Maternity leave

nurseandftm

any working moms talked to their hr yet? Is everyone entitled to leave after birth? I emailed my hr today (i’m A nurse at a hospital), and since I have only been there for 6 months I am not eligible for Fmla. They said in this case the approve 30 day increments and it’s up to management. But, if you are out for 30 days they drop your insurance. Does this seem right? 

wednesdayschild

@nurseandftm what state are you in? A lot of states have better protection than FMLA (and it often kicks in quicker), although it’s almost always unpaid. 

nurseandftm

Florida. It’s not the unpaid part it’s the insurance part. 

wednesdayschild

@nurseandftm, if you’re on a protected leave, paid or unpaid, your company has a responsibility to keep you on their healthcare. Although they can require you pay your normal share of any premiums. So it’s important to know what is protected and what’s not! 

orbmaker

@nurseftm @ptx2020 I think the unfortunate part is that she doesn’t qualify for protected leave since she hasn’t been employed by the hospital long enough yet. That especially sucks cos you’ll be soooo close to 1 year employment (I’m assuming this is when it would kick in, since that’s the policy at my hospital) by the time the baby comes! Can you switch to your husband’s insurance if/when you lose it? How long can you afford to take off unpaid? I think the “good” news is that you and the baby will be covered for labor and delivery, regardless... 

wednesdayschild

@orbmaker, I know — that’s why I asked about states. For example, OR has a state version of FMLA that kicks in after 6 months and WA expanded reasonable accommodations to pregnant employees. 

Also, if you’re on leave and you end up qualifying for FMLA (you end up at 12 months while you’re in that 30 day window your work gives you) you’re eligible for the entire 12 weeks of protected time at that point. And your insurance is protected (if you pay your share).

As far as insurance goes, if the hospital has made a policy of continuing coverage for other employees out for other STD type leaves, under the PDA, they’d have to treat @nurseandftm’s leave the same and it shouldn’t affect insurance. But I don’t know enough about the hospital’s policies or FL laws to say that definitively 🤷🏼‍♀️

orbmaker

@pdx2020 Good points! That’s awesome about OR’s FMLA. CT has the same 1 yr employment requirement as the federal law, but has extended FMLA to 16 weeks and we recently voted that it must be paid (!), but that part doesn’t kick in for a few years yet. 

I also work at a large hospital as a nurse and was per diem at the time we were thinking about have a second kid. I switched to a benefits-eligible position, but learned I wouldn’t qualify for STD til I’d been in that position for a year (even though I’d been employed by the hospital in various positions for like 5 years). We ended up timing this pregnancy/EDD to fall safely after my year anniversary, but I didn’t find the hospital to be very flexible on the matter, since it has thousands of employees and the people I have a more personal relationship with have no say. But it’s worth asking when STD kicks in, @nurseandftm!

nurseandftm

Thank you for the advice. I’m checking into the std. my fiancé and I are not married yet so the baby can go on his Insurance but I’m sure I will need it also. So thank you for the ideas! 

Malidocious

I have been putting off talking to my HR department about my maternity leave but I suppose it's not too early anymore, lol.  I've officially been here for a full year as of October 22, so I qualify for FMLA.  I think it's 12 weeks of unpaid leave, which sort of sucks (the unpaid part) but it's better than nothing.