better leave by the time we're grandparents
I only get 1 week at 100%, after that it's a combo of STD and vacation days. My husband gets nothing. It sucks.
Ugh, can I just bitch for a second about how horrible parental leave is in this country?? Reading this thread makes me sick. We shouldn't have to be making these decisions, even puppies aren't separated from their mothers this early! It's sad. I keep hoping for the laws to change, but before August? Not a chance. *Maybe* our kids will have better leave by the time we're grandparents
I only get 1 week at 100%, after that it's a combo of STD and vacation days. My husband gets nothing. It sucks.
I was thinking the whole time I was reading these post is how messed up that they make it so hard to figure out what your actual maternity leave is... It's like you need a degree in math or something to keep it all straight. It's sad there's nothing uniform about it in this country with a resonable amount of paid time guaranteed.
Ugh, can I just bitch for a second about how horrible parental leave is in this country?? Reading this thread makes me sick. We shouldn't have to be making these decisions, even puppies aren't separated from their mothers this early! It's sad. I keep hoping for the laws to change, but before August? Not a chance. *Maybe* our kids will have better leave by the time we're grandparents
I only get 1 week at 100%, after that it's a combo of STD and vacation days. My husband gets nothing. It sucks.
This ^ exactly! I get ZERO paid leave. My company has a loophole, where I work at multiple locations throughout the year and because of this I'm considered a "seasonal" employee and they don't have to offer me any benefits. No Heath care either. DH doesn't get paid vacations or sick days either so for him to stay home at all we are at a zero income for that time.
@Samm116 I am in the exact same boat. I am considered a "contract" employee, and I work for the state! I have a government job and they pay me zippo for maternity leave. My husband just started a new job, he gets no time off paid and we are already on a super tight budget. This should be interesting......
I am a teacher in Texas. My district is only required to give us 12 weeks.... completely unpaid (you have to use your days if you want to get paid). I do not have insurance through my job, I get it through my husband, so even STD is not an option because I did not enroll in September. Long story short, I will be taking the first 6 weeks off and using 3 weeks of "vacation" so I only miss one check. Oh the joys of education. If I need any other days off throughout the year, I will be docked pay.
@melissalanga5 A friend from highschool was in a similar situation, and she said what she did was go on state insurance (medicaide). I don't know your financial situation, or what state you are in, but she was able to qualify through her maternity leave of 12 weeks, for herself and the child, since her husbands wages alone were low enough that for a family of 3 she qualified, and CT at least had emergency provisions in place for women who were pregnant or new mothers (I think the cutoff was having an 18month old?) and children. In CT it was called the "husky plan."
@emilymt06 Its messed up. DH worked for a district in DFW for 9 years, his last year he went to them about what to do about all his saved up days and they wouldn't pay out. So he literally took like 20-something days off 2nd semester.
Yes! @texasmama201 our Librarian is retiring this year with 30+ days left. The district told her you had to have 50+ to get paid out... and I think payout is about 60% of actual pay. Ridiculous. They won't even let her donate to the sick day bank (for long-term special absence circumstances). She has taken off every Friday since she found out. I would be out of here! Haha!
Yes! @texasmama201 our Librarian is retiring this year with 30+ days left. The district told her you had to have 50+ to get paid out... and I think payout is about 60% of actual pay. Ridiculous. They won't even let her donate to the sick day bank (for long-term special absence circumstances). She has taken off every Friday since she found out. I would be out of here! Haha!
Hell, I'd be peacing out a month before school ends!
@emilymt06 They wouldn't even give him a 60% payout. He was so over it anyway that he had a great leisurely semester! He was barely there for his A day because his Assistant Principal asked him to miss as few days as possible on B days due to the AP class he taught.
Ugh, can I just bitch for a second about how horrible parental leave is in this country?? Reading this thread makes me sick. We shouldn't have to be making these decisions, even puppies aren't separated from their mothers this early! It's sad. I keep hoping for the laws to change, but before August? Not a chance. *Maybe* our kids will have better leave by the time we're grandparents
I only get 1 week at 100%, after that it's a combo of STD and vacation days. My husband gets nothing. It sucks.
