Work for small company-no maternity plan in place...

tbakken319

I work for a small, family owned business that has less than 20 employees. There are only 2 female employees and I am sure from our situations our bosses never thought either of us would be having children. Anyway - I am now 4 weeks pg and am planning on telling the owners after the new year.

 What should I do regarding the possibility of creating a maternity leave plan with my employer? Should I request time off and some length that be paid? What do your companies offer for time off for maternity leave?

 Another note - this company really has not set up any policies/procedures regarding many things so this is just one more area they do need improvement on anyway. We have only been in business for 3 1/2 years at the time.

Thank you for any advice you can give! I need to come up with a plan for when I announce the news!

EmarketerMom

I own a small company so I understand the fact they don't have an official plan in place. It's very smart of you to research what other small companies do - make sure you chat with other women that work for small businesses locally. How long have you worked there? If you have worked there for over a year, I would guess they will give you 6 weeks paid time off. At least that is what I would do for my employees.

You said they probably weren't expecting either yourself or the other female employee to get pregnant (which means they aren't expecting long term leave on the horizon) so I would make sure and reassure the owners that you are committed to making sure your time off goes as smoothly as possible. Perhaps present them with your plan (who will cover your responsibilities, etc) as you announce the news. 

Good luck!!!

RoxyLynn

There are a lot of well-established companies that don't offer 6 weeks paid leave.  That would really be asking a lot.

Think about your biggest concerns - job protection?  Income?  Continuing benefits? - and tailor your request accordingly.

EastCoastBride

RoxyLynn:

There are a lot of well-established companies that don't offer 6 weeks paid leave.  That would really be asking a lot.

Think about your biggest concerns - job protection?  Income?  Continuing benefits? - and tailor your request accordingly.

Ditto this 100%.  What is your ultimate goal in getting leave?  As it's such a small company, FMLA doesn't apply to you. 

I think expecting to get paid may be pushing it.  Sure, you can ask, but I really would NOT expect that at all.  Especially if it's a small company. They may really not be able to afford it, esp if they have to bring someone in temporarily to cover your work load. 

Paid mat leave is a totally awesome benefit, but not super common, and I've only really heard of it w/ larger companies.

camk14

Not sure how helpful this is to you but...I work for a company with 34,000 employees that operates in 40 states and I got un-paid maternity leave. I took 12 weeks non-paid under FMLA.

WendyK

I work for a small non-profit and we do not have paid maternity leave. Actually many companies do not, no matter the size. They expect you to utilize short term disability (was this offered, do you have this?). I knew a year in advance that we were going to try to get pg so I brought up the subject before hand but you just need to make sure you understand that you are not protected by FMLA since the Co. is so small. I would let them know that you will work with them to have a plan in place by the time you are on leave to make to delegate your duties to other people. Be up fromt with them if you are not coming back. I know some people would advise against this but I think this is one of the reasons so many people hate it when women get pregnant in the office. Also, you may suggest that toward the end of your leave that you can do some things from home, I did this and it helped out my co-workers tremendously.Just don't be upset if they are not jumping for joy about your annoucement,

krub

I work for a small company, as well.  They do allow 12 weeks leave, but it is all unpaid.  I would have to use vacation or have short term disability to get paid.  It was like this when I worked for a larger company, as well.  Since it is such a small company, I am the only person that does what I do and it would put a lot of pressure on my boss for me to be out for 12 weeks.  So, if/when we have #3, I do not plan on taking 12 weeks off.  But, I think they would be agreeable to working out a plan to allow me to come back part time earlier and WAH a couple days a week for awhile.  I have a good rapport with HR, my boss and the owner of the company, so I think we'll be able to work something out that works for everyone.  And, I guess that is what I would try to figure out with your employer.  Something that will make everyone happy, whatever that might be. 

EmarketerMom

EastCoastBride:

RoxyLynn:

There are a lot of well-established companies that don't offer 6 weeks paid leave.  That would really be asking a lot.

