Maternity Leave Resources

talbeejoy13

Does anyone know of any maternity leave resources (free) that help expecting/new mothers navigate the system to maximize maternity leave and leverage state and employer benefits? Kind of like a “know your rights, demand your time” type of advisor or coach?

knottiea26c409be2c64f01

I live in California and i bought this access package that i will try to use to help get the most time. It looks promising but we’ll see how it goes.
https://www.californiamaternityleave.com/login?cid=89bd59f3-579c-4961-bcca-3649f4cfc714

crownofhart

FMLA is for employees who have been with their employer at least 12 months and you get 12 weeks of unpaid, protected leave. It should protect your job and medical benefits. Some employers have a policy where they take your PTO until the balance hits 0 during the leave. Aka, if you have 4 weeks of PTO saved, starting day 1 of leave (FMLA starts), you’ll get a paycheck for the next 4 weeks. Then for the next 8 weeks, it’s unpaid since your PTO balance is 0. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fmla

There are also state specific laws, city specific laws, and employer specific laws. Some of them run concurrently. At a minimum you normally have to give your employer 30 days notice before taking any leave.

I’m in WA and know the laws pretty well since I used them with my first kid.