It is so sad! I was thinking the same thing when I read through this. My company has no maternity leave. I get 4 weeks of short term disability paid at 60% and am taking vacation and sick days for the rest and working from home so I can be with the baby for 12 weeks. So sad we have to make such hard choices in order to support our families.
With my first I took the 12 weeks under FMLA, 6 of which I got partially covered under STD, and the rest unpaid. We had a difficult time making this work financially, and that combined with how quickly my first put himself on a schedule, I ended up picking up a side job for the second half of my leave.
This time I am planning on 8 weeks, which will be completely paid, between what I get for STD, my company covers the rest, and some sick time and PTO. I am planning on going back part time for weeks 9 and 10 (mostly working from home). My husband actually gets 4 weeks fully paid, so he'll take the first two with me, and then do an additional 2 weeks at the end so we won't have to start daycare until 12 weeks. With this plan we aren't reducing our paycheck any, which I think will make us more comfortable in the end. I wish I could take more time, but I'm not sure it's worth the added stress. Plus my position will be difficult for my company to cover when I'm out.
My HR didn't know their own STD policy and told me I could take 2 wks of PTO then use remaining 10 with STD only to find out through STD rep that if I deliver vaginally, I'm only allowed 6 wks!
I wonder if it's worth brining up to my boss about; he was in the meeting with me when they first told me about this and my plan for mat leave. I'd hit my 1 year mark on 11/4 to be eligible for 4 wks paid mat leave. Should I see if they can have me take 8 wks first then work for a month until I reach my 1yr anni. to take 4 more wks paid? Is that even possible? I just feel so misled!
@AliKay20 I would always advise everyone to speak with the disability insurance company over HR. I can't tell you how many time HR told me wrong and different things when I was trying to plan my leave with DD. I learned my lesson uuugh. That said, 6 weeks of STD for vaginal delivery is pretty standard, but you'll still be covered under FMLA for the remaining 6 weeks, it'll just likely be unpaid. And, yes, as long as you don't exhaust your FMLA, you CAN go back and take more of it later. I think it has to be within the first year, or maybe 6 months, of baby's life. I know someone who went back to work after 8 weeks and then used the rest of her FMLA to create a part-time work schedule for the first few months she was back.
@alikay20 I ran into HR not knowing their own policy at my company as well. Frustrating. Luckily in my case it worked to my benefit (it's actually more generous than I was quoted by HR, but still I was given wrong information)
In this case I would speak to your boss. If he thinks you are a valued employee, and it was HR who screwed up, a lot of times him pushing back against the powers that be in your company may buy you something a little closer to what you were expecting.
When we first moved to my new company (my whole office moved) I was told benefits would start day one. Apparently, no, they did not. My boss pushed back on my behalf and the company bonused me the exact amount to pay COBRA for 90 days as a work around. It may not be a perfect solution, but if anyone is going to figure out something you'll need your boss on board.
I talked to my supervisor today and he said he will support whatever I would like to do with these options:
At week 8, decide if I want to do part-time and slowly ramp up before I come back full-time after 12 wks or if I'm just not ready, take unpaid 4 weeks remaining but note that HR assured my job will be safe (even though I'm not covered under FMLA because I haven't hit my 1 yr mark at the company).
Either way, he said he's going to vet this with his boss too so I don't need to be concerned with all the what if's and ensure HR is on board. That's at least some relief. It's so annoying when I can't depend on HR for these.....HR related things.
@AliKay20 HR can be tricky. I was told I had 16 weeks of FMLA and when talking to a gf of mine that works in HR at another company she explained that yes I could take 16 weeks but then I an ineligible for FMLA for the following 2 years upon my return to work... if i take only 12 weeks I am eligible again in 1 year.
Not that I am planning on getting pregnant right away... I know there are oops babies and I want my job protected... so surprised that HR didn't full explain that.
I guess I shouldn't be, but I am in a bit of shock as to how terrible HR/maternity leave is for the majority of us. I feel like there is a ton of misinformation and an attitude that we should be finding these things out on our own. I am a FTM, and ignorantly assumed we were entitled to at least 6 weeks paid when having a baby.....HAHA boy was I wrong. The biggest concern for my HR rep was where I sent the check to pay for my share of health insurance while on FMLA and would I be able to manage it since I don't get paid a penny? I am pretty disgusted by the whole thing.
