What do you think when women take advantage of maternity leave and THEN quit.

asnowracer · March 2009

Meaning, they have all intentions NOT to come back, but take full advantage of maternity leave and THEN decide to quit when it's about to run out.

I think it's unprofessional, a great way to burn bridges, and hurts women in the job market in the long run.

Discuss.

hula_lula · March 2009

I agree with you. I think it sucks.

From what I hear, my company "makes" you pay back the insurance premium they paid for you & the baby while you were on maternity leave, as well as repay the STD you were paid. That's all just hearsay though

DDK513 · March 2009

If that was the intention from the beginning, it's not right. But if something happened where they were truly unable to return to work and had to quit, well then that's another story. (of course)

freeburger16 · March 2009

I am doing this, but feel so guilty and hate that I have to. DH's job transferred him 2 hours away, and we have been living apart 5 days a week trying to sell our house. Now that baby is almost here, I will be moving to the new town after his arrival. I simply cannot live apart from my DH after the baby comes.

I think it depends on the situation really, not everyone does it to be malicious and greedy.

Ritza · March 2009

Each case is different in my opinion.

But, if she left with full intentions of not returning - its the employers responsability to catch it early on. There are signs, plus, most women cant keep their mouth shut - they know they wont come back, they'll let someone know.

Its therefore, the employers right to dissapprove maternity leave.

In my case, I dont get maternity leave. So it doesnt effect me.

yardley · March 2009

This country has pretty crappy leave policies compared to others, so I think it's every woman for herself.

rbidi · March 2009

Depends on the job and the situation. I don't consider it taking advantage if they have worked there and earned that leave. I also don't think it's burning bridges if it's a place you couldn't stand anyway, and have no intention of returning to. And as far as hurting women in the workplace, people are going to be sexist and close minded no matter how opened you are. Some people just resent you for getting pregnant and they don't get how not everyone's careers dictate thier lives.

funmaker · March 2009

yardley:
This country has pretty crappy leave policies compared to others, so I think it's every woman for herself.

And women abusing the policies that are in place makes it much harder to improve them for the rest of us.

freeburger16 · March 2009

rbidi:
Depends on the job and the situation. I don't consider it taking advantage if they have worked there and earned that leave.

Exactly - it's an earned benefit.

blendedfammama · March 2009

IMO every situation is different. I work in HR so I see this a lot. However, I personally disagree with doing this. I would never feel right. Some women don't have any other option though.

FinallyThatGirl · March 2009

Just depends.

My company says if you plan on not coming back we still will give you your maternity leave for your previous service.

Its not an option for me to NOT go back unfortunately. I think many people do it but you have to do what is best for you...

If you plan on staying at home you plan on staying home.

I know men that have taken paternity leave and never come back.

Deegirl322 · March 2009

If they had no intention of coming back, I agree with you. It hurts other women who go on maternity leave and want to come back.?

MegDC · March 2009

I'm torn about this. ?Maternity benefits in the US suck and don't protect women very well at all. ?And I think its awful to have to make a decission about working or not based on income and leave benefits. ?That said-- I'm not into being lied to. ?If it was an employee of mine and I know I was lied to I would be livid. ?Paid leave is intended to provide mothers with the ability to have children and then continue to work. ?If you have no intention of continuing to work I don't see why you think you should get paid? ?I can also see that companies would be reluctant to offer paid leave to others if they have many employees who take advantage of paid leave and then quit. ?

As far as burning bridges goes-- don't think that a future employer will not contact your past employers to ask about you. ?They will and I would not want someone giving me a terrible reference.?

yardley · March 2009

I don't think companies are going to applaud people who are responsible with their leave by offering more generous leave policies.

chipsgrrl · March 2009

I told my employer as soon as I got pregnant that I would not return. They actually told me to take the full 16 week leave and come back and work a two week notice so that my insurance would pay in full. I was encouraged by HR to imo, take advantage of the system! Oh well. Their loss.

Jen&John2005 · March 2009

hula_lula:

I agree with you. I think it sucks.

