Maternity Leave

sistrkate

Just out of curiosity, I was wondering what maternity leave policies are like for other working moms on this board.  I was visiting the "Pregnant After 35" board today and I was surprised at the number of people who have maternity leave policies that allow 4 weeks off PRIOR to the birth of a baby, and it can't be pushed till after delivery!  Gosh, I would love 4 weeks off before my baby is born to get my life organized but that's not an option available to me.

Our company's policy is 6 weeks off for a traditional delivery and 8 weeks for a c-section.  The first week off must be covered by any sick or vacation time that is accumulated, and then the rest is covered by short term disability pay.  We can take up to 12 weeks off through FMLA, but anything beyond the 6 or 8 weeks of short term disability is unpaid.  I actually think that's probably pretty standard.............but I was just curious.  What did/will you guys get?

jerseygirl81

I get the standard crapola. 6 weeks STD (8 weeks for c-section). Up to 12 weeks FMLA, all unpaid except for the percent that STD gives me.

O' Canada..... (and the rest of the civilized world)

Meg41208

jerseygirl81:

I get the standard crapola. 6 weeks STD (8 weeks for c-section). Up to 12 weeks FMLA, all unpaid except for the percent that STD gives me.

pretty much the same here, but I had the option use all my accrued sick and vacation leave time (which I did) to receive a paycheck.

kyfirewife

We have no maternity leave policy, other than the standard FMLA, which is unpaid.

We have to use any unused paid time off for the first part of the leave.

I have no short term disability coverage, so didn't get that either.

vbmeg

I think my company is pretty much the same as yours except that we are not required to use our PTO/Vacation time if we don't want to. Which is very nice!

tinytot_924

We get the normal FMLA coverage, but that's about it.  Any time that we take off is unpaid, unless we choose to use sick/vacation time.  My company doesn't do STD.  Sucks, big time. 

RXjenna

jerseygirl81:

I get the standard crapola. 6 weeks STD (8 weeks for c-section). Up to 12 weeks FMLA, all unpaid except for the percent that STD gives me.

O' Canada..... (and the rest of the civilized world)

Ditto this.  Except I didn't get paid STD.  For PG#1, I got laid off and hadn't worked at my new job long enough to qualify. And for PG#2, I didn't qualify because I was part time.

jerseygirl81

I could have used my PTO but elected not to so I wasn't stuck with zero personal/vacation days. I don't know what I would have done when Baby C got sick, and it would have taken me forever to accrue my vacation again. Those days mean even more to me now.

Megs&Nick

We had the standard 6 or 8 weeks based on type of delivery.  Those weeks were covered by STD.  My company did not have to abide by FMLA because they had less than 50 employees so 6 or 8 weeks is all you get.

notguilty

No maternity leave, no FMLA (not enough people). I'm not even covered by the Pregnancy Disability Act, so they could fire me if they wanted to.

I work for all men too.  I get sick everytime I think about telling them.  I have no idea how they are going to react because they've never had to deal with this situation before.  Hope for the best, expect the worst.

suprchicy

I get to use FMLA that runs concurrent with my sick leave.  If I have 12 weeks of sick leave, I can take 12 weeks off.  I am only able to take 6 weeks as that will leave me with very little sick leave for doctor's appts, cold/flu season, etc.  The next baby, though, I won't have even 6 weeks of sick saved so I will probably end up going unpaid for a couple weeks before returning to work.

pinkylu

Please don't hate me... I got 12 weeks paid.  I had to use 3 vacation days, then all of my short term disability leave, then my company ponied up the rest.  My former bosses used to work at Children's as faculty and that was their policy, so they just adopted it for our company.  I know, I was very lucky!

teacherjess

I was never very sure of my policy, but I was allowed to work up until my due date (I worked until the day I was induced early), and then I received 6 weeks paid leave (vaginal delivery). After that, I had to use my banked sick days to cover any extra leave. I get 15 paid sick days a year so I had accumulated about 45 days, or 9 extra weeks that I could use. Summer breaks didn't count (that will probably change soon) and since I had DD right before summer, I was able to spend all of summer break with her. So I technically had a huge amount of time. Altogether, though, since my maternity leave went into summer and I returned in August to start the school year, I only actually used 3 weeks off. It worked out really well for me and I hope it works out as well next time.

cat81305

For PG#1 I had the standard but your first week was either unpaid or PTO, then I got 60% of salary through STD or FMLA (I used STD).  For PG#2 I get nothing.  I am an independent contractor so we will be hurting but life goes on.  I will take only a few weeks off totally and then pick up a few hours during my 3-6 weeks then go back working my regular hours (3 days) at 6 or 7 weeks. 

kel716

Ours is based on our sick leave bank.  As a teacher, you accrue 15 sick days each year (and up to 3 personal if you don't take them).  They roll into the next year.  I think I have 70+ days right now, post my almost 50 day mat leave last fall.  I'm going into my 10th year of teaching, and I usually don't take many days off.

We get 8 weeks from the day we deliver.  I was due Aug 25th, which was the 5th day of school for us.  I got a note to excuse my absence for advanced pregnancy, and did not start this past school year.  I delivered B on the 28th of August, and had covered until Thurs, Oct 23.  I took a personal day on that Friday.  So, I was 100% paid with benefits for almost 10 weeks last year (about 1.5 weeks before delivery + 8 weeks after). 