My baby timing managed to fall perfectly, without being planned like that.
Here, you get 60days paid (depressing compared to the 6months paid id get in Ireland!). But, I'm a teacher on a Jan to November school year and the holidays have fallen excellently. We've got 3 weeks at the start of August, my due date is the following week so I'll probably get the doc to sign me off sick St that point if I haven't had baby yet. Then the 60days maternity. Then there'l be 3-4 weeks until the end of the school year which I'll probably take as unpaid leave. That brings me to the end of year holidays, the end of my contract and us leaving and moving home. Couldn't have worked out better if planned really.
@SkiChic626 yay! woohoo! Excited for you... did you get a chance to listen to that podcast? I'm so curious what you think about it... and BTW I am so jealous that you are off. I have decided to work up until I'm due... Now that I'm 34 weeks and walking makes me feel like I'm being stabbed in the vagina I am kind of regretting it... but I want my 12 weeks "with" the baby... bright side is today is Wed and next week I have Vacation in ME by the lake with my Niece and DH and his family... and last week I had off too... so its not like I've been working a whole bunch lol ... but I will say then I am back until the baby is born. I have already prepared everything for my MAT Leave. The only thing I have to do now is set up some emails to be sent out when I go into labor... maybe save them in drafts.
@mksfav turns out our budget office will be paying for everything and then I get a bulk bill for what I owe... so like 600$ bill right when I return to work... I plan on saving that from my paycheck during STD.
@Katm89 not yet, but I'm going to try! Did you post the exact one that you listened to? I didn't see it....I'm so bad at thoroughly scrolling through all the threads, I miss a lot lol. I actually feel OK still, but walking up the stairs is like torture, especially with my purse and work bag, and getting in and out of the car is like an Olympic event these days. My "official" leave doesn't start until July 22nd (unless baby comes before Aug 5th), so the next 2 weeks are all the vacation and personal time that I need to use since I won't be coming back until January 2017!!! If I don't use it now I'll lose it
I only get paid monthly, and it looks like my three weeks unpaid should fall in such a way I always have something of a check, but just in case - yeah I will need to know that! I just emailed my HR contact requesting the information.
I am planning taking 3 months/12 weeks off, been saving all my vacation for this. Feel I could use a vacation before though. Its really dead in my office with everyone else taking vacation and sometimes feel, waiting for this bundle of joy to arrive. My hubby has a job that doesn't have any paid leave, so he might take a few days off during delivery and we'll see what's next.
I didn't have to worry about paying for health insurance while I was on leave with DD, it just remained active, and then when I came back they took a little from each of my paychecks until I was caught up on my premiums. I'm assuming it's going to work the same way this time, as I haven't been told otherwise.
I had my 32 week appointment yesterday and my doctor gave me a letter with some restrictions to give to HR where I work. One of the restrictions was to avoid extreme heat, but I work in a factory. So my supervisor took the letter to HR, and then comes back and tells me that she has to send me home and that they are putting me on medical leave because I don't hit my one year mark until tomorrow for FMLA. The factory is closing down at the end of October and I had planned my FMLA to where I just wouldn't have to go back buuuut now it looks like if the baby comes on her due date that I'll be having to go back to work when she's just a few weeks old.
@cinnabonjovi That stinks! I totally would have waited one day to give them the letter. Can your doctor specify further, to allow you to continue working? (if you've talked about it with them, and working is safe for you and baby) Putting "extreme heat" might force you out, but putting "working in temps exceeding 95 degrees for longer than two hours" (or whatever threshold they actually want) may allow you to work mornings, or something.
Re: Working moms - Plans for maternity leave ?
Has anyone else done something similar?
Oh, just a heads up for some people - check and see if your "maternity" policy is differentiated from STD. At my company it is, I would get 6 weeks at 60% for STD - Which if I were pulled from work for a pregnancy related complication THAT would be what I was covered under until I give birth. "Maternity leave" can not start at my company until after delivery, and is 8 weeks at 100% with a 7 day waiting period.