Think about your biggest concerns - job protection?  Income?  Continuing benefits? - and tailor your request accordingly.

Ditto this 100%.  What is your ultimate goal in getting leave?  As it's such a small company, FMLA doesn't apply to you. 

I think expecting to get paid may be pushing it.  Sure, you can ask, but I really would NOT expect that at all.  Especially if it's a small company. They may really not be able to afford it, esp if they have to bring someone in temporarily to cover your work load. 

Paid mat leave is a totally awesome benefit, but not super common, and I've only really heard of it w/ larger companies.

 

Yes - I should rephrase. As the business owner, I would give paid time off b/c I'm trying to build a very family friendly workplace. However, as the employee you definitely shouldn't expect it.

CJB8

My situation was very similar, company has less than 20 employees and in it's 8 year existence, not one person has ever gone on maternity leave.  I was pretty terrified to tell my boss as I knew that there was no FMLA and technically, they could let me go and get away with it. 

 When I told my boss, I made sure he knew that I would be coming back and do what I could on maternity leave to help with my job duties that had to be done (I did payroll from home and answered questions/emails).  Fortunately, they didn't let me go but being there was no FMLA, asking for paid time off was something I didn't do, didn't want to push my luck.  They gave me the time off - 12 weeks or so - and I cashed out two weeks of my vacation. 

Mrsalt027

I have a somewhat similar situation--small, private company, mostly male and I am the youngest and only one of seemingly child-bearing age and of course there is no maternity policy. I had to take out a short-term disability policy through Aflac in order to give myself some sort of pay when I did get pregnant. The only reason I can see this being a problem for you is that the policy has to be in place for 10 months prior to being used. But Maybe if you can get 1 or 2 months paid leave from your employers and then use the short-term disability, that might work. Hope you find something that helps.

tbakken319

Thank you for all of your responses. I was researching recently and thought that I could do the short term disability but now realize that is not an option in our insurance plan either. I suppose I will just have to talk to them and really hope they work with me to set up some sort of program. I do plan on returning to work and I am also the only person who knows what I do in my position so I have considered continuing part of my duties from home during the leave. There are just so many things to consider!! Thank you for all of your input again, it has led me to more ideas and issues to think about!

bancbev

I also work for a small family owned company (about 30 employees) and no one has ever taken maternity leave.  We do have a "plan" in place which is 4 weeks unpaid leave.  I don't think 4 weeks is realistic when most Dr.s won't even let you go back to work till 6 for a uncomplicated vaginal birth.  I am going to ask for 12 weeks unpaid and go from there.  I know it would cost a lot of time, effort and money for them to let me go, rehire/retrain for my position.

Linds&Chris777

I'm in the same boat and when I had DS last year, I had him just after getting my two weeks of vacation on my anniversary date, so I used my two weeks and then worked from home the rest of the time up until he was 6 wks and then returned to the office.  My main concern was earning a paycheck during that time, because we can't live off just DH's alone, not even for a month.

 I'll probably be doing the same thing again this time around unless something changes.

julyjennifer

I had a similar situation.  I work at a law firm that was pretty small at the time I had DD (25-30 employees), and there was a written mat leave policy for staff but not for attorneys.  I was the 1st attorney to need a maternity leave.

I was very nervous but my boss was happy for me and gave me the leave (unpaid) that I asked for.  In MN I was covered under the mn parenting leave act  (that may not be the exact title) which gave at least 6 weeks off with job protection.

I asked for 10 weeks off full-time and 4 weeks part-time (adding up to 12 weeks like FMLA).  I did have disability insurance (but it was a crappy policy with a low cap, more set up for staff salaries--we have a better one now) so that was just a little bit but better than nothing.  Otherwise it was unpaid and they continued to carry my benefits but made me pay for them during the leave.

Since then, our firm has grown, and another female senior associate and I have pushed thru a written policy for mat/pat leave that the partners have adopted.  It provides for some pay and they pay for benefits.   Much better than nothing, although not as generous of a policy as what we initially asked for.