*It used to be 6 weeks for vag delivery and 8 weeks for c/s, but when our district was hurting for $$ and the union couldn't negotiate a salary increase, we got it changed to 8 weeks regardless of how you delivered. 

*If you don't have the sick leave, you don't get paid.

*you can take up to 1 full school year on FMLA.  You just don't get paid when your maternity leave is up. 

Miller238

I luckily get 12 weeks paid leave. 

alisonada

I got 8 weeks, with the first two being unpaid unless I chose to use any PTO. I could take an additional 4 unpaid under FMLA (or use additional PTO if I had it, and wanted to.) Both times I had a ton of PTO saved up, so I was able to take almost 12 weeks paid and still have days left.

Klmorgan83

Mine is the same as yours.

Used PTO for the first week, then I got 8 weeks using STD because I had a c-section, and could take up to 12 weeks through FMLA.  I used PTO to cover the last 3 weeks.

I didn't want to use PTO for those 3 weeks...I was just going to take it unpaid to save my hours, but they said I have to use any PTO that I had available until it was down to 40 hours.  It sucked using it, but I still have plenty left over because I saved so much of it up before I went on leave.

mrs.george2be04

Mine was the same as yours and I used PTO to supplement my check.  If I had another child I would not be eligible for STD because I am PT.

LoriZ

Evidently some states have laws about this stuff.  An old coworker of mine when we lived in PA was really mad because she transferred from NJ to PA with the same company.  She got 4 weeks before and 8 weeks after (c-section) with her first child and assumed she'd get the same with the second since she was still working for the same company.  They wouldn't give her the 4 weeks before since they said they only do that in NJ because of NJ's laws.

Mrs_D_in_KY

I'm in the same boat as daves_sweetpea. I get nothing, except to use my vacation for the year - woo hoo.

My company is so small, and there was no need for a set maternity leave policy before me, so there isn't one currently.

We're working on saving up as much as we can to cover 2 months of my paycheck.

Temp806465500003043

I got nothing but my vacation (2 weeks per year with no rollover).  I work for a Wendy's franchise so if they offered it to me they would be required to offer to an employee in our stores.  I was eligible for FMLA but they do not offer STD.  

I took my 2 weeks vacation then I had 4 weeks unpaid.  I went back to work a few hours a week for the next 8 weeks just to make enough to cover my insurance.   

It sucks but I am just glad to have a good job with pretty good insurance in this economy.   

hav2run

jerseygirl81:

I get the standard crapola. 6 weeks STD (8 weeks for c-section). Up to 12 weeks FMLA, all unpaid except for the percent that STD gives me.

O' Canada..... (and the rest of the civilized world)

Ditto this.  We just put expenses in savings while I was pregnant and I enjoyed every second of my 12 weeks off despite the unpaid time.  I agree, Canada has it going on, but I would have one kid after another just because they make it easy on working moms.  My cousin lives there and has 6 kids because of the luxurious paid leave.  

lisamm1

Meg41208:

jerseygirl81:

I get the standard crapola. 6 weeks STD (8 weeks for c-section). Up to 12 weeks FMLA, all unpaid except for the percent that STD gives me.

pretty much the same here, but I had the option use all my accrued sick and vacation leave time (which I did) to receive a paycheck.

Ditto Megs.  I was lucky and had almost 5 weeks vacation accrued, plus I could earn PTO while using my PTO, so I came out pretty good.  Only about a week unpaid because the first week I had to use vacation time, then STD kicked in (but only at 80%).

MrsMoher

jerseygirl81:

I get the standard crapola. 6 weeks STD (8 weeks for c-section). Up to 12 weeks FMLA, all unpaid except for the percent that STD gives me.

O' Canada..... (and the rest of the civilized world)

Same for us except we get the full 14 weeks of FMLA, not just 12.  But LMAO at the O'Canada thing. 

AngRx

Meg41208:

jerseygirl81:

I get the standard crapola. 6 weeks STD (8 weeks for c-section). Up to 12 weeks FMLA, all unpaid except for the percent that STD gives me.

pretty much the same here, but I had the option use all my accrued sick and vacation leave time (which I did) to receive a paycheck.

This is what I am doing..I will go back with 0 sick time/vacation time but I will be paid the entire time. Also, my 5 weeks of STD was at 80% pay...my check book didn't like that. 

Lyons_in_2007

MrsMoher:

jerseygirl81:

I get the standard crapola. 6 weeks STD (8 weeks for c-section). Up to 12 weeks FMLA, all unpaid except for the percent that STD gives me.

O' Canada..... (and the rest of the civilized world)

Same for us except we get the full 14 weeks of FMLA, not just 12.  But LMAO at the O'Canada thing. 

Esther and I work for the same company, so ditto this for me.  Oh, and our STD is paid @ 100%, so that was nice.  Also, my STD wound up being extended for a few weeks (past the standard 6 weeks) due to a few complications.  I wouldn't have known that was an option.  I was planning on the extra time being coded as unpaid FMLA until my LOA specialist informed me otherwise.