So in theory, I could have 6 weeks pre baby at 60% and 8 weeks after baby at 100% - and yes I called HR to make sure the two were not mutually exclusive.
I'm planning on working until I deliver, but if I can't - Good to know!
Baby #2 due 8/11/2016
I only get 1 week at 100%, after that it's a combo of STD and vacation days. My husband gets nothing. It sucks.
I was thinking the whole time I was reading these post is how messed up that they make it so hard to figure out what your actual maternity leave is... It's like you need a degree in math or something to keep it all straight. It's sad there's nothing uniform about it in this country with a resonable amount of paid time guaranteed.
This time I am planning on 8 weeks, which will be completely paid, between what I get for STD, my company covers the rest, and some sick time and PTO. I am planning on going back part time for weeks 9 and 10 (mostly working from home). My husband actually gets 4 weeks fully paid, so he'll take the first two with me, and then do an additional 2 weeks at the end so we won't have to start daycare until 12 weeks. With this plan we aren't reducing our paycheck any, which I think will make us more comfortable in the end. I wish I could take more time, but I'm not sure it's worth the added stress. Plus my position will be difficult for my company to cover when I'm out.
I wonder if it's worth brining up to my boss about; he was in the meeting with me when they first told me about this and my plan for mat leave. I'd hit my 1 year mark on 11/4 to be eligible for 4 wks paid mat leave. Should I see if they can have me take 8 wks first then work for a month until I reach my 1yr anni. to take 4 more wks paid? Is that even possible? I just feel so misled!
Baby #2 due 8/11/2016
@alikay20 I ran into HR not knowing their own policy at my company as well. Frustrating. Luckily in my case it worked to my benefit (it's actually more generous than I was quoted by HR, but still I was given wrong information)
In this case I would speak to your boss. If he thinks you are a valued employee, and it was HR who screwed up, a lot of times him pushing back against the powers that be in your company may buy you something a little closer to what you were expecting.
When we first moved to my new company (my whole office moved) I was told benefits would start day one. Apparently, no, they did not. My boss pushed back on my behalf and the company bonused me the exact amount to pay COBRA for 90 days as a work around. It may not be a perfect solution, but if anyone is going to figure out something you'll need your boss on board.
I talked to my supervisor today and he said he will support whatever I would like to do with these options:
At week 8, decide if I want to do part-time and slowly ramp up before I come back full-time after 12 wks or if I'm just not ready, take unpaid 4 weeks remaining but note that HR assured my job will be safe (even though I'm not covered under FMLA because I haven't hit my 1 yr mark at the company).
Either way, he said he's going to vet this with his boss too so I don't need to be concerned with all the what if's and ensure HR is on board. That's at least some relief. It's so annoying when I can't depend on HR for these.....HR related things.
Not that I am planning on getting pregnant right away... I know there are oops babies and I want my job protected... so surprised that HR didn't full explain that.
Here, you get 60days paid (depressing compared to the 6months paid id get in Ireland!). But, I'm a teacher on a Jan to November school year and the holidays have fallen excellently. We've got 3 weeks at the start of August, my due date is the following week so I'll probably get the doc to sign me off sick St that point if I haven't had baby yet. Then the 60days maternity. Then there'l be 3-4 weeks until the end of the school year which I'll probably take as unpaid leave. That brings me to the end of year holidays, the end of my contract and us leaving and moving home. Couldn't have worked out better if planned really.
Baby #2 due 8/11/2016
This^ so, so sad.
@mksfav turns out our budget office will be paying for everything and then I get a bulk bill for what I owe... so like 600$ bill right when I return to work... I plan on saving that from my paycheck during STD.
Baby #2 due 8/11/2016
@SkiChic626
Baby #2 due 8/11/2016
@mksfav Thanks! I hadn't even thought of that!
I only get paid monthly, and it looks like my three weeks unpaid should fall in such a way I always have something of a check, but just in case - yeah I will need to know that! I just emailed my HR contact requesting the information.
@Allisun85 Definitely something I hadn't thought of either. Hopefully they are more informative than my HR!
Baby #2 due 8/11/2016