Anyone Else Pissed About Maternity Leave Policies?

knottie_knottie1

For reference, I'm US based and know that the US has notoriously bad maternity leave policies and some people don't even get maternity leave, which should be against the law IMO.

Anyway, I'm pissed today because I learned my husband gets 16 weeks of parental leave through his job while I only get 6 weeks through mine. Seriously, WTF?! Like, super happy for him and I'm glad his company has a more generous leave policy, but I'm pissed that these kinds of discrepancies are a thing at all. 

Affectionatelyallie

I understand your frustration. It is required by law to give 6 weeks leave, however it doesn’t have to be paid. You can apply for FMLA which will also be unpaid leave but would protect you from losing your job and allow for 12 weeks leave. Some states allow you to apply for disability benefits as well. I would reach out to your local office government regarding employment. They should be able to tell you all the federal options that you might have! Best of luck!

mrs-kay929

Yep.. I went through the same process of emotion when I found out my 6 weeks is unpaid while my husband's 12 weeks are paid. Nothing we can really do about it (in my situation) so we've got a separate savings going for my maternity leave costs. The US is definitely behind the rest of the world in regards to maternity leave!

knottie_knottie1

Yeah, I've been looking into the other leave options. I'm just frustrated with the situation. Hopefully one day the US catches up with the rest of the world

jcapor21

I get 6 weeks short term disability (60-80% paid) and then as of 5/1/2022, 6 weeks paid 100% paternal leave. 

The US is horrible at supporting new mothers and births 

knottie_knottie1

We need more women in Congress who know what's up

msd15

I work for a small private orthodontics office. They do not offer maternity leave anymore as of 2yrs ago. When I have this baby I will likely loose my job. We are hoping to be in a good place financially so that I can stay home with it for at least a year

knottie_knottie1

@msd15 that's awful, I'm sorry that your place of work doesn't offer maternity leave. One of my friends, who was a single mom at the time, was in a similar situation a few years back and she ended up leaving her job and was on public assistance for awhile before seeking employment again. It's really terrible that businesses put families in those situations. Also, like why?! They're losing so many talented employees because of their BS policies!!! 

bustabucket

@msd15 That’s terrible! You’re in the US, yes? Is the office so small that FMLA doesn’t apply? I thought it was against federal law for women to lose jobs over pregnancy/maternity leave??

knottie_knottie1

I'm now also wondering, in looking at things further, if the Pregnancy Discrimination Act under Title VII would apply (also depends on the size of the company)

msd15

Yeah I’m in the US, and FMLA doesn't apply because they are so small. They also don’t offer insurance 🙄 I generally enjoy what I do, but it’s one of the downsides of working for a private office. But in dental, at least in my experience, the big corporate places are awful for a lot of different reasons and the pay tends to be a lot less. 

ellief_0926

I feel you ladies!  I’m an architect and get zero paid maternity leave while my husband gets 4 weeks fully paid.  It’s complete BS.  I’m not worried about losing my job but still super annoyed.  

hspg

In NJ we have NJFMLA that gets paid into every pay check. I think you get 80% of your pay for either 12 weeks consecutive or 8 weeks non-consective as long as it is all taken during the baby's first year of life. My fiancé should get the same. Then, if I read the laws correctly, you get job protection (but no pay) for up to one year so long as you have worked at your job prior to taking leave. I'm pretty happy with this. My only regret is that at my old job I could have left for two years (unpaid) and still had a job to go back to, but I made a move this year and let that perk go on my own decision. I'm a teacher.

paperbirdlady

I am very displeased about how the US treats pregnancy, moms, and babies in general. I work at a pretty good company that is fully remote and seeks talent from all over the world. That means some of coworkers have months (or two years) of maternity leave while I have up to 12 weeks. At least my employer pays us for the first 4 weeks and offers enough PTO that I think I can just afford to take 12 weeks off (if I don't take any vacations before baby arrives).

knottie_knottie1

Ughhh, that must be very frustrating to see your coworkers have so much more time off than you for the same reason @paperbirdlady 

I've never worked for an international company, but I'm surprised that international companies get away with disparities like this. Seems bad for morale.

lola2889

I get thr normal 12 weeks. Which i guess I get to say is lucky compared to some of you bit I just quit my other job of 5 years. If I was still there I would have gotten 20 weeks paid I full  so that kind of sucks. But oh well. US needs to get their sh*t together!

bluhbluh

THANK YOU for bringing this up. it’s so messed up that we have to worry about these things over here. i was stressed because i’m new to my job and by the time i give birth (if all goes well) it will just be under the year the company requires to have worked before paying out maternity leave. however, i brought this up with a friend and she mentioned that our state does provide some pregnant/disability leave, at a rate of something like 60-80% of normal salary. if i hadn’t mentioned this, i don’t know that i would think to look for this info on my own. 

reading some of your experiences, i am on the lucky side. good luck to all of you on this whole journey, through december and beyond. 

selandbump

I live in the UK so our maternity policies here are much more generous. You are entitled to a year off, but how much you get paid depends on the company policy of your employer, but in general every working mum is entitled to statutory maternity pay and if you don't work you get maternity allowance. It's not gonna pay your mortgage, but a couple hundred pounds a month for 8 months isn't bad. I wish it were different in the US as I can't imagine how you all cope. 

knottiedca5af6ea8218044

I’m sorry to hear this is a stress that you have to deal with at such a life changing moment. I’m incredibly lucky. I work for the Canadian government and we’re given 18 months of leave. I’m only paid for a year but I can average it over the 18 months. I’ll divide some of that with my partner so he can stay home with our little babe for a few months and do some bonding too. Here’s hoping that American policies and laws will one day change so other families don’t have to deal with bullshit like that.

knottie4c06a062bf9b6401

Hi @bluhbluh May I know which state you are in?

bookmaiden17_

I’m in the US too and think the lack of a federal policy is bs and needs to be changed. I feel really lucky to work for IL state government and both my husband and I get 10 weeks paid and then can add more if we have saved time. This rule went into effect three years ago and prior to that you got 20 days pd but if both parents worked for the state you had to share it. 

fariham96

I get 9 weeks paid leave but my husbands job only offers 3 days paid leave.. He works for a large company so I’m not sure why they only offer a couple days. I know there are some great companies out there that offer even 6 months Leave even for fathers! We just bought a house and with baby/hospital expenses, we just can’t afford to take any unpaid leave. But 3 days is basically just the hospital stay. A fathers role is just as important to help out with baby as well as supporting the mother so I’m really worried about how we’re going to manage..