From what I hear, my company "makes" you pay back the insurance premium they paid for you & the baby while you were on maternity leave, as well as repay the STD you were paid. That's all just hearsay though

Same here. I've seen it on my company's website. So there's no financial advantage to taking maternity leave and t hen quitting. The fact that some women do this may explain why, even though my supervisor knows my DH is looking for a job and we have no other source of income other than my job, he's asked me more than once if I really intend to return. Um, yeah, I'd really rather not go bankrupt.

ashmariebay02 · March 2009

I worked at a company for 3 years when I had DD, and they approved my maternity leave, only to tell me they were dis-approving it on my last day of work (3 days before my c/s). They d!cked me around, telling me I could file for unemployment and get paid, then come back to my job in 13 weeks.

At this point, it took 6 weeks to get my unemployment approved, and after the 13 weeks, they didn't let me come back to my job. It was the sh!ttiest thing ever, and when I consulted a lawyer, I def had a case, but it was going to cost of fortune in legal fees that I didn't have after being income-less for so long.

So from my point of view, you have to do what you have to do. Life isn't always fair.

BabyMamaErin · March 2009

our mat leave here is paid through the government, not our employers. a lot of the women I have worked with in the past have decided not to come back after their babies... actually most of the women I've worked with did this. I dont think its exactly fair, but I think a lot of employers half expect it.

Bellisimo · March 2009

Unethical! But I can expect that a lot of women think it's owed to them. Not my style!

spark&echo · March 2009

I've thought a lot about this. I am one of those women who hates her job. However, with the economy being the way it is, I'm keeping that option open for after the baby's born. There's a chance I might have to come back, but I'm hoping to not have to.

I had a very honest conversation with my HR department about the possibility of not coming back, and they told me that they expect most women to not come back - all they ask is that I let them know my decision once I know for sure. And this is not something I can know for sure right now.

kklickka · March 2009

If someone has worked for a company long enough to accumulate a lot of vacation time and then they leave the company, they get paid for their vacation time - so why should it be any different with maternity leave? The entire time they've been working they've been paying for their benefits, which include maternity leave - I think that if they've paid into it, they should be able to take advantage of it.

lindermom · March 2009

We had a girl do this at my company at the end of last year. I'm the next one due to take maternity leave.

Since this happened they cut our leave from 8 weeks at 100% to 6 weeks at 60%. You can take 12 weeks, but the remainder is unpaid.

I'm not sure this had too negative an affect on me though. I have been here 5 years (a long time for a start up Bio-Tech company) and I know a lot of things that no one else does. I think they were afraid I might do what that girl did so they padded my maternity leave and just gave me a big promotion. I keep re-assuring them that I have already booked my daycare and will be back after 12 weeks. I think I lucked out Big Smile

Cassandra1028 · March 2009

I 100% plan on doing this-but my boss knows about this, but the upper-upper management does not. I do plan on staying on as a part-time counselor though...so I'm not leaving completely. I am leaving the full-time position though.

KimmyB111304 · March 2009

funmaker:
yardley:

This country has pretty crappy leave policies compared to others, so I think it's every woman for herself.

And women abusing the policies that are in place makes it much harder to improve them for the rest of us.

Agreed. I think it's wrong to take advantage of the system. And because people have, it's all I am hearing about, and no matter how many times I make it very clear that I have no intention on staying home, I think they only half believe me.

Hi725 · March 2009

I agree with you on all counts. I also think it's the reason that more companies don't offer paid leave (aside from your accrud vacation/sick time). Too many people take advantage and ruin it for everyone else.

Cassandra1028 · March 2009

Oh, and FWIW - I had to use my accrued vac/sick time. Maternity leave does not exist at my company. Technically I am on FMLA and am not even guaranteed MY position back.

I am using STD though, but it's only 66.67% of my pay and only for 6 weeks!!!

Caroline&Stephen · March 2009

In this economy I am leaving my options open. I am protecting myself & my family and I don't feel guilty about it.

futureFrench · March 2009

Well, I work on contract as a teacher. I can't just quit in the middle of a school year, but I can choose not to sign a contract for next fall. If I was supposed to return during the school year and just quit, then it would be a breech of contract and I would be subject to repaying ins and stuff, but I'm still on FMLA time through the last day of school and simply not signing my contract for next year. I think it depends on the kind of job you have.

Want a personalized experience?

What do you think when women take advantage of maternity leave and THEN quit.

Re: What do you think when women take advantage of maternity leave and THEN quit.

Choose Another Board

Search Boards